ROME – Roberto Mancini was in no mood to mince his words after Inter’s 2-0 loss at Lazio on Sunday night, acknowledging that his side were simply not good enough throughout.
"We played very poorly in the first half and the first 20 minutes was terrible," began Mancini after the game. "We deserved to lose. We did OK in the second half and had chances to equalise, but the damage had already been done. We weren’t tough enough.
"Klose’s goal was too easy. It would have been important to win tonight to secure fourth spot and keep our hopes for third alive, but we really performed badly in the first half. We’re really struggling to score goals and we definitely need more quality. We can’t be doing this sort of thing."
The result means Lazio have beaten Inter both home and away this season: "It was different in the reverse fixture. We didn’t deserve to lose that day but it sparked the start of a tough run. We were well below par tonight, especially in the first half.
"We did create some chances in the second half, but we made two or three mistakes in a row when bringing the ball out from defence and one of those led to the penalty. It was like an end-of-season game in the first half. We were better after the break, but if you don’t score…"
Mancini also lamented his side’s performance in front of goal: "We got the final ball wrong too many times because we didn’t show that killer instinct in the danger area. That was the way it was today.
"[Marcelo Brozovic] has played there this past month. He helps the midfield but he alternates fantastic performances with games when he makes simple errors, but that’s because he’s a young player. He needs to improve on that. He’s got real quality, is a good runner and can play anywhere."
Finally, Mancini had stern words for some of his players: "I’m disappointed with the result and with the attitude shown by some players. I think many of them need to understand what Inter is about. The objective was to get third place and we were capable of that. We had our limitations and shortcomings even when we were top. I hope tonight’s game is just a blip."
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