MILAN – From a cycle of victories that had begun again, since the 2005 season, to the latest string of defeats against Lecce, Roma and Novara. He remembers the good times as well as those that weren't so good for his Inter, but he has been and always will be the No.1 fan. He talks about everything and answers the questions every fan is probably asking himself at times like this, in the interview president Massimo Moratti gave to journalist Fabio Monti which was published in today's 'Corriere della Sera'.
Read the complete interview with the Nerazzurri president on inter.it:
Yesterday Roberto Mancini stated that "a team that has been winning for so many years can run into difficulty in a season like this, when everything is going wrong". Is he right?
"His interpretation of the situation could be an intelligent one. We can't say that everything went smoothly in the Novara match. And I say this in the knowledge that Sunday's match was not a great game by any means, even if it was better than the games against Lecce and Roma. As for Palermo, I have already said that we had the game in the bag and we threw it away."
Are you annoyed, or worried?
"I think it would be too much to say I was happy after losing at San Siro, obviously. But I haven't lost faith in the squad, in these players or in the technical staff. And I am continuing to take things as they come because we are still on course for important targets and there's no reason whatsoever to give up. The league title and the Champions League: there's still a long way to go this season and we have to give it everything we've got, especially in a year like this when it has always been an uphill battle."
Is it true that cuts are being made to the club and therefore to the team?
"Absolutely not. Some managerial aspects had to be reorganised because it was necessary to consolidate the club for various reasons and because the UEFA financial fair play concept is no joke; it is a framework of regulations which must be taken seriously. Having said this, no one more than I wants to get back to winning and we will work towards that as quickly as possible. To be as clear as possible: my ambitions are the same as they always have been, planned for a future in line with Inter's great history, which I know well."
From Eto'o to Thiago Motta: the fans really suffered over some of the transfers...
"I believe I am an Inter fan too and if some players left the club, it's because we had no way of holding on to them. Nothing was done by chance or with superficiality, but rather with the needs of the moment in mind."
Do you think you made any mistakes in your choices?
"Perhaps I or we did make some mistakes with decisions. However I don't think there were many of them or that they were particularly serious. I know football isn't mathematics and strategies for change, which may seem right, don't always produce the results you hope for. The problem is that we had been spoiled in the past: we found players who were able to fit into the mechanism extremely quickly and easily. The time comes when you need to show a little more patience while you are waiting for a player to settle in and then to dedicate time to evaluating him properly."
On Sunday there was a general protest at San Siro. Did that surprise you?
"I don't think the fans who come to the stadium have any way of writing or opening a discussion. It was a situation that brought me back quite a few years. Without dwelling too much on the past, because in football you always have to look to the future, between June 2005 and May 2011 we always won something. But I'm not stopping there. I want to start winning things again. The danger at the moment is falling victim to panic and rushing to change everything."
