Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi is backing midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu to improve his condition ahead of today’s Derby d’Italia clash with Juventus.
The coach spoke to Italian broadcaster DAZN, via FCInterNews, ahead of the match.
Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has been back in action since the start of February.
The Turk made his return to the pitch after missing much of January through injury. First, a hamstring problem, and then a calf strain.
Naturally, it has taken Calhanoglu some time to get back to his best.
The 31-year-old was certainly showing some rust in Serie A outings against the likes of AC Milan and Fiorentina.
Moreover, Calhanoglu has had a couple other minor physical problems this season.
And there is a sense that this has detracted from the form of a player who earned the title of best midfielder in Serie A last season.
Calhanoglu went off at halftime in last Monday’s win over Fiorentina. There was a sense that this owed partly to a yellow card he’d received, and partly to a lack of rhythm and sharpness.
“We know how important he is for us,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
“He’s had a few too many injuries, which haven’t been that serious but which have still slowed him down.”
“But he’s doing well in training,” Inzaghi said of Calhanoglu.
The Inter coach noted that “He played an important part of the match.”
“We know that his condition will improve,” the Nerazzurri coach backed Calhanoglu.
Meanwhile, Inzaghi confirmed that striker Marcus Thuram is “still feeling pain.”
“He’s an important player for us, we’ll have to see if we can get him back.”
“In the last few days he’s been working on his own in training,” Inzaghi confirmed of Thuram. “We’ll see if we can get him back.”
Inzaghi then confirmed that striker Marko Arnautovic “trained with the team, he’s available.”
“Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries are also back,” the Inter coach said.
And Inzaghi said that having a week off without a midweek match is “certainly important” for Inter.
“The players had a day off,” the Nerazzurri coach noted. “That’s something that they haven’t since November.”
“And we had five days to work in training so that we can try to have a great match.”
Meanwhile, Inzaghi called Inter’s opponents this evening Juventus “a great team, who strengthened in the January transfer window.”
Meanwhile, Inzaghi called Bianconeri coach Thiago Motta “a top coach, who I respect.”
“They had some problems at first, due to a lot of injuries,” Inzaghi said of Juventus. “But they’re a very well-organized team who have won three matches in a row.”
The Nerazzurri coach anticipated that “We need a great Inter performance.”
