Conte: “I'm happy with what we've accomplished with passion and sacrifice”

APPIANO GENTILE – Inter’s 22nd league fixture of the season is just around the corner: at 20:45 CET on Sunday 2 February, the Nerazzurri will face Udinese at the Dacia Arena. Ahead of the match, Coach Antonio Conte spoke to the press at the Suning Training Centre and had the following to say: “We come into the game with the satisfaction of knowing that we’ve managed to reach the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, that’s despite the difficulties we had the day before as we looked to set up the side. We’ve trained well and the team are ready to play the match against Udinese. I’m expecting a tough match where a lot of effort will be required. Udinese caused us problems earlier on in the season, they’re a physical side with good players. It’ll be a difficult match, as they all are in Italy.”

He then looked at the situation ahead of the match: “Lautaro’s absence is a big one for us due to what he’s been doing and the understanding he’s found with Lukaku. However, this suspension gives those who have played fewer games an opportunity to make the most out of. One of Sanchez and Esposito will have to take to the pitch, I’ll play who I feel can give us more guarantees. I’m confident that they can do well. Brozovic returned to complete his first training session with the group yesterday. He’ll travel with us to Udine and we’ll evaluate things, all the while keeping in mind that he trained for the first time yesterday.

With the winter transfer market having closed yesterday, the Coach reflected on Inter’s business: “From the very first day, I explained what would happen during this transfer window: there would be a need to strike a balance between incomings and outgoings. This is exactly what happened. Eriksen wasn’t playing a lot for Tottenham, but he’s in a good condition. He completed his third session yesterday, today will be his fourth. He’s at the beginning of understanding our idea of football. We’ve spoken a lot with him in order to help him understand what we want from him. He’s a player who takes things on board quickly, so we’re happy to have him here. He’s a midfielder who possesses quality and vision, while he’s also capable of scoring. He joins a midfield that already has good characteristics. I’m happy that Young, Moses and Eriksen decided to come to Inter. Eriksen is a great coup for the Club because he’s a player that had options open to him. But he chose us, and this means that Inter are being viewed in the right way from the outside. We work to be seen with this prestige.”

Finally, Conte commented on the group and the Nerazzurri’s upcoming fixtures: “I’m pleased to be able to coach this group of players. I was sad to see those who left go. The new signings have arrived from a different league but are integrating well. We need to integrate them quickly because it’ll be important for them to feel at ease with us and create a strong group from within in order to tackle the external difficulties that will come our way. I’m happy to be working at Inter and pleased with what we’ve accomplished over the past six months. I’m happy that people have appreciated the work and the sacrifices we’ve made in addition to the passion and dedication that we’re all showing in order to bring Inter back to where the Club deserves to be.”