MAZZARRI IMPACT

Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has said that he is left stunned by the impact that new manager Walter Mazzarri is having on the club.

After arriving only in the summer to replace Andrea Stramaccioni, Mazzarri has been able to get the team into the third position after four matches this season. They have been playing some of the best football in the last few years. Inter have been struggling to reach the heights of 2010 when they were managed by José Mourinho. However, early signs have been suggesting that the team is very close to achieving those heights once again.

Mazzarri has recently oversaw his team manage a stunning 7-0 win over Sassuolo in the league during the weekend. This victory means that they have dropped only two points and that too in the difficult derby against Juventus last weekend. Apart from them, they have torn apart their opposition in the matches so far. In fact, the club has conceded just one goal in the last four matches, which has helped them remain just two points behind Roma and Napoli in the table. Napoli and Roma are the two teams left in the league to boast of a 100% record after four matches.

“No, I didn’t expect Mazzarri to have quite this impact. He’s done brilliantly because he’s a hard worker and he’s instilled the same sense of joy and duty that he has in everyone else. Hopefully that will continue. The players seemed proud to be playing for the shirt. When you win you feel you’re part of an ideal. We’ve spent intelligently, bringing in lots of youngsters who have come in for criticism but are showing how talented they are,” said Moratti, who is reportedly on the verge of selling a major stake in the club to a foreign consortium.

INTER ARE FAVOURITES?

Former Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri has sensationally claimed that he does not think his team Inter Milan will be the favourites for the Italian Serie A title in the coming season.

He has said that Juventus and Napoli will be starting the new season as the favourites. Mazzarri made the switch to Inter Milan over the summer after several years with Napoli. During this period, he has managed to get the club into a position where they are considered as potential challengers for the title. They almost won the title last season had it not been for the brilliance from Juventus, who have now won the title in consecutive seasons.

Antonio Conte’s men will once again be the favourites according to Mazzarri, who has said that Inter Milan are still in a period of transition. It was not long ago that the club managed to win as much as five league titles in succession. Tremendous success also followed in the form of the treble in 2010, but the squad has since changed a lot due to several problems. The club has been making several new signings who are going to be good in the future. Mazzarri has also said that the threat from the likes of Fiorentina and Lazio should also not be discounted either.

“Besides Juventus, I think that in terms of financial muscle and on the strength of the last four years, Napoli could be a notch above the rest. Along with Juve. There are at least six or seven teams, including Fiorentina and Lazio, who will be bunched together on the starting grid. It’s hard to know who has got more quality, who can do better. It depends on how you work on the pitch, on whether you manage to exploit the players’ ability to the maximum,” said Mazzarri.

NEW MANAGER?

Speculation continues to be large that Inter Milan will part ways with manager Andrea Stramaccioni at the end of the season, but the former youth team manager has expressed his confidence that he will remain at the job next season.

Despite Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti saying that he has no plans to sack Stramaccioni after a very poor season, speculation continues to be mounting as the season comes to a close. Stramaccioni was given the task of getting Inter Milan back into the Champions League at the end of the season, but they will be without even the Europa league next season.

The club has finished outside the top five in the table. In fact, they are in danger of dropping out of the top 10 itself if there were a few more matches remaining in the season. The club are currently ninth in the Italian Serie A table. This has been named an acceptable by many given the amount of money spent by the club in the last few transfer windows, but Stramaccioni has said that the club has been in transitional phase for the last few years and fans need to have patience in order to achieve success.

Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri has been linked with the job heavily in the last few weeks. “Moratti confirmed me four days ago, so I doubt he has changed his mind in such a short space of time. Even if he did, I would have absolutely no complaints. I must always thank the president for what he has given me. If I am to leave before I expect to, then there will only be regrets that I didn’t get the results I could’ve done due to the injuries. There is such a thing as an unlucky year,” said the 37-year-old.

LIVERPOOL SIGN COUTINHO

Liverpool have brought in the Inter Milan midfielder Philippe Coutinho in a deal worth around £ 8.5 million. The 20-year-old Brazilian midfielder has been rated as one of the best prospects in world football, but he has been unable to get regular first-team action at the Italian club.

He will now become the second major signing from Liverpool in the January transfer window after the £ 12 million arrival of Daniel Sturridge. Philippe Coutinho has said that this is a major step in his career and he has praised the history of Liverpool.

