APPIANO GENTILE – "Milan is a marvellous city, a working city, I like it. People talk about the chaotic traffic but I've had lots of practice: Rome, London, Valencia, Madrid, I've always lived in metropolises." That's how Claudio Ranieri began in an exclusive interview with Antonio Bartolomucci for Mediaset Premium: a path, a career, a destiny that has now taken him to Inter.
"I was very young when I left Rome," the Nerazzurri coach continued. "I've travelled around Europe since then and it's given me a lot. If you ask me why the Inter fans have taken to me so quickly, all I can think of is that they must like my attitude to hard work: I've got my head down and focused on sorting Inter out. I have a strong character, I say what I think and with age my defects have worsened... I joined Inter at a difficult time when the team were up to their necks but I also saw determination and a sense of belonging. It annoyed me when I heard people saying these players were old and wise, and I remained calm even when we lost because I could see how they worked."
The Nerazzurri group has welcomed Ranieri, who can now afford to smile when he hears talk of there being clans at Inter: "If the clans are formed by those players who are the first to arrive at training and the last to leave, then I'm the head of the clan..."
Ranieri then said of the coaching profession that "you can see how good Italian football is by looking at my compatriots who work abroad. The school in Coverciano is famous throughout the world and then there's the University of Serie A. If you do well there, you can do well anywhere."
The Italian league is often said to have too many foreigners. That was the starting point for the Inter coach to comment on a series of names: "There are lots of good Italian players and the top-drawer players always get ahead. I'm talking about Baggio, Vialli, Totti, Del Piero, Di Natale - he's decisive partly because his team-mates are relaxed knowing that he'll nearly always grab a goal. Pirlo probably needed a change of scenery, a new challenge, and Juventus have needed an orchestrator for ages. Klose has always been world-class, maybe he was starting to play less at Bayern. Ibrahimovic has done well wherever he has been."
And speaking of world-class players, what about one that Inter have at home? "Sneijder is our prize jewel. He has to give 120%. He mustn't just be part of the squad; he has to be our leader, the one who takes us by the hand and shows us the way to great things." So if he does that in the derby, will Inter win it? "I don't think there are any favourites in the derby. It's a level playing field. You just have to prepare for it properly and give your best on the pitch."
Finally, Ranieri spoke about his first meeting with president Massimo Moratti: "I met him during the team's toughest moment yet he seemed calm and motivated. But I've only known him for 100 days; it's been intense but it's still early. Have I spoken to Mourinho? We've texted each other a few times. When things weren't going well he told me the team would come through it. I've said to my players that we're well off the pace at the moment but I always aim to achieve the maximum. If you're not ambitious, you'll never reach the top or even get near to it."
