After the defeat in Riad, the president motivated the team, including Inzaghi: the streak in Serie A before the derby is necessary to accelerate
The faces were not the right ones, after Riyadh. Low morale, too low. And the risk, however, is high of still thinking about the defeat against Milan. Here then is president Beppe Marotta’s idea, developed two days ago and put into practice yesterday morning, when training resumed: a speech to the team and all the members of the technical staff, including Simone Inzaghi. Not a trial, it’s worth clarifying: the objective was certainly not to scold, but to motivate Lautaro and his teammates on the eve of a very demanding period on a physical and mental level.
Concepts
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Marotta, accompanied by the entire management area of the club, spoke in Appiano before training. A quick speech, to touch the chords of the team. The concepts? These: we are facing the decisive period of the season, it is in this month of January that we must lay the foundations to build the possibility of playing it all later. And again: we are strong, it’s time to get up, in the past you have already shown that you know how to do it, let’s give our best and the results will come accordingly. Then the managers left the room and left the team with Inzaghi, who as usual also had the opportunity to go into detail with his words. More than anything, the coach asked the team to put aside what happened in Riyadh and concentrate on work, on the pitch. Which actually happened, given that the session was considered by the protagonists to be of excellent intensity.
Reasons
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Right signals, in short. Inter wants and needs to go beyond the second consecutive defeat against Milan, even if the (first) real answer will be on Sunday in Venice. More generally, it is also good to understand the reasons why Marotta decided to speak to the team. It doesn’t happen often. Indeed, it is the first time this has happened since – last June – he was appointed president. If he did, it is because the president seized the delicate moment. And because he took a look at the calendar too. All of Inter did it, there’s no point in hiding. Before the new derby, scheduled for February 2nd, the Nerazzurri have the chance to accelerate in the standings with four games within reach, with a not very high difficulty coefficient. No direct clash scheduled for Lautaro and his teammates, and yes this season the big matches have caused more than one problem in terms of results (not even a victory against Milan, Napoli and Juventus). On the contrary, Atalanta and Napoli will face each other and inevitably at least one of the two will lose points, in addition to both having the match against Juventus on the calendar. Translated: scoring 12 points between Venice, recovery against Bologna, Empoli and Lecce could mean projecting yourself to the top of the championship or in the worst case scenario immediately behind, always considering the game less than the recovery against Fiorentina. Absolutely, the full haul in the championship would have enormous value also to lighten the significant psychological burden that the team will face in the next derby in February, an aspect that the Nerazzurri were no longer used to having to face.
Rotations
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Then there is the Champions League issue which certainly cannot be considered secondary. The direct qualification for the round of 16 must be achieved against Sparta Prague and Monaco, a step still to be achieved after the December defeat in Leverkusen. And it is something that is intertwined with the championship: it is useless to underline how important it would be for Inzaghi to “free” the February calendar from two more matches, which would be necessary in the event of failure to qualify for the top eight. We are always there: the moment is decisive. It is no coincidence that the month of January, with six matches in 18 actual days, was mentioned by Inzaghi himself in the bitter post-match in Riyadh. The coach will need the full squad as soon as possible, in this sense the recoveries of Pavard (now completed) and Acerbi (probably with Bologna) will help a department that has been in difficulty in the last month and a half. So what: it will be good to expect several rotations between now and the match on January 29th against Monaco. But not from Venice. Sunday is the match that Inzaghi considers most important of all. And not trivially because it’s the next one, as we always hear. But why not win it, not take home the three points, would mean not erasing those sad faces after the Super Cup. It would mean, in practice, remaining hooked on low morale. And a great team doesn’t usually do that. Inzaghi’s Inter, from Istanbul onwards, have won five of the six matches following the defeats suffered. That’s the way.
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