Spalletti: "Excellent second half"

NANJING – Luciano Spalletti declared himself satisfied with the second-half performance against Lyon this afternoon, as Inter are beginning to look more and more like his side.

"The team were very structured," he began. "In the first half, we made some mistakes trying to win back the ball and made some pointless runs, but after half-time we did well to defend higher up the pitch and our positioning was better.

"We won 1-0 and could easily have scored more," Spalletti continued, "but the most important thing was our balance on the pitch. We kept the right distances between defence, midfield and attack, as well as between individual players.

"The best way to defend is to attack and when you win the ball, you have to stay tight to pass it around easily. I saw all of this today, in the second half especially. From my point of view, this is the best possible outcome. In football these days, you go to training, work with the ball and the next day you play. If there’s a way to recover in this sport, it’s by keeping good possession during games."

The squad now leave China and are embarking on the second leg of the Summer Tour in Singapore.

"The stadium was packed today and the fans showed so much passion and appreciation for what they saw on the pitch," the Tuscan coach concluded in praise of the local support. "I want to emphasise the enthusiasm for football there is in China. We’ve had an incredible welcome and seen amazing passion. The sport can only get more popular here. Now I better understand why so many Chinese investors want to get involved in football, given the interest in this part of the world."