Spalletti: "We have to keep improving to live up to Nerazzurri history"

APPIANO GENTILE - It was the final press conference of the season for Luciano Spalletti who met the press at the Suning Training Centre in Memory of Angelo Moratti to offer a look back on the 2017-18 season. "Above all, I thank the club for having given me the chance to experience such things with these colours. It seems that they suit me! I thank those behind the scenes and the entire youth system which has been at our disposal all season. Stefano [Vecchi] has always given me the players needed in training to prepare for various match scenarios. I thank the fans because they’re the foundations of everything and it would have been difficult to build anything without them. They’re an important base for us from which we can start to build skyscrapers of victories. In Rome, it was a great feeling, I wanted to go back on the pitch to spend more time with the fans. I finally saw them happy. They deserved it." "The strength of the team that we had in front of us makes the result even more impressive. We were just able to get a nose in front of Lazio in the final minutes and it wasn’t simple. It took heart, skill and some good fortune to get where we finished. There were lots of important moments. The best was obviously the win at the Stadio Olimpico and the worst was the defeat to Juventus, above all because of how the match went. The moment from this season that I never wanted to experience was what happened to the Astori family, I knew them personally and I’m very close to them. In the final 20 minutes of Lazio vs. Inter, that strength of character has to be the spirit that we turn up with for the very first training session next season. Did you see how Ranocchia came on? He won’t leave Inter for as long as he wants to be here and for as long as I’m here. Inside the changing room, he’s an example for the others. He’s totally genuine and 100 per cent an Interista." "We’ve returned to the Champions League and we want to stay there. There are things that we can improve, therefore the aim is to keep going down this road to reduce the gap between ourselves and the sides ahead of us. We’ve already done a lot because you can see that the team has grown by looking at the statistics. The objectives are big at Inter because of the club’s history and the heartbeats of those who follow us. We must live up to these things. The club has already started to make moves and it’s done so well. However, we have to go back and look at the books because football has changed. The settlement agreement was signed by the previous administration and we have to respect the agreement without misleading the fans. We have to settle the accounts by the end of the month and then after, there will be the chance to invest once more. For example, we can’t sign Cancelo and Rafinha permanently at the moment but after, we’ll see." Spalletti then responded to questions about a new contract: "The club reaffirmed their desire to offer a new contract yesterday but I’m calm because I already have a contract, I’m very happy and nothing would have changed had we not finished fourth. To be here is a great responsibility and you can’t just sit here to earn two more years’ worth of salary. Therefore, there’s no rush." There were also comments on individual players. "Skriniar is a guy with great physical, personal and professional characteristics. He always looks calm and ready to approach any situation or opponent. Is it a new version of Brozovic? He improved by changing position, he’s really strong and a perfect player. He was used to playing as a mezz’ala but now he’s a totally different player. He’s shown that he can fight, he feels involved and he gave us a big hand for long spells to make us a strong team."