Inter director Beppe Marotta responds to fan protests by assuring the club has complete faith in coach Simone Inzaghi. ‘We need some health realism and the Scudetto is a dream that can come true.’
The tension has been growing after a series of poor results, with Serie A defeats to Lazio and Milan, then last night’s Champions League 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
“We need some healthy realism, every defeat requires an analysis of the problems, that is part of the daily work of directors and coach, to bring out something positive for the future,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.
While Napoli beat Liverpool 4-1, Inter barely troubled Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer at San Siro.
“We know the Premier League are now a superpower in football, while only a few clubs in the Liga and Bundesliga can afford to spend huge amounts on the transfer market to buy great champions. It’s much more difficult to do that in Italy, but it mustn’t represent an alibi. We lost to a stronger team last night.”
Some of Inzaghi’s choices for the starting XI and then his substitutions during the Champions League match raised a few eyebrows.
“Inzaghi made courageous decisions to improve the individual and the collective. We need to know that Inter are always Inter, this is a club with a history and must always be competitive, no matter who is on the pitch.
“The coach is in charge of a group that right now is under the stress of a packed fixture list up to November 13. Inzaghi has a quality squad at his disposal and has to use it in the best way possible depending also on the opponent and what he sees in training.
“I think he is doing it very well, even if unfortunately there have been two defeats in the last two games.”
The Champions League becomes a real uphill struggle, as elsewhere in the group, Barcelona thrashed Viktoria Plzen 5-1.
The hashtag #InzaghiOut was trending on Twitter in Italy today, so do Inter still have total faith in their coach?
“That goes without saying, Inzaghi is doing an excellent job. We are Inter and, if we need to say one thing, it’s that we require more focus and motivation from everyone, from the directors down to the players,” continued Marotta.
“We must honour this jersey. It’s a pity for those fans who came to San Siro, because it is our duty to repay their faith in us. We must believe to the end, because the season has only just started and these errors can only give valuable lessons for the future.”
It is a race with rivals Milan to see who will reach their 20th Serie A title faster.
“When Inter participate in a competition, it is our duty to go for the maximum result. The Scudetto would be a dream that in my view can come true, we need to believe all the way and not be at all frightened by the strength of our opponents.
“May the best team win, if it’s us then good, if not then we’ll be happy knowing we did our duty all the way.”
Romelu Lukaku’s injury has coincided with the downturn in results, so are Inter too dependent on their centre-forward?
“Football is a team sport, so you can never rely entirely on one player, even if it is one as strong as Lukaku. I think those who replace him must be at the level of Inter. Things aren’t going well at the moment, but we must have faith, belief and give our all.”