MILAN – Roberto Mancini hopes 2016 will see Inter return to the Champions League because "a club of this stature deserves to be playing in it every season".
The calendar year ends with Inter top of Serie A after 12 months which have seen a massive turnaround in the team's fortunes. And with the Nerazzurri preparing to see in the new year in Doha, the coach gave an exclusive interview to Inter Channel's Roberto Scarpini, looking back on 2015 and peering forward to see what 2016 might hold in store.
He began by casting his eye back to the start of 2015. "We struggled somewhat in the first few months. The lads wanted to perform well immediately and I think they did. But in football it's results that matter and we lost lots of games we didn't deserve to lose. We could have done better but at the end of the day the work we put in was useful. Although we didn't achieve the targets we'd set oursevles we laid some solid foundations to build on this season.
"It's not easy to put a team together but if you have the passion, desire and hard work you get the results you deserve eventually. Inter haven't been where they've deserved to be over the last few years. With the history this club has, it should be playing in the Champions League and challenging for the Scudetto every year. That has to be our target and I'm glad president Thohir chose me."
The first signs of revival were seen in February. “We won three games in a row and that hadn't happened for a while. Perhaps we should have tried to step up our game a bit more then but when you're trying to bring lots of things together you make mistakes sometimes.
“We played some of our best stuff towards the end of the season but lost some games in incredible fashion.
"Still, that's when we set about putting together the current Inter side. The players worked really well in the first six months and I got to know them, then in the summer we brought in some new faces who have helped us to improve."
The Nerazzurri surprised many observers by racing out of the blocks after the summer. “I hoped we could get the new season off to a good start to give us belief in our ability while remembering that there are more established teams out there.
“Thinking back to our away games against Palermo and Sampdoria I think we're a few points short because we haven't had that much luck so far. Even in the games we won 1-0 we defended well and gave very little away. With a bit more rub of the green, we could have done even better.”
The coach was then asked if the defeat to Napoli at the end of November marked a turning point. He explained: “If you play 10 against 11 at the San Paolo for the whole of the second half, you manage to put them under the cosh and deserve to equalise, that changes your belief and the players do have more self-confidence now. Certain games are important because they alter your mindset – that's what happened after the Napoli match and it can be a big help for us.”
So what does 2016 hold for Inter? “Our aim is to get back into the Champions League. It's exciting at the moment with five teams bunched together in four points.”
Can Inter win the title? “We're up there for now and if we can stay there until the last three or four games then we'll be able to talk about it. There's still a long way to go and we need to knuckle down and focus on the first game back after the break – that and the last one before Christmas are the trickiest.
“All the lads have given their all so far and if we're up where we are it's thanks to the entire squad. It's an honour for me to be at Inter and hopefully we can have a really good 2016 because Inter can't not be playing in the Champions League.”
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