Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric drops hints about his future and maintains Inter boss Antonio Conte is ‘the best along with Gian Piero Gasperini.’
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“I always said Inter had the strongest squad in Serie A this season, and Conte is the best coach along with Gasp,” said Juric in his press conference.
Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric drops hints about his future and maintains Inter boss Antonio Conte is ‘the best along with Gian Piero Gasperini.’
It kicks off on Sunday at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“I always said Inter had the strongest squad in Serie A this season, and Conte is the best coach along with Gasp,” said Juric in his press conference.
“Conte is the most complete coach, the toughest, one who never gives in. He found the way to win this year and I am not surprised, because over the two years he has kept the best players and signed those he thought were missing.
“I’ve already said, as a coach you have clear ideas, but the players are the ones who take to the pitch. All a coach can do is know what he’s got at his disposal and fight to get it. There is no other way.”
Conte has been criticised for his style of football, but Juric isn’t falling for that.
“I think they’ve played some great games, a total style of football. He evaluated the team, realised nobody cared if they played well when they lost, so they focused more on defending and not the high press.
“They are always dangerous upfront and have found real solidity at the back. He’s an intelligent man and made this choice.”
Juric has again taken Hellas Verona to the top 10 despite a miniscule budget, but he’s far from satisfied.
“In several games the team stepped up by dominating, but also became losers, because we keep saying we should’ve been 2-0 up after 30 minutes. That means we aren’t as effective as we were in the past.
“We sold players and did not replace them with the same consistency in midfield and defence. We have brought in some good forwards, like Kevin Lasagna, but he needs to hold up the ball and play for the team more.”
Juric has hinted several times he could leave Verona, but seems increasingly to be focused on the future at the Bentegodi.
“I’ve never been out of this club. Nothing has changed. Maybe I talk too much and people think too much. We’ll sit down and talk about it. If we reach an agreement, good, otherwise we’ll find a solution. I think we need to reinforce a great deal, then the club will decide if we can or not.
“I never had problems with the President, we can never be Parma or Bologna, and he never hid the way things have to be run here. He needs to have faith in his coach and director of sport, because football is a calculated risk.”