Coutinho was also subjected to interest from the Premier league club Southampton, but he decided to join Liverpool instead. Coutinho spent the last season on loan at the Spanish club Espanyol, who were managed by the current Southampton manager. It threatened to swing the deal in favour of the relegation strugglers, but Liverpool have managed to get their target. Coutinho played for the Brazilian club Vasco da Gama before moving to Inter Milan in a £ 4.5 million deal. He is an attacking midfielder who is capable of playing as a second striker as well. It remains to be seen if he will be able to start alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.

“I’m feeling very happy, it’s a very important step in my career. Liverpool is a great club with great players. We’ve always heard about Liverpool’s history in Brazil. I know they believe in me and my football,” said the player on the official website of the club. “We’re always delighted when we get the players we go after. It has been a successful transfer window for us, coming off the back of acquiring Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea and now Philippe from Inter Milan,” said Liverpool’s director Ian Ayre. The player has won Brazilian international cap to his name.

AIMING FOR SECOND

The Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni has said that he wants to go into the winter break with Inter Milan in the second place.

The club are currently looking to spoil the title chances of Juventus by managing a title victory after many years. The club are currently rejuvenated under the young manager Andrea Stramaccioni, who has helped the team rise up the table once again on a relatively low-budget.

Juventus will open a 10 point advantage between them and Inter Milan if they manage to fit Cagliari on Tuesday night. Despite this, Stramaccioni is extremely happy with the way the season has turned out so far.
A major concern for the Inter Milan manager will be the form of the chasing pack that includes Lazio, Napoli, and Roma. Amongst the trio, Lazio have been the inform team over the last couple of weeks. They will be able to overtake Inter Milan into the second spot if the Milan team does not improved form over the next few weeks.

Stramaccioni has said that it is extremely vital that Inter finish in the second position going into the winter break. Stramaccioni is still confident about winning the title and he has recalled how AC Milan struggled to maintain a similar advantage a few years ago.

“Last year Juve were behind Milan but when they didn’t win they made up the ground. First of all we are looking for consistent results, because if you don’t sow any seeds you can’t harvest any rewards. I have to give tomorrow’s game a lot of respect – it’s fundamental for us. Although Genoa are not having a good time, they can embarrass anyone in a single game. It’s important that we do well and make sure of second place in the standings,” said the Inter Milan manager.

JOSE LOVES INTER

The Real Madrid manager José Mourinho has once again spoken of his admiration for the Italian club Inter Milan, with whom he managed to win the famous treble in 2010. José Mourinho moved to Inter Milan after being sacked by Chelsea.

Even though he was not successful in his initial seasons with the club, he managed to leave the club in 2010 as one of the greatest managers in the history of the club. José Mourinho led Inter Milan to the Italian Serie A title, the Italian cup, and the Champions League title all in one season. After the win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, he announced that he was leaving for the Spanish club Real Madrid.

Now, he has revealed that it was one of the toughest decisions he has taken in his life because leaving Inter Milan was a very tough. He said that he felt extremely happy when he was at the club, and he wanted to stay at the club for much longer. However, he could not do so because he was offered the Real Madrid job for the third time. He had to leave Inter Milan in order to make history with Real Madrid because the opportunity does not come often.

“What nostalgia I have for Inter! I moved on because winning with Real Madrid will make me enter history, but my heart remains Nerazzurro. Inter is the club with which I wanted to stay longer. Nowhere else gave me the same happiness. Inter are a family and I belong to the Nerazzurri family forever. When I left I cried more than once. I lived in a fantastic environment at Pinetina where I trained and at the Meazza,” said José Mourinho. He managed to help Real Madrid win the league title for the first time in three years last season.

STRAMACCIONI LIKES COMPARISONS

The Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni has said that he is extremely happy to be compared with the former Inter Milan manager José Mourinho. He was recently compared with the Portuguese manager by the President of the club Massimo Moratti after the spectacular 1-0 win over the arch rivals AC Milan during the weekend.

Massimo Moratti compared the style of working and the dedication both the managers have to the game. Speaking about this praise, the Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni said that he could not be any more happier. However, the 36-year-old has also downplayed suggestions by saying that he still has a long way to go before he can achieve the same things done by the 49-year-old Mourinho.

The former Chelsea manager is regarded as one of the best in the world after having lifted more than 20 titles in the last 10 seasons with four different clubs across four different nations in Europe. He has also managed to lift the Champions league title with two different teams in two different countries. Many regard him to be the best in the world for this reason. The Inter Milan president recently revealed that he is a staunch admirer of the 49-year-old and was extremely sad to see him go to Real Madrid in 2010.

