Inter coach remains coy over defensive formation

13 September 2011 17:30

Inter Milan coach Gian Piero Gasperini refused to discuss changing his defensive system of a back three ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Trabzonspor at the San Siro.

Gasperini came in for fierce criticism following his side's 4-3 defeat at Palermo on Sunday in their opening Serie A match of the season.

But he has kept fans and rivals guessing over whether he will ditch his preferred formation for a more regular back four.

"We'll see, the appointment is at 20.45 (on Wednesday). It will depend a lot on the situation and our opponents," Gasperini told a press conference here Tuesday.

"You move on from the best things you did and try to maintain those while moving on from the errors you made, including some huge ones, trying not to repeat them.

"We'll try to work as hard as we can so we improve and put in a different type of performance."

Gasperini, however, refused to accept that his back three was the main problem against Palermo.

"The worst thing was that we were too vulnerable to counter-attacks, we have to work on our lack of balance," he said.

"But we mustn't forget there were also positives, although obviously after a game like the one against Palermo things need to be rectified.

"We were ragged and had little balance but we can solve that regardless of the formation, which has it's value but isn't determinant.

"Everyone has to support the defence together and anyway I've always said that with me Inter will have to have two ways of playing.

"It's silly to reduce every issue to a question about the formation. What we need is to find the right balance."

Inter president Massimo Moratti, however, suggested he believes a change could be in order.

"We all took it badly, starting I believe with the coach," said Moratti about the Palermo defeat.

"And so I think he will be the first, without need of encouragement, to look for the necessary remedies, if only to put the team in a position to regain its confidence.

"He will be the one to decide if it's time to change (the system), but I think it is."

Experienced Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso admitted Inter had made a "false start" to their league campaign but called for calm.

"What's the problem? We lost a match, does that mean which should change everything from the president to the programme-seller?" asked Cambiasso.

"I really don't understand what we're talking about here. We lost, no-one's trying to shirk their responsibilities and make excuses, but we need to stay calm.

"For me there's no problem, we've only lost one game and we might still lose more.

"It's a false start but not an affair of the state. Now we're thinking about the Champions League and about not having another false start.

"It's pointless to get worked up talking about a defensive system of three or four defenders, you defend with 10 people in a team.

"It seems a little simplified to analyse football based on this. I've played in winning teams with a back four but also in losing teams with a back four.

"Football is a lot more complicated than this."

Source: AFP