Conte: "I'm 300 per cent focused on Inter"

MILAN - AntonioConte couldn’t hope for a better first match after Inter beat Lecce 4-0 in the first match of the 2019-20 Serie A TIM season thanks to goals from Brozovic, Sensi, Lukaku and Candreva.

The Inter Coach was keeping his feet on the ground though and his attention immediately turned to what can be improved. “We need to manage moments in the game better and be consistent,” he said. “We started very strongly and created a lot of chances in the first half but then we were a bit disunited before the break and a bit stretched at the start of the second half before taking back control of the game. I’m happy but there are certainly things to be improved because we were only convincing in certain spells. We can and must mature because at points, we let ourselves get carried away in the game rather than controlling it.”

“When I go to our training ground and see this group of players, I’m happy to work with them. They have the characteristics to play this kind of football. We need to improve but we’ve only been working for a month and a half. The important thing is that individuals buy in to the idea of collective play, my idea of football isn’t about individual passages of play and everyone must do what we work on in training. The guys are doing this and I’m happy when we have nights like this as a result. This group has a great margin for improvement. I’ve found great guys here, they’re men who have made themselves available and a Coach can only be happy with this.”

Finally, his relationship with the supporters: “It was very emotional but the response was very natural. When you start on a new journey, you want to win over the environment but I always give my all, in training and in matches. I’m 300 per cent focused on Inter because I totally commit to the causes that I take on. I’m happy for the fans, we don’t want to lose all this enthusiasm we find around us.”