“I’ve very proud of what the president said. I can only smile at the comparison because I’m a nobody, while Mourinho has won everywhere that he has gone. I feel fortunate to have caught the attention of a club like Inter, first with the youth team, and Moratti was following the Primavera and appointed me. That’s why I work every day on the training pitch to try and repay his faith in me. I’m happy at the moment, but I need to stay grounded because there is a long way to go,” said Andrea Stramaccioni.

MORATTI BACKS BOSS

The Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has said that the manager of the club, Andrea Stramaccioni is the right man for the job and he has a number of unique qualities that will make him one of the best managers in the world. After the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, the club decided to appoint the youth team manager Andrea Stramaccioni as the manager of first-team.

Andrea Stramaccioni was coming into the job with relatively very little experience of managing top players. However, he did a very good job with the team in the second half of the season to get them into the sixth position, which provided them with the Europa league football.

Apart from backing Andrea Stramaccioni to the job, the Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has also backed him substantially in the transfer window this season. He has been able to bring in a number of quality players from the Italian Serie A, which is likely to make them compete for the title again. Speaking after the match against Roma in which Inter Milan suffered a 3-1 defeat, the Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has said that Stramaccioni has the right qualities to take Inter Milan forward.

“I wasn’t especially brave in choosing him [Stramaccioni], I thought he had all the attributes necessary to do the job and I was right about his qualities as a human being. I like being able to put my trust in young people and those who have made history at the club. I feel able to do so and that’s the best thing. This is a very important year, where we’re building on Inter’s core values – which I believe very much in,” said Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti in an interview given on the official website of the club ahead of this weekend’s match.

NO MORE MISTAKES

Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso has said that the club should not have a repeat of the last season, in which they finished well below the top three positions.

In Italy, only finishing in the top three will ensure a place in the Champions League group stages, which is very important for a club like Inter Milan with a huge wage bill.

The revenue provided by the Champions League group stage as is very much important towards running the club because it would also help the club of bringing new talent. Due to the lack of the European football, Inter Milan are not likely to attract some of the biggest names in world football to the San Siro.

In order to become competitive in the domestic and European front, it is essential that the club finish in the top three and in the Champions League places according to the midfielder Esteban Cambiasso. The Argentine midfielder was part of the Inter Milan team that lifted the treble only two seasons ago. However, after changing three managers during the course of the season, Inter Milan struggled to have any kind of consistency last season and finished in the sixth position. Cambiasso was linked with a move away (into a man utd tshirt) but has stayed to fight for the club in the Europa League so far.

“We can only blame ourselves for being in this situation. This match is the consequence of what happened last season. In previous years we played in August for the European Super Cup, this time for the Europa League qualifiers. Inter can afford a year like this, but only one year,” said the midfielder ahead of the start of the new season. Inter Milan are currently on pre-season tour and have been good in the pre-season friendlies so far. The club will be facing the newly promoted club Pescara in the opening day of the season and Cambiasso stressed the importance of three points from this match.

SNEIJDER SHOULD STAY

Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni has confirmed that he does not want to see Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder leave the club in the summer transfer window, but has also acknowledged that the club would have no other option but to sell the player is the price is right.

It is a well-known fact that Inter Milan are struggling severely with financial crisis for the last couple of seasons due to the spiralling wage bill. Wesley Sneijder is that the one of the high earners at the club. He is reportedly on contract worth around € 8 million per season. Due to the fact that Inter Milan will not be playing in the Champions League next season, they need to find other sources of revenue.

The club are also linked with a £ 25 million move for Santos midfielder Lucas. It is thought that they will be able to complete the deal only with the sale of Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder, who has not been at his best in the last couple of seasons since helping the club win the treble in 2010. Andrea Stramaccioni will be starting his first major job as a manager this season. He has admitted that he would hate to lose a player of the quality of Wesley Sneijder.

“As far as I know, he is an Inter player and will stay here. I haven’t had any news to the contrary from the director, the club or the player himself. Apart from that, I’m sure that if an offer comes in like that for Ibrahimovic or Thiago Silva then anyone can be sold, except for Cordoba and Zanetti,” said Stramaccioni. Stramaccioni has also said that the club will be focusing more on the youngsters on the books like Philippe Coutinho. The 20-year-old spent the last season on loan at Spanish club Espanyol.