Milan defender Philippe Mexes says he respects Coach Pippo Inzaghi, despite playing only one game for the Rossoneri this season.
Milan defender Philippe Mexes says he respects Coach Pippo Inzaghi, despite playing only one game for the Rossoneri this season.
Inzaghi took over the Rossoneri bench in the summer, after Clarence Seedorf’s dismissal. After a good start, Milan have struggled recently under the former striker, and currently sit seventh in the League.
Mexes made his first appearance of the season for the club at the weekend in a 2-2 draw with Sampdoria” data-scaytid=”12″>Sampdoria, but despite his lack of playing time has underlined his respect for the Coach.
“My relationship with him is like it was with Clarence,” Mexes has explained to Sky.
“I played with him when he was a player and I have so much respect for him because he won so much, has so much experience and he transmits that, it’s a strength.
“It’s also hard when you have such a big squad, there are a lot of us, but what’s important is to have a group which wants to win games.
“If you have that it shouldn’t matter whether one guy or another plays.
“Pippo, like Clarence didn’t have much confidence, but I can see that slowly developing too.”
Milan will take on Inter in the Derby della Madonnina after this week’s international break, with both San Siro clubs struggling, making the 213th meeting of the sides a make-or-break game for their respective seasons.
“We need to get as many points as possible,” Mexes admitted.
“The team has ability to be higher in the table, we need to be closer to the top three.
“We’ve drawn so many times in games we should have won, we need to win to stay up there.
“We know we are a good team, and we can do better, we just lack a bit of steel.
“[The derby] will be a good game, but Milan will win if we have the attitude we’ve always had, with desire, determination and a little more ruthlessness.”
Mexes also discussed the struggles of striker Fernando Torres, who has managed just one Serie A goal since joining on a two year loan from Chelsea.
“Torres just needs one goal and he’ll explode.
“He’s working like crazy, trying everything. It’s not easy, because of people’s expectations. People expect strikers to unlock games.”