Milan Skriniar Credits Antonio Conte and Inter for Personal Growth

Milan Skriniar commented Inter’s and his own success in recent months, plauded the work of coach Antonio Conte and did not deny last summer’s transfer market rumors in an interview with Tuttosport. He is fresh off the deciding goal against Atalanta that strengthened Inter’s grip on the title: “This is a very balanced season compared to the last few years, we are happy to be on top, now we must stay there until the end.”

He indicated the elimination from Champions League as a turning point: “It stung a lot, but it is in the past now. We only have one objective, but it is major one. This is no longer the ‘Pazza (Crazy) Inter’, it is Conte’s squad. He changed a lot of things, we are more structured now, everybody defends and participates to the build-up. We learn something useful in every game. Probably not everybody likes our style, but only winning matters, even if you do not play that well.”

On his early struggles with the new scheme: “I had never featured in a five-man back-line before and had some troubles adjusting to it at the beginning. However, Conte conveys what he wants to the players very well and that improves you little by little every day. He deserves a lot of credit for making me a more complete defender.”

Skriniar was linked to Tottenham last summer: “I was not very happy because I was not getting regular minutes, but I wanted to stay at Inter. I won the starting job back through hard work.”

In other Inter news, Arturo Vidal will miss about a month because of a torn meniscus in the left knee.