Inter Coach Antonio Conte: “Christian Eriksen Will Start When I Consider It To Be Appropriate” | OneFootball

Inter coach Antonio Conte expects a very difficult match when his Nerazzurri team travel to Rome to face Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in the Serie A, with kick-off scheduled for 20.45 CET tomorrow night, when speaking to the press during the official pre match press conference concluded earlier today.

“It’s definitely a game with a high degree of difficulty. Lazio are real contenders in the Italian league, they won the Coppa Italia last year and the Supercoppa this season.

“They’ve grown a lot, always keeping hold of their strongest players. Last but not least there’s the excellent work of Inzaghi, it’s inevitable that there has been improvement in recent years.

“I think it’s a game between two outsiders. For me that’s the best definition.”

The former Chelsea and Juventus coach then went on to explain why he refuses to start the matches with January signing from Tottenham, Danish international midfielder Christian Eriksen.

“He’s working with us, he’s definitely understanding more and more what we want from him. As I’ve said from the start, letting him play from the beginning was something I’ve never done in my career.

“Against Udinese some people spoke of a bad performance on his part. It’s normal, I was forced to put him in that situation. Having him play as he is now is the best thing because he can affect things when he comes on.

“We’ll see him from the start in the coming games, when I consider it appropriate.”

Conte was then asked to give his opinion on the proposition made by the Italian FA about introducing challenges to VAR during the matches to avoid refereeing errors.

“I don’t like it because I don’t have to call anyone. If the situation is clear they have to see it. We already have so many things to think about during a match.

“I happen to see the game on TV and the image is clear enough to make a fairly uniform decision. I think it’s pointless, there are images.”

The former Italian national team coach then went on to talk about the Nerazzurri’s form of late after having first won a 6 goal thriller against AC Milan only to come crashing down to earth in a 1-0 defeat to Napoli in the Coppa Italia midweek after a lackluster performance.

“Against Milan and Napoli we played two totally different matches. With the Rossoneri it was open and there could have been even more goals. Against Napoli it was different, Napoli went for a defensive strategy and obtained a very good result.

“To see a good match it takes two, we had chances to score and our decision making in the final third wasn’t the best. However, there was chances to hurt them.

Conte then moved on to Sunday’s opponent Lazio whom he respects highly both on and off the pitch.

“We’ve seen both games and now comes another against a very strong team who are ahead in their work compared to us, because they’ve been together for longer and have built a team that’s always getting stronger. The credit goes to their President and CEO, who are doing an excellent job.”

Conte was asked about the physical status of injured goalkeeper and captain Samir Handanovic but could not give a timeline regarding when the Slovenian will be back.

“Regarding Handanovic’s status I have always referred this to the medical staff. As for the rest I can say that it is a strange season, we have 6-7 trauma injuries and it is difficult control these numbers during the season.

“Usually the injuries are muscular injuries. We are still in February, I hope to have everyone available because it is important for us. We have many matches left.”