Simone Inzaghi is amused by his new ‘Demon of Piacenza’ nickname and reveals what he saw in Inter’s 4-0 win over Udinese that ‘is very pleasing for a coach.’
The job was done by half-time at San Siro, with a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, Federico Dimarco angled drive and long passing move leading up to the Marcus Thuram cushioned volley.
Lautaro Martinez put the icing on the cake late on by winning it back and blasting from outside the box for the 4-0 result.
“They were very beautiful goals, the lads did really well. I was afraid of this game, as I saw Udinese win here three weeks ago against Milan. They are near the bottom of the table right now, but they have better quality than that would suggest,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“It could be dangerous on the counter-attack, but the lads did brilliantly to keep the right attitude and intensity from start to finish.”
The Nerazzurri needed the win to retain the leadership after Juventus beat Napoli 1-0 last night, but once again they showed no signs of feeling the pressure.
“We gave a response worthy of a great team. We have to concentrate on ourselves and not really what happens elsewhere. We tend to play after Juve, but we are used to it. Fortunately, this squad has worked so hard and with great enthusiasm since the summer.”
The statistics are truly remarkable, scoring 37 goals, conceding only seven and keeping 10 clean sheets in Serie A this season.
Inzaghi was told he has been nicknamed ‘The Demon of Piacenza’ for his tendency to create magic with his teams.
“It is pleasing, but we all know that football moves quickly. So we want to enjoy these evenings and the targets we achieve, like Champions League Round of 16 and the Club World Cup. The fans are wonderful and when things weren’t going as well, they were always by our side.”
Lautaro Martinez said that Inter play in more advanced roles, with a higher line, and that makes it more interesting for the players themselves.
“That is quite possible. Not all games go the same way. The strikers are helping out, as they are the first who must get us back up the field. We know that we’re doing well, but there are dangerous around every corner like injuries, setbacks, and we showed today that we had a great performance despite missing quite a few key players.
“As a coach, it is great to see your players work so hard to win back the ball, be aggressive and score goals. Now we have a very important match coming up and must recover mental and physical energy.”
Now a huge appointment awaits Inter, as they must beat Real Sociedad at San Siro on Tuesday evening in order to guarantee first place in the Champions League group.
Inzaghi seemed to hint at his choices for that fixture when explaining what he was telling Davide Frattesi on the bench.
“I was not sure whether to start Davide, but considering the way the game was going and how much we need him in the next match, I told him to relax. Nicolò Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are two fantastic players, as is Frattesi, so there is competition for places. He is working so hard in training and already scored a few big goals for us. We’ll likely need him on Tuesday.”
There were even suggestions in the papers that Frattesi would be used today as a right wing-back in place of injured Denzel Dumfries.
“No, that was not an option. Juan Cuadrado has a tendon issue that he is struggling with and doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs, but fortunately I have Matteo Darmian who started as the right wing-back, then moved to the left and eventually to central defence. A player like Darmian is a fortune for any coach.”
I think Inzaghi may become one of the greats in Italian coaches / managers.