Inter finish the season just one point off Scudetto winners Juventus, but Antonio Conte insists ‘there’s still a large gap’ between them. 'We received no protection from the club.'
The 2-0 victory in Bergamo consolidated second place in a head-to-head with Atalanta, decided by Danilo D’Ambrosio and Ashley Young goals.
“The lads and the staff deserve credit for achieving numbers that hadn’t been seen for a long time at Inter,” Conte told DAZN.
Inter finish the season just one point off Scudetto winners Juventus, but Antonio Conte insists ‘there’s still a large gap’ between them. 'We received no protection from the club.'
The 2-0 victory in Bergamo consolidated second place in a head-to-head with Atalanta, decided by Danilo D’Ambrosio and Ashley Young goals.
“The lads and the staff deserve credit for achieving numbers that hadn’t been seen for a long time at Inter,” Conte told DAZN.
“There is still a gap with Juventus and it’s a large gap. We must be intelligent and not leap from depression to elation, as the mood is too excessive in both directions. I’ll say we did our duty in Serie A, we improved in the Coppa Italia by reaching the semi-final and now want to impress in the Europa League.
“This was a tough year for me and I am comforted by having this group of professionals who are giving their all. Juve are celebrating their ninth consecutive Scudetto and proved once again they are clearly stronger, as they worked to improve, while the others all just tried to reduce the gap.
“The Bianconeri have an infrastructure both on and off the field that is clearly better than the others, although we are all trying to improve that. Atalanta have done great things this season and brought new ideas with Gian Piero Gasperini, as anyone who plays against them ends up struggling. We did well to prepare for this match in every aspect.
“My team did really well, despite the fact they were criticised the moment anyone got the chance, as was I.”
Conte also then spoke to Sky Sport Italia and was even more irritated in his comments.
“It has been a tough year on a personal level, very tough. I don’t think the players saw their work recognised, I don’t think I saw my work recognised and we all received very little protection from the club.
“We have to grow and improve in all areas, including off the field, and a big club should protect its players more. We’ll discuss it all at the end of the season, I have to meet the President and he’s in China right now.
“It was very, very intense this year, difficult, and the lads did well to isolate ourselves and create unity within us, despite the difficulties. I don’t like people who get on the bandwagon and I saw a lot of that with Inter this year.
“We had to eat dung for months and got zero protection. My problem is that I have a vision, I see the path we have to take and I know what we need to do. I saw the other day an interview that Luciano Spalletti gave at Inter in 2017. We’re now in 2020 and nothing has changed.
“I can be a lightning rod for the first year, but if you don’t learn and keep making the same mistakes, then that's just crazy. I want to be absolutely clear that I am not talking about the transfer market or the players. I want that to be very clear.”