Simone Inzaghi reveals Federico Dimarco has tried similar lobs from midfield in training after his Frosinone stunner, then points out Inter are ‘not the richest club in Italy.’
The Nerazzurri were feeling the pressure after Juventus beat Cagliari 2-1 last night, knowing a win would be needed to retain top spot.
They struggled to break Frosinone down until a truly remarkable goal from Dimarco, who spotted Stefano Turati slightly off his line and lobbed the goalkeeper from 56 metres (approximately 61 yards).
“Clearly it was a stunner that I think will already be going viral all over the world,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“Fede does this sort of thing in training, so we are accustomed to it now! It is a goal that you rarely see, so I congratulated him and the lads. They are working well and must continue like this.”
Hakan Calhanoglu then converted a penalty, though Frosinone rattled the woodwork and forced a couple of tricky saves from Yann Sommer to keep the clean sheet.
“That was a balanced moment of the match, we had created something against a well-organised side, but this great goal opened up the door. Then the Marcus Thuram run and the penalty helped us to have a more relaxed second half.”
Frosinone moved to a three-man defence today to effectively mirror Inter at San Siro and Inzaghi warns this is a common approach against them now.
“Every game in Serie A is difficult to prepare. We expected Frosinone to use one tactical system, instead they switched to a different one. That tends to happen a lot here, the lads need to be quick to understand that something must change in the various phases.
“The team kept fully concentrated, covered the spaces and kept the shape. Frosinone play well out from the back, they use the goalkeeper, so we came in respecting them already. They are well-organised and have quality.”
Inter lost some big players over the summer like Romelu Lukaku, Marcelo Brozovic, Edin Dzeko, Milan Skriniar and Andre Onana, but are still top of the table, have the best defence, most prolific attack and are in the Champions League Round of 16. Did Inzaghi expect them to do this well in those circumstances?
“I did feel confident, but time will tell. The first 16 games of the season have been very good, the key is that I try to rotate and use all the players, but we always do it together.
“We are not even a third of the way through the season and when those difficult moments come, that is when we must prove ourselves.”
Inzaghi rotates more than any other coach in Serie A, yet he rarely has to deal with grumbling over a lack of playing time.
“They all work together, they know that simply being at Inter means they were chosen by the club and by me, that means we appreciate them and they respect the fact I have to make choices every few days.”
Inter and Juventus are at the top of the table, but both clubs and their directors are eager to paint the other as the ‘real’ favourites for the Scudetto, something Inzaghi is eager to stay out of.
“I don’t like that sort of thing, drawing up a grid of favourites. We can only promise to our fans that we will do as much as we can in Serie A, the Champions League and Coppa Italia.
“People probably say we are favourites for the way we are playing right now. We are not the richest club in Italy, as the last three summers our transfer market ran at a profit of €120m, then €30m and this time broke even despite reaching the Champions League Final.
“We have some great directors, a President who is always by our side, and in difficult moments we try to give our best. We are fortunate to have a group like this, players who have a great sense of responsibility who give their all for these wonderful fans.”
After the break for international duty, Inter and Juventus will go head-to-head at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin on November 26.