A lot of stuff to talk about for Stefano Pioli, everything between Chievo Verona and the mercato. Here is what he had to say a short while ago at the Pineti…Sorry, Suning Training Centre:
How important is the arrival of Gagliardini? Will he play tomorrow? “He’s important because he’s a quality player that is ready and can give the team energy. He’s a great prospect for the future. This is clearly a signal from the management of what ambitions this club has. Gagliardini is ready to play tomorrow, both on a physical and a psychological level.”
Are there still too many players in the squad? “Yes, but the club knows that and is working on a solution to fix the roster.”
Is Medel more of a defensive player today than he was at the beginning of the season? “Yes, but his double features can be of great convenicence to me, he’s a player to be trusted in both of his roles.”
Inter with Gagliardini is now more of a physical team, is this your idea of how a team should be? “There are two aspects that decides how good a team is: the technical and the physical one. The best teams are strong in both aspects. Football consists of duels and physicality, Gagliardini has both. We are all very happy to have him with us, now we have to make him grow.”
Is it correct to say that in this championship you cannot lose points agains teams like Chievo Verona? “It’s correct to say that we want to move up in the standings and that we have to continue to win games. Right now we are doing that, but we have to continue like this and think that every game is worth 3 points and those points can move us up in the standings.”
When you arrived people said that you were the “normalizer”, now you are the “enhancer”, correct? “We are only half-way in the championship, I believe there is still much work to do and the daily work will give us the possibilities to be competitive until 28th of May. When we are there we can sum up my work as well.”
What do you think about Chievo Verona? “It’s a team that doesn’t lose many games, they did last Sunday but they are solid, difficult and good at what they are doing. Before the game last Sunday they had the third best defence in the championship. We have to stay attentive and we have to have a good movement on the pitch, playing a pure and a precise football.”
You are here after 7 games that includes 5 victories, 1 draw and 1 loss. Can this Inter continue like this? How many points are needed for the third CL spot? “I think the team is still improving, but the margins are different now. With the work we are doing now, we can continue, but if we want to finish third we have to be at a much higher level. Last year Inter was third with 39 points, at the end Roma finished on that spot with 80 points. Therefore we have to get a lot of points from the remaining games of the season. After that we can see how many games Inter won, and I belive there are a lot of games to be won.”
Gagliardini is a “Mezzala” (an outside midfielder), do you see him in that role? “His best quality is how he moves and how he positions himself and that is really important for a midfielder. If you know where to be on the pitch, you don’t have a problem, football is made up of movement and covering space, it doesn’t matter how many midfielders you have. We always play with three. Gagliardini has an innate sense of position, playing a simple and effective football, he has the right pysicality and can give us so much energy. He’s available for the present and for the future of Inter.”
In the last couple of games Inter has scored many goals without allowing that many. Where can the team improve? “We have to get better in lasting the entire 95 minutes of a game. In some situations we don’t play as a team and sometimes we misread the situations. We have the quality to improve, I have very intelligent players. But we haven’t worked together for that long so there is still room for improvement.”
Can Medel start tomorrow? “He will be within the squad, after the final practice we will make our choices.”
Can the month of January be decisive since you are facing fairly “easy” teams? “The players know that every game is tough, he who thinks tomorrow’s game will be easy is up for a surprise. It’ll be a difficult game. The next couple of months every game is important.”
Is it important for you to have a midfielder that joins every section closer to Icardi? Is it more difficult to explain a 4-3-3 in comparison to a 4-2-3-1 or do you choose the model after the conditions? “We want more than one player to support Icardi, so I want movement on the pitch. It’s not difficult to explain the mechanisms of 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 because we give them the ideas and the concepts. They are adapted to each system.”
Jovetic is out, in attack there are still 6 players for 3 spots. Is there any room for Pinamonti? Is there any player on his way out? Will Gabigol go on loan for a couple of months? “In the offensive phase we are 7, Pinamonti will have a permanent position. I think it’s a good number and that there will be room for everybody. All that it takes is that you give 100% every day. Gabigol has the same possibilities as everyone else. I’m happy with the players I have at the moment so they will stay.”
The first half against Udinese was anything but good, what was the problem? “It wasn’t the central zone, but Udinese’s starting attacks on our right midfield. We were prepared to face situations like this. We have to be more compact and not fail on a technical level. If you lose possession you give your opponents the opportunity to hurt you bad. Tomorrow we have to be more precise in the descisions we take and also in our passing. Then we get a higer centre of gravity and can dominate the game.”
Who has to crank it up a notch in order to make Inter achieve the goals of this second phase of the season? “In Inter you should put your confidence on the field every day, the daily work gives you that opportunity. And if we want to move up in the standings, you only have to think about winning each game. Tomorrow we have another chance of doing that. The streak is interesting but needs to continue because we are chasing. Our future doesn’t only depend on us, tomorrow’s game, yes.”
