Claudio Ranieri admits his tinkering proved fatal for Inter. “I took a risk to win the game, but instead Udinese” data-scaytid=”2″>Udinese took control.”
Claudio Ranieri admits his tinkering proved fatal for Inter. “I took a risk to win the game, but instead Udinese took control.”
The Nerazzurri fell to a surprise 1-0 home defeat on a Mauricio Isla counter-attack, but also saw Antonio Di Natale and Giampaolo Pazzini miss penalties in the final minutes.
“Obviously we wanted another result. We pushed and tried to put Udinese under pressure, but they are so good at letting you tire yourself out and hitting you on the counter. Compliments to Udinese, we have to roll our sleeves up and work harder,” said the Coach.
Inter have now gone six consecutive San Siro games without any of their strikers on target.
“A striker lives for a goal and not getting it does slowly become a weight, but these are moments that every forward goes through. We’ve got to let them stay calm and clear-headed. They fought hard and the ball didn’t want to go in.
“I told Pazzini some people lost the Champions League with a slip like that, so it’s nothing to be too desperate about. I’m sure he won’t sleep for two or three nights, but he will get over it.
“I put two hard-pushing wide men to ensure they got better service in Wesley Sneijder’s absence, which is why I put Mauro Zarate on when Davide Faraoni got cramp. I was trying to win the game and took a risk with a diamond midfield, but instead Udinese took control. While we played with the 4-4-2, Udinese were kept fairly quiet.”
Ranieri had stated Inter could win the Scudetto this season, but concedes that’s a dream too far now.
“It’s certainly not the luckiest campaign in Inter’s history! We won’t get sucked into self-pity, though. It could’ve been the turning point of our campaign to give us the confidence we needed, but instead we have to work even harder.
“Now we just have to keep quiet, work and let the other teams have their season while we have ours. If we drift away from the Scudetto race, then there are other very prestigious ones still up for grabs. I think positive.”