Claudio Ranieri has appealed for understanding as he admits that the coming months will see him and his Inter players under observation from critical eyes.
Claudio Ranieri has appealed for understanding as he admits that the coming months will see him and his Inter players under observation from critical eyes.
The Nerazzurri go into Friday night’s Serie A clash with Bologna without a win in five matches in all competitions. Since the Coppa Italia quarter-final exit to Napoli, the team have lost three and drawn one in the League and have fallen off the pace at the top of the table.
In admitting that the club have entered a state of change, Ranieri took the opportunity during his Thursday Press conference to set straight the work ahead.
“So often you fail to understand, football is not always an exact science,” the Roman began.
“The three [previous] games were different, there has been no loss of condition because we fought for 90 minutes at Lecce, where their goalkeeper has excelled.
“With Palermo and Novara we played knowing that their counter-attacking could hurt us, and so it will be tomorrow.
“We come into this after some heavy games, we have had some pretty hard knocks and now we must return as soon as possible.
“Bologna have not lost since the start of the [calendar] year, but we need to score and play, even if we know we have defects.
“We must try to play carefully without conceding goals.”
The Curva Nord were vocal in their protests against Ranieri during the Novara defeat last weekend and called for his dismissal, alongside Fabio Capello’s arrival.
“It is important to support the young players, if you mess up at San Siro there is now immediately a buzz. Experienced players do not think about it, but younger people can get lost.
“We are still under investigation, if I stay then I will give my all, and the same goes for the players. We believe in the Inter project and must give our all, we all want to stay.
“The players are under consideration, the Coach too, there is a new project, the President wants to win.
“There are these years in between, then there are those who understand this and those who do not.”
Ranieri was quizzed on his possible team selection, on which he had some interesting words on a couple of the players on the verge of the first team.
“Some say the youngsters should play and then say that they are not ready. If a young player enters the field immediately then they are under scrutiny.
“Whether or not their input is strong, it takes time to see what they can really do. This applies to [Ricky] Alvarez.
“[Mauro] Zarate does great things but still cannot get going, he is a little anarchistic, I’m already doing somersaults trying to shape a team.
“I expect so much from him because he knows how to [beat an opponent], assist and to score, sooner or later we will see him again.
“He is not emotionally broken, but his esteem is like that of his teammates who also suffer when they do not play, but he knows that in football you can be doing nothing and then later a chance will come.”