Rodrigo Palacio summarizes his first six months with Inter in an interview with La Stampa, and the attacker begins by talking about his arrival at Inter: “I went through enough. Actually, the first contact took place a year and a half ago. It was during the summer, but President Preziosi did not want to listen to any requests and to be honest I felt good in Genoa.”
Then the situation changed: “In fact, the last months in Genoa were a bit complicated. 2012 did not start well. We struggled to achieve decent results, people were angry and so was I because I wanted to give more.”
About the game when players were asked to relinquish their shirts: “The whole situation was difficult, the story with the shirts was the most striking. Any loss increased the tension. Luckily, in the end, we managed to remain in Serie A and partially forget all the bad that had happened.”
Then came Inter: “That is when my dream began. If I would have preferred to be coached by Gasperini? He was my mentor and I will always be grateful for what he taught me, but it is right that each one follows his own path. Stramaccioni ? He is a very intelligent person who knows how to prepare for big games, he instantly created a good atmosphere. I was impressed by the great cohesion in the locker room. We can train without anyone outside knowing what we’re trying to do. Stramaccioni is very careful with the details and there is a kind of pact between us, not revealing any secrets, including the lineup.”
About getting accustomed to Milan: “It was not difficult. I was greeted by an Argentine family ready to welcome me. When I was in Genoa, I was bombarded with phone calls from Milito who tried to convince me to go with him. Now we live in the same building and we even see each other after training sessions. If I left at the right time? Well, I’m hardly a youngster, but I’m still trying to get used to the Italian football which is very different from that of my country. Genoa was a good place to learn.”
About the amount of playing time: “How could I not be happy? I’ve played a lot and I had not expected that. I have many great players around me.”
If he has gotten more space after the experiment against Hellas Verona in the Coppa Italia: “For God’s sake, I never thought I would play in goal. If I was comfortable with that? A feeling of being in the wrong place. When Castellazzi was injured I looked at my teammates to try to figure out what would happen. Chivu offered to put on the gloves and briefly tricked me into believing that I got away. Therefore, it was a shame that Stramaccioni disagreed, I or Alvarez had to get in goal. But Ricky pulled away immediately and said to me, ‘you go, you’re older.”
About the save he made on Carrozza’s opportunity: “It still happens that my teammates joke with me because of it. I remember I looked at the clock on the scoreboard, it was fifteen endless minutes. Assists? Let’s say that it’s better to score. When I was younger I preferred to pass to my teammates, but by the time I got to play closer to goal and also learned to score regularly.”
About living with Cassano: “It is going great. Not least because when he has gotten the idea in his head to joke with someone he always directs his attention at Nagatomo. Sneijder? It’s hard to take a stand. It is a problem that is between him and the club.”
Finally, he talked about the league and Juventus: “The table tells us which are the strongest, but we beat them at their stadium. It was the perfect game, we played like we had planned. If I cut off my tuft if we win the Scudetto? Half of it, like my teammates at Boca Juniors did.”
Source: fcinternews.it
