De Boer grateful for support from Inter owners

Inter coach Frank de Boer has expressed his gratitude at being given public backing from the club’s owners despite poor results in Serie A this season.

De Boer’s men face Sampdoria on Sunday having broken a run of four league games without a win with a 2-1 victory over Torino on Wednesday and Inter CEO Michael Bolingbroke said this week that the club’s owners are “100 per cent” behind the Dutchman.

Speaking at the club’s shareholders’ meeting, Bolingbroke insisted there were no plans to replace De Boer despite agents being in touch about their clients and his sentiments were also supported by sporting director Piero Ausilio.

“The club’s backing is always very important for a project,” De Boer said at his pre-match press conference. “It allows you to relax a touch.

“It’s not only important for the coaching staff but for the players too. It’s great to work in an environment like this when you feel the owners’ support.

“I’d give myself 7/10 because I can look everyone in the eye. We’ve come a long way already and we’ve made great progress. Clearly there have been ups and downs, but we’ve made great strides forward and know where we want to get to.”

De Boer called for his players to show the same discipline against Sampdoria as they did in their win over Torino, when a brace from captain Mauro Icardi secured all three points.

“We have to play with the same approach against Sampdoria,” De Boer said. “Tomorrow I want to see the same discipline that we showed against Southampton [in the Europa League] and Torino.

“It’s important to play as a compact unit and we want to show the fans that we’re all pulling in the same direction. When we work like that, we come away with points. It’s important that the players grasp that.

“I want to see the same intensity in every match. I was a bit angry because our approach at Atalanta was all wrong and then we responded against Torino.

“We must produce more consistent performances but, based on what I saw on Wednesday night, we’re not far off what I’m looking for – my footballing philosophy.”