Stramaccioni hails Inter attitude

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni has praised his side’s ‘determination’ and ‘hard work’ after beating Fiorentina 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday.

The Nerazzurri picked up their first home win of the season following goals from Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano, and the 36-year-old manager was delighted with the performance of his men.

“Inter earned the victory by limiting the qualities of the opponent, who are very good at controlling the ball,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“I got a little angry because we left the game open despite having numerous chances. We should’ve killed it off, as a match like this is always full of potential pitfalls.”

The Italian also believes that Inter sinking to the bottom of the table was just the wake-up call his side needed.

“Hitting the bottom of the table was important for us, because it made us understand that we had to change something and go on to the field with a different attitude,” he said.

“Tonight we exhibited determination and hard work. It was a show of strength and of quality, above all because Fiorentina are such a dangerous side.”

Inter new boy Juan Jesus also featured in the game which saw the home side employ a 3-5-2 formation, but refused to be drawn on whether the shape of the team was key to victory.

“Are we better with a three-man defence? Whatever the boss wants is better, he’s the one who trains us,” he said.

“That’s how we want Inter to play. Now we just have to do it more consistently. We needed this first win at home and I must congratulate my team-mates on their performance tonight.”

Meanwhile, Fiorentina counterpart Vincenzo Montella defended his side’s performance, though he accepts his players made a number of costly mistakes.

Milito’s penalty was followed by Cassano’s strike, before Romulo pulled a goal back for the visitors.

However, Montella’s side were reduced to 10 men when Gonzalo Rodriguez was given a second yellow card and as a result they were unable to muster a late fightback.

“The team did not do badly, even if there were more mistakes than usual,” he said.

“We always took the initiative, even after going down to 10 men. Unfortunately we don’t finish chances off well and all our possession doesn’t lead to that many shots on goal.

“It is important that we always take the game to our opponents, but we must also learn to be more effective in front of goal.

“On the other hand, Inter were very practical, but that was no surprise. We could’ve done something more and this match has to serve as a lesson for the future.”

Montella also felt the loss of midfielder Alberto Aquilani affected his side and pointed to a lack of creativity for their problems.

“There’s a long way to go and a lot of work to be done, but there are some promising signs. We are missing Alberto Aquilani in midfield, as he can give us something more there,” he said.

“We do need a player who can score. We’ve got players who could do that and are working on them to improve these skills.”