Conte: 'Inter can't cruise to wins'

By Football Italia staff

Antonio Conte warned Inter’s 1-1 draw with Lecce is proof that they depend on intensity. “If we go into cruise speed, we can’t bring home the points.”

The Nerazzurri were held to their second consecutive Serie A stalemate, after another 1-1 with Atalanta, and risk falling off the Scudetto pace.

“We are a team who have to go at 100km/h. If someone is below par, or off the pace, we cannot afford that and will end up drawing a game we comfortably should’ve brought home,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

“If we hold an average pace, we cannot get victories. We had to go at full pelt throughout the first half of the season. Once we don’t do that, we become a perfectly normal team.

“We did well at the start of the season to keep the revs up constantly, and I underlined that many times. If we go into cruise speed, we don’t have what it takes to bring home the points.”

Fabio Liverani moved Lecce to a 3-4-1-2 formation in order to mirror Inter’s system.

“Lecce sat very deep, tried to cover the spaces and it becomes difficult to break through a team that is so very deep. When we did manage to get through, we were not precise enough in front of goal.

“It’s not easy when there are two apparently similar tactical systems facing off. The problem was not Jacopo Petriccione’s position in covering the defence, but rather than we weren’t determined enough when we did create chances.”

Conte was asked about the on-going reports Christian Eriksen will come to Inter from Tottenham Hotspur.

“I never said anything unusual about the January transfer marking making it difficult for all coaches. Every time I say something, it always gets amplified or twisted by the media.

“I repeat, I am happy with these players. The club is making its evaluations, we must try to keep working if we want to maintain a solid points average.

“The club has to decide if it wants to do something, if it wants to do it at a good price for the market or take a different approach. I am just a coach, I leave that to them.”

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