Mancini: ‘Inter don’t settle for second’
By Football Italia staff



Roberto Mancini says Inter ‘won’t settle for second place’ and outlines the reasons they could win the Scudetto.

The Nerazzurri dropped out of the Serie A lead on Monday after defeat to Napoli, but are very much in the running for the title.

Mancio spoke in length to Corriere dello Sport about his side’s title hopes, and also responded to Arrigo Sacchi’s suggestion that he plays an ‘old school’ style of football.

“Would I settle for second place? No. It’s difficult for any athlete to settle for second,” he said.

“The Inter of 2010/11 had finished a cycle and after having won everything, key players left.

“To rebuild it takes time and the work of coaches and directors. Slowly but surely Inter will get back to winning the championship.

“I was happy to have won the title after so many years, but it was also down to the work of those who preceded me.

“Now I hope that it can go the same way, although I’m making it a bit harder because this is my second time at Inter. And if on the one hand I have the advantage of knowing the environment, going back to somewhere you’ve done well is always quite tricky.

“We can aim for the Scudetto because self-belief costs nothing and dreaming is the most beautiful thing you can do. Because Inter has a great history and tradition that enables us to be competitive right until the end.

“Because I think that our players are doing great work and won’t stop until the end. And because we don’t have European duties: in March this could be an advantage, on the physical and mental levels, if the others are still in the running.

“Having said that, our objective is to qualify for the next Champions League, better with second place than third at least so we avoid the playoff.

“Will we need more signings to do well in Europe? It’s difficult to say because we need to see what the objective is: getting past the group stage, going all the way…

“At City they always thought they had a squad at least good enough for the semi-finals and despite that we went out first.

“Every time has its process of maturation and buying eight or nine players per season doesn’t always help: at Samp we did well with one or two new faces in the summer, solidifying the group we had built.

“What rating would I give Inter so far? A 6/10.

“In the last revolutionary year doing everything in a short time wasn’t easy. Now we’re seeing the results of that work.

“Criticism? It’s better to play badly and win than to lose while giving a show. Criticism doesn’t bother me. Everyone sees the matches in their own way and thinks what they want.

“I don’t care to debate with Sacchi about us playing an old style of football. There isn’t a repository of truth in football, it’s not Sacchi and it’s not me either.

“Everyone gives their own opinion and everyone should be respected. As a Coach I’m someone who looks at the reality: if I had Gullit, Van Basten, Maldini, Baresi, Donadoni and all the other champions of that great Milan team then I would play a certain style of football.

“But I have a different squad at my disposal and when I take on a stronger opponent, that I can’t put under constant pressure because they have greater certainty and have been together for longer, I adapt.

“It would be foolish to behave in a different way. A team grows if you get results even at the start, when you’re not at 100 per cent. Holding onto first place at the start can be important for future growth.

“Mauro is young he’s a classic penalty box striker who always scores 20 goals. He has a type of play that needs the help of the team, but he has significant margins for improvement.

“Icardi and Jovetic need to play together for six months and it’s not a given that will be enough to find an agreement.

“We thought about Ljajic in June, but didn’t know that Roma would sell him. As soon as the opportunity presented itself we jumped at it.”
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