Conte: Italy has tactics problem

By Football Italia staff

Inter boss Antonio Conte has criticised the Italian Press for being too ‘fixated’ on formations. “They don’t give a damn in England!”

Conte has begun his Inter reign with a back three, and the Coach reacted angrily to being asked whether he would switch to a four-man defence against Slavia Prague in Tuesday’s Champions League opener.

“Do they say that I’m more a League coach than a European one? You live by clichés...” the former Chelsea boss said at a Press conference.

“As long as someone says something on TV, everyone goes after it. I’ve played in three Champions Leagues, but I always did so with new creations...

“Instead, others have with teams who are already established. That’s what we can say to pundits. Everyone here thinks I win whatever I touch, but it’s not true.

“Only in Italy are we fixated on formations. I’ve coached in England and they don’t give a damn over there.

“I want to see bravery and intensity, the things we’re trying to propose. The rest is all rubbish.

“Modern football evolves and you have to keep up with the times, even those who coached before and saw things differently.

“Enthusiasm isn’t tied to results but rather what we’re trying to do. Rome was not built in a day.

“We’re laying solid foundations for whoever comes after me. I hope to take advantage of this work one day.”

The ex-Juventus Coach was then asked about the threat posed by Slavia, as well as Romelu Lukaku’s fitness.

“Slavia come in from having won the Czech League, which is a competitive tournament.

“We’ll have to pay them great attention. If we have to fight, we’ll have to be good at it.

“As for Lukaku, there’s one more training session ahead of us and another 24 hours to make assessments.

“Certainly, if he plays it’s because he gave me the necessary guarantees. It’s not right to set limits because that would mean having excuses.

“We’ll see along the way how far we’ve come and what kind of objectives we can aspire to reach.

“We must become a stable team in terms of performance, just so we can aspire to reach something important and not go on a rollercoaster.”

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow