APPIANO GENTILE – Roberto Mancini sat down with Inter Channel to review the past year, starting with last summer when the Nerazzurri faced off against some of Europe's top teams.
"Pre-season friendlies only matter up to a certain extent, especially if you're playing against teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. I think it's better to play against that sort of opposition – it's much more useful for the players as the result doesn't count for anything.
"The aim of pre-season is to give the players a good grounding, although everyone has their own ideas about how it should be done. Playing in prestigious matches is good for the younger players too.”
The results immediately changed for the better once the Serie A season kicked off and Inter immediately went an impressive run. “We got off to a good start and that was very important for us. It was difficult to get the team running like clockwork because we'd brought in lots of new faces and they needed to get to know each other. We even managed to end the transfer market in the black and despite being top of the league some people still criticised us. Regardless of our position in the table and the fact we weren't scoring many, I think the season started really well.”
Wins over AC Milan and Roma, a home draw against Juventus and defeat to Fiorentina: Inter were holding their own in head-to-head encounters. “We'd made lots of changes and everyone felt they were part of the team and contributing to the positive start we'd made. We racked up loads of points in the first half of the season.
“The 0-0 scoreline against Juventus was right. As we saw afterwards, they went on an incredible winning streak.”
Nonetheless, the coach's constant rotation – especially early on in the campaign – found many people in disagreement. “Criticising seems to be our favourite pastime in Italy because Sarri was getting stick for not changing enough. It comes with the territory and we have to accept it. We're still building a team so it was hard to imagine we could win the league.
"Sometimes you go through tricky spells and you have to accept them. Inter finished fourth with a points tally that in the last 10 years has nearly always been enough to get into the Champions League. Teams with the same number of points as us finished second or third in other European leagues.”
Defeat to Lazio before the Christmas break and against Sassuolo in early January marked the beginning of a tough period for the Nerazzurri. “I think it started with Atalanta. There was a series of games where we should have done better – against Lazio, Carpi, Sassuolo... although there was the win over Empoli in the middle.”
Inter picked themselves up again and set off on a good run towards the end of the season “starting with the victory over Sampdoria, then that 3-0 win the cup,” the coach continued. “Torino and Genoa are two matches we should have won.”
Going through to the Coppa Italia final would have given the end of the year a different flavour: “We had lots of chances to score the fourth goal. It was disappointing to go out on penalties because we deserved to reach the final. It would have been good for the lads to end the season differently.”
Inter missed the chance to close in on third place in March, when Roma scored a late leveller to deny Inter the points in the capital. “If we'd won that game, something would have changed,” Mancini admitted. “Perhaps we could have put the match to bed but Roma deserved to equalise with all the chances they had from the 70th minute on.
The Nerazzurri were impressive against eventual Serie A runners-up Napoli both in the Coppa Italia quarter-final at the San Paolo and in the league fixture at San Siro – further proof that Inter more than held their own against the bigger teams.
“Only in the away game against Juventus were we outdone but that's because we gave away chances. We never really struggled against the sides that finished above us and that shows we've got good foundations in place. It's not all bad, as some people would have you believe. I think we're on the right track to becoming a team that can challenge for the title again.
"Inter deserve to be in the Champions League for the club that we are, regardless of the players or coaches. We're disappointed we couldn't make it this year but we know there's a good core to the team now and if we can add to it a little, making as few mistakes as possible, I think we're there or thereabouts.
“However, you can only really assess players once you train them – that's when you realise whether a player is up to wearing the Inter shirt, which comes with the weight of tradition. It's harder to play at San Siro.
“'Inter are a great club with a history of success stretching back over 100 years. World-class players have worn the Inter jersey. Now we need to bring in a few players like that who can help the lads we have here with great ability but who are still young. I'm confident. We've laid solid foundations over the last few months.”
On criticism over his changing tactics: “You still have 11 players out there even if you switch formation. Everyone's free to their opinion but you shouldn't go over the top with criticism or praise. There's nothing wrong with expressing an opinion but there's been a bit too much criticism at times for someone who's been doing this job for years.”
The Milan derby is now a global event: “Hopefully we'll soon be playing top-level derbies again. It would be great if we were both fighting for the title. I think that would be a wonderful thing for the city.”
Finally, on how far away Inter are from winning trophies again: "When I joined Inter in 2004 we had some superb players but they hadn't won anything for years. It took us two years to start off a winning cycle and we had a team that was much more ready. Now it's been a year and a half – not five. We might make a few more mistakes yet. A coach can sense when a team is coming together and I think it is. Now we need to make two or three additions and we'll be able to move up another level.
"That doesn't mean it will all fall into place by itself. Leicester won the Premier League when everyone was tipping Ranieri to be the first one to get the sack. He's always been a good coach although only now everyone is praising him. You never know in football. We have to keep working and keep improving.”
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