Leonardo brushes off Inter defensive difficulties
ROME: Inter Milan coach Leonardo denied his side have a problem in defence after they launched a remarkable comeback to defeat Palermo 3-2 at the San Siro.
Fabrizio Miccoli and Antonio Nocerino gave Palermo a 2-0 half-time lead while Javier Pastore hit the post and had a penalty saved as the Sicilians threatened to overrun their illustrious hosts.
But debutant Giampaolo Pazzini scored a brace as a second half substitute and Samuel Eto'o scored the winner from the penalty spot as the champions kept their Serie A title hopes alive.
They sit nine points behind leaders and bitter city rivals AC Milan but with a game in hand.
And although they have scored 19 goals in the Brazilian coach's eight games in charge, they have leaked 12.
Under predecessor Rafael Benitez, Inter conceded only 14 goals in 15 league games, with Leonardo that figure is 10 in just six.
However, the former Milan boss denies they have a problem at the back.
"We gave away chances at the back, it's true, but that's because it wasn't easy to reorganise ourselves after conceding an early goal," he said.
"The balance, however, can also come from a team that is heavily weighted in attack if you score more goals than you concede.
"However, in this game the key aspect in the lack of tactical balance was the goal conceded after five minutes.
"At Napoli in the Cup we were compact, organised and we didn't concede."
The flip side is that while under Benitez Inter struggled to score, with Leonardo they are firing them in at a rate of more than two goals a game.
They have scored 16 goals in Leonardo's first six league games, whereas they took 14 games to pass that mark under Benitez.
On Sunday they were boosted by a dream debut for Pazzini.
"Coming back in a game like this and winning it sends out an amazing signal," added Leonardo.
"And maybe not even Pazzini could have dreamed of a debut like this, wi! th Pazzi ni (whose name means crazy little one) Inter are more crazy than ever.
"Now in attack we have many options, excellent players who are all different.
"Pazzini did really well, but so did the others. They're forwards who compliment each other, also in terms of sacrificing themselves.
"In that respect Eto'o showed enthusiasm in helping the team during the fight back."
Pazzini himself admitted he had never imagined such a spectacular debut.
"It was impossible to imagine a day like this, it seems like a dream, a fantastic afternoon, it will be difficult to forget it," he said.
"We've shown we're still in the running (for the scudetto), as I said (before) this team is not satisfied with what it's already done, we still have a lot of desire to win."
Leonardo claimed he never doubted his team's ability to fight back and insisted that even had they not won, it would be too early to write them out of the title reckoning.
"It was a great game, really wonderful. I never thought we'd lose because of the way the team reacted to Palermo's goals, because of how they reacted in the dressing room at half-time and because of the optimism that exists within this group.
"(Captain Javier) Zanetti said in the tunnel when we were behind 'we'll win this game', and that's what happened.
"But even if it had been a different result, I don't think we'd have been out of anything."
Fabrizio Miccoli and Antonio Nocerino gave Palermo a 2-0 half-time lead while Javier Pastore hit the post and had a penalty saved as the Sicilians threatened to overrun their illustrious hosts.
But debutant Giampaolo Pazzini scored a brace as a second half substitute and Samuel Eto'o scored the winner from the penalty spot as the champions kept their Serie A title hopes alive.
They sit nine points behind leaders and bitter city rivals AC Milan but with a game in hand.
And although they have scored 19 goals in the Brazilian coach's eight games in charge, they have leaked 12.
Under predecessor Rafael Benitez, Inter conceded only 14 goals in 15 league games, with Leonardo that figure is 10 in just six.
However, the former Milan boss denies they have a problem at the back.
"We gave away chances at the back, it's true, but that's because it wasn't easy to reorganise ourselves after conceding an early goal," he said.
"The balance, however, can also come from a team that is heavily weighted in attack if you score more goals than you concede.
"However, in this game the key aspect in the lack of tactical balance was the goal conceded after five minutes.
"At Napoli in the Cup we were compact, organised and we didn't concede."
The flip side is that while under Benitez Inter struggled to score, with Leonardo they are firing them in at a rate of more than two goals a game.
They have scored 16 goals in Leonardo's first six league games, whereas they took 14 games to pass that mark under Benitez.
On Sunday they were boosted by a dream debut for Pazzini.
"Coming back in a game like this and winning it sends out an amazing signal," added Leonardo.
"And maybe not even Pazzini could have dreamed of a debut like this, wi! th Pazzi ni (whose name means crazy little one) Inter are more crazy than ever.
"Now in attack we have many options, excellent players who are all different.
"Pazzini did really well, but so did the others. They're forwards who compliment each other, also in terms of sacrificing themselves.
"In that respect Eto'o showed enthusiasm in helping the team during the fight back."
Pazzini himself admitted he had never imagined such a spectacular debut.
"It was impossible to imagine a day like this, it seems like a dream, a fantastic afternoon, it will be difficult to forget it," he said.
"We've shown we're still in the running (for the scudetto), as I said (before) this team is not satisfied with what it's already done, we still have a lot of desire to win."
Leonardo claimed he never doubted his team's ability to fight back and insisted that even had they not won, it would be too early to write them out of the title reckoning.
"It was a great game, really wonderful. I never thought we'd lose because of the way the team reacted to Palermo's goals, because of how they reacted in the dressing room at half-time and because of the optimism that exists within this group.
"(Captain Javier) Zanetti said in the tunnel when we were behind 'we'll win this game', and that's what happened.
"But even if it had been a different result, I don't think we'd have been out of anything."
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