Simone Inzaghi cannot say if this is his strongest Inter side yet after the 5-1 victory away to Monza, warning ‘the others are waiting to pounce on any tiny mistake.’
The Nerazzurri made short work of Monza at the U-Power Stadium, surging into a 2-0 lead within 14 minutes thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty and Lautaro Martinez.
Both would go on to score again before the late Marcus Thuram strike, while Matteo Pessina converted a spot-kick for the consolation goal.
“It was a very good performance, we prepared well and the lads had the right approach against a Monza side that had taken points off us last season both home and away,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
Compared to Napoli at this stage last season, Inter have scored one more goal and conceded five fewer, yet the week in the media has been criticism aimed at the performances – and refereeing errors – against Genoa and Verona.
“Fortunately, I focused only on what happened on the field. The club does the talking off it and I, along with the staff, kept our focus on the pitch. We are just halfway through and there is a long road ahead of us.”
Inzaghi has always shown this ability to block out criticism, something that not all tacticians are capable of.
“We are accustomed to it as coaches, not just me but everyone in this business. The important thing is to have a squad that follows you, we did great things in recent seasons and want to keep doing it.”
The coach was asked if this is his strongest Inter squad yet in the third season at San Siro?
“I cannot say that yet, because there are over 20 games to go in Serie A. Last season’s team won two trophies, reached the Champions League Final, and we are only midway through. It was a tough qualifying group in the Champions League with Real Sociedad, we’re doing well in Serie A, but the others are waiting to pounce on any tiny mistake.
“We can always improve. Despite the draw against Genoa, we hadn’t played too badly other than conceding an avoidable goal. Yet we beat Verona and in my view had a worse performance. We analyse our matches and try to see where we can tweak things to do better.”
Director Beppe Marotta assured before this match that Inter are not looking for more strikers in the January transfer window, something Inzaghi backed up.
“I am very happy with Marko Arnautovic and Alexis Sanchez. They are training well, they’ve just been unlucky that Lautaro and Thuram are playing so well. Sanchez scored a very important goal against RB Salzburg, he just needs to keep working and will get his chances.”
The next test is the Supercoppa Italiana with the new Final Four phase, so Napoli-Fiorentina is the Thursday semi-final, Inter-Lazio on Friday and the decider on Monday evening.
All those games will be played at the Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh.
“We know it is a packed fixture list. We go to Saudi Arabia as the trophy holders and this is a new format, it’s not a problem, the lads will rest on Monday, train Tuesday and then we fly out. There is a trophy up for grabs and we will try to do our best.”
#SerieA | @Inter, le parole di Simone #Inzaghi dopo la vittoria contro il @ACMonza: "Abbiamo fatto un'ottima gara, preparata nel migliore dei modi. Mercato? Si è parlato tanto degli attaccanti, io di #Arnautovic e #Sanchez sono contentissimo" https://t.co/2GUWVf5Ib3
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) January 13, 2024