Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Roberto Mancini pleased with Milan derby draw, wants Inter improvement

Roberto Mancini was pleased to come away with a 1-1 draw against AC Milan from his first game back in charge of Inter Milan, but says his team must now be quick to adopt his ideas.

A point against their city rivals on Sunday was a solid start to Mancini's second spell at the club, and while the very same result would have been met with boos from Inter fans had it been under the guidance of his predecessor Walter Mazzarri, Mancini was given applause for a result which still leaves the Nerazzurri two points adrift of the top six.

The former Manchester City manager can enjoy plenty of credit with the Inter fans for what he achieved in his first spell in charge -- when he won three consecutive scudettos -- but he does not want the team's indifferent form to drag on too long.

"I never thought that I would be able to change things in just five days -- I don't have a magic wand -- but our objective has got to be to win as many games as we can, as quickly as we can," Mancini said at the San Siro. "We've got to work on our defence and improve our attack.

"If [Mauro] Icardi had scored that [chance] at the start of the game, for example, it would have been a different derby. We need to take our chances."

Mancini's work will begin with rediscovering the form of Mateo Kovacic and Fredy Guarin, two of his side's most technically gifted players.

"Kovacic is still young and we mustn't put him under too much pressure," he said. "He's got to learn through making errors, otherwise you can't get better. He needs to understand that he can't always have eight touches and that he must also play it simple. We've got to work on that.

"I'm pleased with the way Guarin played, but we lost possession too often and that shouldn't happen and that is where Guarin comes in. He can do other things too, but his position is just inside the wingers."

Meanwhile, Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi found a role for Stephan El Shaarawy in his side, but is struggling to coax Fernando Torres into goalscoring form.

El Shaarawy could have won the derby when faced with only Samir Handanovic to beat late on but his shot struck the crossbar, though Inzaghi was not about to change his ways and blame the Italy international.

"I'm sorry for Stephan because it would have been the best thing that could have happened to him, to score the decider in a derby," Inzaghi said. "But these things happen. They happen to everybody. He doesn't usually miss them, though."

The same cannot be said of Torres, who has not scored since opening his account for his new club nine games ago.

"I've got a duty to persist with him," Inzaghi said. "I just hope he gets a goal again soon because we all need him to be scoring."

Milan have now gone five games without a win, yet the gap to the top three is only four points, with Milan's general manager Adriano Galliani saying: "It's all the more frustrating because the teams above us all drew so we've missed an opportunity tonight to go to within two points of third."

Milan's president Silvio Berlusconi, meanwhile, was "satisfied" with the performance.

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