Roberto Mancini believes “Serie A has improved” but referees make it “difficult to have good football”.
The Inter Coach has spent time in the English Premier League, winning the title with Manchester City, and believes the officials are superior over there.
“I think Serie A has improved again in the last three four years, but it is not the same as in England or Germany or Spain,” Mancini explained to Reuters.
Roberto Mancini believes “Serie A has improved” but referees make it “difficult to have good football”.
The Inter Coach has spent time in the English Premier League, winning the title with Manchester City, and believes the officials are superior over there.
“I think Serie A has improved again in the last three four years, but it is not the same as in England or Germany or Spain,” Mancini explained to Reuters.
“It's difficult to have good football, a quick game, when the referee whistles, whistles and whistles…
“When we watch the Premier League games on TV we think it's impossible for them to run so much; the referees in England maybe blow the whistle 10 times in a game.
“Tactics are different in Italy. For many teams, the important thing is not to lose the game, so they stay in defence, they don't leave a lot of space as teams do in England.
“In England, all the teams play the same football, very quick, very strong.
“In Italy, if you lose three or four games, you can be sacked, and that goes for every manager. I think we've changed 15 coaches already this season.”
The Nerazzurri were leading Serie A at Christmas, but have since dropped off the pace and are battling for third-place.
“I expected this, to fight for third place. There are three or four teams better than us because they have been playing together for many years; we're rebuilding the team and I'm not frustrated.
“I am always optimistic. Inter is always one of the top clubs in Serie A and Europe. We have a good team, we are young, we need to improve as a team but we are on the right way.”
Finally, the Coach was asked about his criticism of Mauro Icardi, claiming he’d have scored a chance the striker missed against Carpi.
“I was just joking,” Mancini explained.
“Mauro knows that I think he is one of the best strikers in Italy. He is a young player, he needs to work hard so he can improve, and when there is respect between two people, it's no problem.”