MILAN – "Are Inter a bit inconsistent? It’s not easy to play 90 minutes the same way every time. Especially when you’re up against a Cagliari side that operates so well on the pitch. I congratulate them on their game. They play good football and made some really brave choices," stated Nerazzurri coach Walter Mazzarri after the draw.
"They can hurt you with their players. We did a good job containing their counterattacks. Unfortunately today as well things went badly as far as certain episodes were concerned."
"Thohir? We were all a bit angry, myself most of all. Also because we tried everything today to bag the three points at home, which we deserved. It’s been a strange season. After two wins everyone was talking about the third one today, and it seemed as if we had become a bit full of ourselves. But I couldn’t have asked for more from these lads. Let’s hope things change.
"In Florence we were the ones who took the lead. Had that happened again today we would have seen a different match. As I’ve already stated, Cagliari were excellent. They came here to play. We managed to draw level, but we couldn’t manage to score the second, despite creating so many chances.
"The changes? They were made for a reason. It helps to send on fresh players to add something to the performance. There was also that chance for Palacio from Guarin’s ball. Avramov made a great save and it didn’t work out for us…
"Hernanes is a player in peak form. He helps the other players feel confident, and he’s always there in important moments. He takes free kicks and corners. We missed him today, but we still created a lot. Obviously he’s someone who can create a winner for you.
On the play that led to Cagliari’s penalty: "As I’ve already stated many times, I’ll leave it to you to discuss the referees, thank you. I didn’t talk about them last Sunday when we got a call in our favour, and I’m not going to talk about them today either.
Regarding the foul on Icardi after the Argentine had hit the crossbar: "It was so obvious… How could I possibly say otherwise? It was too clear not to say it. Icardi would have easily put it in the open net, but the defender pushed him and prevented him from shooting…
"Icardi? His playing time is increasing. We’ll evaluate during the week and see if he’ll be able to be a starter.
Given the yellow card situations for Nagatomo and Jonathan, could D’Ambrosio be an option? "When Jonathan and Nagatomo are in such good form their yellow cards don’t matter. Should either of them receive a suspension then I’ll look at other options at that point. Had either of them picked up another booking then perhaps I would have considered him during the week."