Antonio Conte told off his Inter players for not having the ‘killer instinct’ after a 1-1 draw with Atalanta. ‘A coach can only do so much.’
The Nerazzurri had taken the lead in Bergamo through Lautaro Martinez’s header, but Aleksei Miranchuk turned between defenders to fire in the equaliser.
Antonio Conte told off his Inter players for not having the ‘killer instinct’ after a 1-1 draw with Atalanta. ‘A coach can only do so much.’
The Nerazzurri had taken the lead in Bergamo through Lautaro Martinez’s header, but Aleksei Miranchuk turned between defenders to fire in the equaliser.
“We weren’t lacking in terms of character, we were lacking in terms of result against Real Madrid. We did the same against Atalanta, another strong side, and they find it difficult to play against us too,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had the chances to kill off the game, but maybe we are missing that killer instinct to take home results that we deserve, and then concede an equaliser.”
What does Conte say to people who see him as more reflective after the Europa League Final and last season’s controversy.
“I’d advise them to lay off the wine.”
Inter have now managed just one win in their last eight competitive games.
“We have to take into account Atalanta’s strengths, as they go after these one-on-one situations. The fact we are talking about Inter and people expecting so much of them means that in the space of a year, people have learned to fear Inter. In the past, we had come to Bergamo and weren’t feared at all.”
Christian Eriksen was again benched, as Nicolò Barella is now the first choice playing behind the strikers.
“There was no real trequartista today, Barella was sort of a disguised trequartista. The tactics must be based around the characteristics of the players we have on the pitch, as some need the ball between the lines, some are central, some like Nicolò prefer to start centre-right, so we try to make the most of everyone’s strengths,” explained Conte.
“Anyone who is losing a game will make changes and throw everything forward. That makes it more difficult to read the game and the plans all go out the window.
“As I tell the lads, we can prepare a match, but there are situations that develop on the field. A coach can only do so much, the players are on the pitch and they must know how to adjust to various situations.
“When we conceded the goal, that was a general blackout. We fail to realise sometimes that plans have to change and we need to make do rather than just continue doing the same thing.”