Pioli bemoans lack of quality in Napoli defeat

MILAN – After Inter’s 1-0 home defeat to Napoli, which was decided by Jose Callejon’s goal, Stefano Pioli had this to say about the team’s performance: "We knew that Napoli are a tough opponent – we needed greater precision. We made a bad mistake and the match became more of a challenge for us. We had some difficulties but the team showed the right attitude. Unfortunately, we’re going through a period in which we’re lacking a bit of accuracy and dynamism, compared to how we were before. I think we saw a reaction this evening from the team, but we were a bit short on quality. We were always in the game and kept fighting. We should have done better to break through their pressing and hurt them. We didn’t manage to do that too often.

"In the last few games, we’ve had issues with staying compact, but that wasn’t a problem today. Today we lacked quality in our build up and speed in our passing. This performance was different to previous ones. Of course, we can do better and we’ll look to get back to our previous levels. We’re paying the consequences of the previous two games – the defeat against Crotone and the last-minute draw in the derby. That should have been an impulse to turn things around. I’ve seen that the players want to get the season back on track in these last few games. The league isn’t over and we’re not too far away from European qualification.

"I’ve never lacked support from the club. We’ve had a good run of results but in the last few games, results have not been so good. It doesn’t mean we need to tear it all up and start from scratch – we’re at the beginning of a new cycle. I think this is a good foundation on which to build something great. Clearly, we need to choose the right additions but we have players here that can help Inter grow. It might seem like we’re really far away from the top, but if we go back to one month ago we can see what kind of ability this team has."