APPIANO GENTILE – On the eve of Inter v Sampdoria, Roberto Mancini has called upon his players to take charge of their fate after spending this week shut away in a training camp.
"We've spent a few days together here to work calmly and not be distracted by other things. Everything went quite well.
"It wasn't a punishment, obviously nobody likes locking themselves away for a training camp, but it was the right thing to do to try and reverse this poor run of form. Everybody understood that and accepted it. We want to get back a sense of calmness and awareness.
"As for third spot, nothing is lost. Football is like that, sometimes things can happen that you don't expect. You can slip into a negative cycle where there isn't any particular motivation.
"We lost some games that we didn't deserve to, but now we need to do well and recover those dropped points because there is still time. Everything can change for the better in a moment.
"We won a lot of games in the first half of the season, now we have to return to winning ways because there are so many points still up for grabs. Mr Thohir was quite calm and understood that we can still hit our target."
The Inter boss also responded to the criticism he's received lately: "I haven't read anything but I know perfectly well how it works in Italy. Everyone is free to write whatever they want, it doesn't bother me that much. When things are going badly, people bring things up that have nothing to do with the situation."
Mancini then addressed questions concerning his players: "Rodrigo Palacio is an extraordinary player for everything that he does. Even when he doesn't score, he sets a great example for everybody else. It's a shame age isn't on his side, but he still manages to give everything he's got.
"Eder might not have scored yet, but he's been an important player for us. He works well for the team and is a serious guy. I think Inter landed a coup in January.
"It's a shame about Geoffrey Kondogbia's suspension. He was improving and I hope they reduce his ban by a match at least.
"As for Nagatomo's contract renewal, Yuto has been at Inter for many years and he loves the club. He could have gone to the Premier League in January but decided to stay.
"Alex Telles is a good young player. He's got the quality, he just needs experience in the Italian league. I think he has great opportunities, but we'll discuss anything to do with a potential contract release at the end of the season."
Finally, the coach turned his thoughts to tomorrow's game against Vincenzo Montella's Blucerchiati. "Of course it's a delicate match, even a friendly against our Primavera side would be delicate right at the moment. This is going to be the case every time until we get out of this rut.
"Sampdoria are going through their own particular run of form so it's not going to be easy.
"As for whether we've got an emergency in the middle of the park, there are three midfielders who are available and we'll probably call up a lad from the Primavera. There are also other guys in the team who can do a job in that position. I hope Felipe Melo returns to the form he was showing at the beginning of the season when he was fundamental in terms of experience and quality."
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