CATANIA - "Before the game we said that we had to get some points, and we were on our way to doing that so it hurts to be going home empty-handed," began Claudio Ranieri after the Catania v Inter match.
"We were compact, solid, excellent in the first half but in the second we let them hit us on the break twice, which we shouldn't have. We needed to remain tighter together like in the first half but we weren't able to do that. Things aren't going for us at the moment. We saw that when Catania pushed up we struggled, then their equaliser made us lose our shape, it shook us up. We wanted to get straight back at them but we lost our shape. We knew Catania would be aggressive after the break, we spoke about it in the dressing room. I'll have a word with the lads to try and find out if it's a problem of mentality, confidence or form," added the coach.
"We did the difficult part by taking the lead," he went on, "but then we let them hit us on the counter-attack even though we were ahead. We do well when space is tight but find it harder when spaces open up. It's not easy for the younger players like Alvarez and Zarate to come into the side when things aren't going well. The team kept trying until the end today. We must remain calm and keep working. No one here is jumping ship; we just have to stick together. No one is happy. We have to respond and get ourselves back up there. It won't happen overnight but at the same time we have to get a move on. The lads are as upset as I am. We need to improve athletically and tactically. And get some of our injured players back. Unfortunately Samuel got injured today as well. Will he make it for Lille? I don't know but with the match in three days' time and given the way he hobbled off... We'll find out after the tests tomorrow."
Ranieri was also asked to comment on the penalty awarded to Catania by Orsato: "I don't know how much contact there is or how much the Catania player is already falling. We aren't getting the rub of the green at the moment. It's not a scandal that the referee gave a penalty because it's difficult to see that the keeper had pulled his hands away and the boy was already on his way to the ground. Overall the referee managed the game well. Without blaming the referee at all - who as I said performed very well - we aren't getting the luck in these episodes. We obviously don't deserve it at the moment but I want to add that we're not acting like victims, it's just the period we're in. When the referee is excellent I can accept a mistake on a certain episode, even if we did have to pay for it. We can see the player dived but I understand that at normal speed you might give a penalty. There's nothing untoward and there's no paranoia. We have to look at ourselves and not clutch at the referee's actions."
The coach was also quizzed about Sneijder: "He should be ok for the Champions League but obviously not having all the players to work with is a worry, just it worries me that I don't have a few more days to work with the team together to get them playing better. We can expect another tough game in Lille."
