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Cape Town - Inter Milan produced another lacklustre performance in the
Italian Serie A as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Udinese on Sunday,
and coach Roberto Mancini was not at all satisfied with the outcome.
Mancini was particularly perturbed by the fact his team managed to squander an early lead, which was established when Mauro Icardi opened the home team’s account just before the half-time intermission.
However, during the second stanza the Inter defence was breached twice and as a result the Nerazzurri have now slipped to 12th position in the top-flight standings.
This was compounded by the fact the club has only managed to collect two points in its last five matches. To suggest that the situation is rather grave would be an understatement of epic proportions.
"We should’ve scored more goals in the first half, then we opened up too much after the break," Mancini is quoted as saying by Football411.
"We played excellently in the first half, pushing forward with aggression. We should’ve scored more than we did, because we created a lot of chances. In the second half, there was a fifteen-minute period where we gave Udinese far too much room," added Mancini.
The Inter mentor said it was critical that his players learned to better understand what is required at various stages in the match.
Mancini indicated that his players allowed momentum to be lost during a critical period of play on Sunday and they were ultimately punished for their failure to keep control of the game.
"Conceding goals is part of football, but games last 90 minutes. We scored first tonight (Sunday) and then let in an equaliser. At that point, we should’ve gone back to playing as we had done in the first half, but we couldn’t manage it.
"I don’t think it’s a question of fatigue, we just need to understand that there are various phases during football matches. Maybe the goals hit our morale - that can’t happen. We opened up too much and the defence was too deep."
"One goal shouldn’t change our attitude. I’m delighted with the first half, but I’m very angry about the defeat. You’re always going to sustain some blows over the 90 minutes of a football match, but a real team shouldn’t collapse. Even in Rome, it shouldn’t have turned out how it did," added Mancini.
The Inter Milan coach is nevertheless confident that there will be a reversal of fortunes as the season progresses and thinks that a considerable amount can still be salvaged from this campaign. However, he did highlight that a tremendous amount of work would be required if those objectives were to be realised.
"The only thing we can do is roll up our sleeves and get to work. Sooner or later, things will change. I believe in what we’re doing because we played well in the first half and we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks. But ultimately we need to show more quality, because we let Udinese back into the game," concluded Mancini.
Mancini was particularly perturbed by the fact his team managed to squander an early lead, which was established when Mauro Icardi opened the home team’s account just before the half-time intermission.
However, during the second stanza the Inter defence was breached twice and as a result the Nerazzurri have now slipped to 12th position in the top-flight standings.
This was compounded by the fact the club has only managed to collect two points in its last five matches. To suggest that the situation is rather grave would be an understatement of epic proportions.
"We should’ve scored more goals in the first half, then we opened up too much after the break," Mancini is quoted as saying by Football411.
"We played excellently in the first half, pushing forward with aggression. We should’ve scored more than we did, because we created a lot of chances. In the second half, there was a fifteen-minute period where we gave Udinese far too much room," added Mancini.
The Inter mentor said it was critical that his players learned to better understand what is required at various stages in the match.
Mancini indicated that his players allowed momentum to be lost during a critical period of play on Sunday and they were ultimately punished for their failure to keep control of the game.
"Conceding goals is part of football, but games last 90 minutes. We scored first tonight (Sunday) and then let in an equaliser. At that point, we should’ve gone back to playing as we had done in the first half, but we couldn’t manage it.
"I don’t think it’s a question of fatigue, we just need to understand that there are various phases during football matches. Maybe the goals hit our morale - that can’t happen. We opened up too much and the defence was too deep."
"One goal shouldn’t change our attitude. I’m delighted with the first half, but I’m very angry about the defeat. You’re always going to sustain some blows over the 90 minutes of a football match, but a real team shouldn’t collapse. Even in Rome, it shouldn’t have turned out how it did," added Mancini.
The Inter Milan coach is nevertheless confident that there will be a reversal of fortunes as the season progresses and thinks that a considerable amount can still be salvaged from this campaign. However, he did highlight that a tremendous amount of work would be required if those objectives were to be realised.
"The only thing we can do is roll up our sleeves and get to work. Sooner or later, things will change. I believe in what we’re doing because we played well in the first half and we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks. But ultimately we need to show more quality, because we let Udinese back into the game," concluded Mancini.
