Roberto Mancini defended his tactical decisions after Inter beat Genoa 1-0. “I am Coach of Inter, not of Mauro Icardi.”
Adem Ljajic got the decisive goal with a free kick that whipped past everyone at San Siro.
“It was important for us to win after the Napoli game and it wasn’t easy this evening,” Mancini told Mediaset Premium and Sky Sport Italia.
Roberto Mancini defended his tactical decisions after Inter beat Genoa 1-0. “I am Coach of Inter, not of Mauro Icardi.”
Adem Ljajic got the decisive goal with a free kick that whipped past everyone at San Siro.
“It was important for us to win after the Napoli game and it wasn’t easy this evening,” Mancini told Mediaset Premium and Sky Sport Italia.
“Genoa are tough and give no reference points, they move around a lot and we ran into difficulties because we didn’t take the early chances.”
The Coach changed his tactics and line-up yet again, this time dropping Icardi and Ivan Perisic for Rodrigo Palacio and Jonathan Biabiany.
“Changing things is good for the players. Icardi only missed two games out of 15 this season, it can happen.
“Everyone did well tonight. We are top of the table this evening and I don’t see why we should change tack.
“Some matches have to be faced in a certain way, others differently, the players know they can be called upon at any moment. It might be the case that we find a basic formation eventually.
“Ljajic proved himself at Roma and Fiorentina, he’s maturing now and can still do even better. He scored the winning goal, but everyone contributed.”
Mancini said Icardi and Stevan Jovetic must spend more time as a pair to find their rhythm, yet started them together only once in the last six games.
“I am the Coach of Inter, not of Icardi and Ljajic. We have many excellent forwards and they all deserve playing time. I do believe Icardi and Ljajic can play together, but there’s a team to be considered and others who also deserve to play.
“Icardi knows if we are to get into the Champions League, then his goals will be crucial, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be on the bench occasionally.
“Our four forward players today did really well in the first half, running hard and giving no reference points to opposition defenders. The only thing we lacked before the break was a goal.”
Felipe Melo clashed heads with teammate Gary Medel early on and went down twice feeling dizzy, but insisted on playing on.
He was eventually substituted at half-time and taken to hospital for tests after admitting he had memory gaps.
“He went off and couldn’t remember the impact, but wanted to continue and said he was fine. Even at half-time he wanted to continue, but he couldn’t remember anything that had happened on the pitch, so we made the decision,” explained Mancini.