Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi says his team “didn’t underestimate” AC Milan ahead of this evening’s derby loss in Serie A.
The Nerazzurri coach reacted to the 2-1 loss in a press conference, as reported by FCInterNews.
Inter certainly came into this evening’s match as the favourites. At least on paper.
The Nerazzurri had won each of the last six derby matches against AC Milan.
And this season, Inter have been in better form than their city rivals. They’d yet to lose a match prior to this evening, including an impressive draw away to Manchester City.
However, the derby is often a fixture that sees the form book go out the window.
So it proved in this evening’s edition of the fixture.
Milan coach Paulo Fonseca changed his team up to try and counteract Inter. And the coach’s tactics worked perfectly, making life very difficult for Inter.
Inter Coach Inzaghi: “We Didn’t Underestimate AC Milan”
After the match, Inter coach Inzaghi said that “We prepared for it well.”
“We had a lack of sharpness both in and out of possession,” he continued. “It wasn’t the usual Inter.”
Inzaghi insisted that “We didn’t underestimate them.”
“We knew that Milan have pace and are great on the counter. We didn’t show much of what we prepared on the pitch.”
“We never gave the sense that we were a team,” Inzaghi admitted. “We should have done more.”
He continued that “Milan defended better. They deserved it more.”
Inzaghi called the contest “A subpar match.”
“After going 2-1 down we created a bit. But it wasn’t the usual Inter.”
“In the second half they had three great chances, and the substitutions changed little,” the Inter coach said.
“It’s a defeat that burns. We’ll analyze it and try and work on our errors.”
Asked if he thinks the players from the bench didn’t add enough, Inzaghi replied “Yes, but it’s not an excuse.”
“The team started the first and the second half badly. I’m the one responsible.”
And asked whether the fatigue from facing Manchester City in midweek was a factor, Inzaghi said “Milan faced Liverpool, also a great team.”
“We should’ve played more as a team,” he said. “Football doesn’t forgive, and we lost deservedly.”
As for Milan’s formation change, Inzaghi said that “We knew they’d play in a 4-2-4 since yesterday.”
“We were up against a team who didn’t concede after our equalizer, and started both halves better than us.”
