PINZOLO - The pre-season training camp in Pinzolo, his role within the Nerazzurri squad, the future of the club and the importance of president Massimo Moratti. The always-interesting Esteban Cambiasso spoke about all of that to Mediaset in an interview that aired on the programme Calciomercato.
What are your impressions after these two days at the training camp?
"We’re excited and so are the fans, which is a good thing. It allows us to lay the foundations necessary to work hard."
Is Walter Mazzarri really a drill sergeant? What are your impressions of him?
"I never speak about the coach. We’re working, and each coach has his own methods. We’ve always tried to be at the disposal of the coaches, which means the current one as well as those from the past. Let's hope it helps us have a good season."
However, we can say that he has a lot of personality, as we’ve seen during the first few training sessions.
"I never talk about coaches because anything you say comes out wrong. When I say something nice they say it’s because I’m trying to ingratiate myself to them. If I say something negative it ends up on the front page of the papers. As a rule, I never speak about coaches."
Recently we’ve seen you spurring on the group. As we await the return of the captain will you be wearing the armband?
"No, I know my role very well, and it’s not that of the captain. We certainly miss Javier a lot. Earlier I was discussing it with my team-mates that it’s strange to start running without seeing him in front of us. The only thing I can say is that we’re waiting for him."
Today at a press conference Marco Andreolli said what amazed him the most was the hunger of the senior players to get back to the top.
"He talked about players who have won everything, not 'senior players'. This is a football team and we’re all trying to move in the same direction. That's what it’s about, not living in the past and feeling you’re entitled to something. We all need to pitch in, each one of us as much as we can, to try and be a strong group and achieve our goal, which is to have a great season."
Are Juventus that much stronger than all the other teams?
"We’re all starting from zero, so we’ll see."
From Argentina, Javier Zanetti said there’s no such thing as an Inter without president Massimo Moratti.
"Yes, I heard that. This is how it is for us and for many Interisti as well. I think today’s situation proves this, not only for what our president does currently, but for what his entire family has done in the past. But we’re all definitely convinced that whatever step the president decides to take it will be done with the good of Inter in mind."
Everyone says he’s ready to let go, but the other day president Moratti reopened the discussion by saying a top player could arrive. So he could make another big signing…
"Players have arrived. 'Top player' is a fashionable term, and it seems that if you sign players who don’t cost much they’re not top players. But many times players who didn’t cost much managed to do very well with Inter. And in other seasons - before I joined and from what I hear - up to five top players were signed in a single season without Inter winning anything."
What about your contract renewal?
"As I’ve said already, it will only take a few seconds. Of course people want to hear the announcement, but at the moment the most important thing for the directors is finding the right solutions on the transfer market. They know that with me it will all be wrapped up in five minutes."
