APPIANO GENTILE – In an exclusive chat with Inter Channel to round off 2016, Mauro Icardi went over some of the ups and downs of the last twelve months – a period in which he has been one of the Nerazzurri’s leading lights.
2015 couldn’t have ended much better for Inter, who found themselves in top spot in Serie A, but January saw the start of a tough spell for the side.
Icardi, who scored the team’s first goal of 2016, said: "It was a strange start to the year, after the last game in December against Lazio. We were still in first spot, but then we had a rather negative period, in which all sorts of things happened. It’s hard to explain it; we didn’t manage to reach the Champions League, which was everyone’s aim."
In a clash with Frosinone, the Inter forward scored his fiftieth goal in one hundred games, and it’s a goals-to-games ratio that he is proud of.
"Scoring one goal every two games is great. Then against Napoli we all put on a great display. However there were a few poor performances thrown in too. Thinking back to that period, what we lacked then and we’ll need in 2017 is real consistency."
Despite varied levels of performance during the period, the Nerazzurri managed to reach the semi-final of the Coppa Italia, where they were beaten by Juventus on penalties.
"We began the second leg 0-3 down, and probably no one believed we could come back. But we played an outstanding game. Over the 120 minutes, we deserved to get a fourth goal. Then we found ourselves in a penalty shootout and anything can happen there. We were heartened by that great performance, in any case."
We’ve also been fortunate enough to see a generous, non-footballing side to our captain, who along with Wanda Nara organised a special dinner in Milan, to raise money for a young Argentinian named Jeremias.
"It was wonderful to be able to help a child and his family, who were in difficulty and unable to afford the care he needed out in China. We’ve had some good news, but we’ll no doubt organise other such events in future," Icardi said.
Once the season was out, it was difficult to avoid speculation surrounding the striker’s future during the summer transfer window.
"There was a lot of commotion surrounding my future, but I was calm. I just kept my head down and worked hard in training. Although the papers had a lot to say about me and potential transfers, I was very calm."
The last twelve months have seen four managers at the helm, beginning with Roberto Mancini.
"Mancini was a coach who, without doubt, made me change my way of playing. I spoke a lot with him and he used to ask me to improve in many areas. I listened to what he had to say and I believe I’ve improved very much.
"Then came [Frank] de Boer. He tried to change things in the team, but it was hard for a foreign coach to do so in his first stint in Italian football. As for whether or not he spoke the language, he spoke to all of us one-on-one, in Italian too.
"Unfortunately results are what count," he added.
After the Dutchman’s departure, Stefano Vecchi steadied the ship for two games.
"He was there for all of us. I spoke to him first of all as a captain, but we all knew him well because he’s always in Appiano with the Primavera. In the Europa League game, we put on a good display but we were a tad unlucky. Then we played Crotone; he just asked us to do our jobs well and I’m happy to have helped him win his first Serie A game."
"[Stefano] Pioli got to work straight away, to help the team turn the corner. We can say he’s managing to do that, step by step, doing well for the team. We’re a bit tighter; we work harder on the mental and physical aspects, and on all the things we’ll need to be ready for 2017.
"Sadly, we started off badly in the Europa League, and we ended with a loss that is not reflective of Inter. Now we have six months to work hard on our league performance and do well there, so that we’re back in Europe next year."
Icardi recently signed a new contract, keeping him with the Nerazzurri until 2021.
"I’ve said it from the very beginning: I want to win wearing this shirt. I’ve got five years ahead of me and I’ll try and achieve that.
"With my book, I tried to tell everyone about myself away from football, about my private life. People see me on TV or on the pitch, or on social media as is normal nowadays."
The year 2016 has also been a special one for Icardi and his family, as he welcomed his second child into the world. "She was born on 27 October – the date I met Wanda," he said.
Looking ahead to the beginning of 2017, the Nerazzurri striker said he hopes for an improvement compared to the start of last year.
"Let’s hope this January is better than in 2016; we’re focused on our jobs and we know that each win builds momentum."
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