Vincenzo Montella insists Fiorentina fully deserved at least a draw against Inter, but admits his job isn’t secure yet. “I will always be under pressure.”
It looked as if his tenure would be over when Borja Valero gave Inter the lead, but deep into stoppages, Dusan Vlahovic ran from his own half to score a stunning equaliser.
This 1-1 draw ends a run of four consecutive Serie A defeats for the Viola.
Vincenzo Montella insists Fiorentina fully deserved at least a draw against Inter, but admits his job isn’t secure yet. “I will always be under pressure.”
It looked as if his tenure would be over when Borja Valero gave Inter the lead, but deep into stoppages, Dusan Vlahovic ran from his own half to score a stunning equaliser.
This 1-1 draw ends a run of four consecutive Serie A defeats for the Viola.
“It is a very important result, of course three points would’ve been better, but we were against a very strong side. It would’ve been painful and unfair to lose a game like this, although we’ve lost some like that before this season,” Montella told Sky Sport Italia.
“We were always in the game, it’s a great Dusan goal and I even hoped we could win it at the end. When he started the run, I thought he was going to score and I am very happy for him. This kid will go far, as he is eager to work hard and make sacrifices.
“I put my faith in him from last season, we expect perhaps a little too much from him, but it feels tonight as if the work has paid off. We reaped what we sowed with this lad.
“We must realise that the team spirit can make the difference. As I said before, if we have a complete squad, then we are very competitive, but we have to be complete.
“Franck Ribery was out, Martin Caceres has been squeezed to the last drop, Federico Chiesa is still not fully fit and had a knock. We had to work very hard for this result.
“Gaetano Castrovilli had a muscular issue, he grit his teeth and played as long as he could. He is the player who can provide the change of pace, but in the second half, he wasn’t able to do it.
“Milan Badelj isn’t fully fit either, so the only one who is really able to run hard is Erick Pulgar. We put in a lot of crosses, but didn’t fill the penalty area with enough bodies.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose at all, that’s the view I had from the touchline. I thought we at the very least played on a par with Inter.”
Does Montella feel that his job is safe, or will the next match against Roma be decisive?
“I cannot know the answer to that. I will always be under pressure, that’s the nature of the job. If the club hasn’t made that step so far, despite pressure from the outside, it means they believe in me. At the same time, I am well aware that four consecutive defeats are unacceptable.”