Simone Inzaghi insists Romelu Lukaku’s performance ‘would be judged in a very different way’ without those shocking misses and sees some Inter improvements despite the defeat to Fiorentina.
It was the worst possible start to a difficult month where the Nerazzurri will play in Serie A, the Champions League quarter-final and the Coppa Italia semi-final.
They had gone into the break for international duty with back-to-back Serie A defeats and this was their third in a row, decided by Giacomo Bonaventura’s header from close range.
“There is great disappointment, we lost two consecutive home matches. We need to work more, starting with me,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“Fiorentina are a quality squad, the lads did all they could. It’s just like this at the moment, we need to be more determined, because we had so many chances to score and we should’ve taken them.
“I cannot ask for more in terms of effort, as the lads did everything I had asked of them.”
If there were regrets at wasted opportunities in recent matches, then they were amplified here, especially with Romelu Lukaku somehow missing from three yards out when it was still 0-0.
“If he had scored those two chances, Lukaku’s performance would be judged in a very different way. His role is to create the opportunities, make the movements that the team needs. He wasn’t the only one who had chances today, so I wouldn’t focus only on Romelu.”
Inzaghi tried to switch to three strikers late on, but if anything they were even less effective in attack at that point.
“The more the game went on, the more we lost sharpness. I was honestly angrier after the performance against Juventus and this isn’t the result we deserved.
“The lads gave their all, but obviously this is the 10th defeat of the season and that means something isn’t working. This isn’t where we wanted to be in the table.”