Mauro Icardi gave a lengthy interview covering his desire to stay at Inter and rapport with Roberto Mancini, Frank de Boer and Stefano Pioli.
The striker spoke to Inter Channel at the close of 2016, which had more downs than ups for the Nerazzurri.
“It was a strange start to the year, because we were still top of the table even after losing to Lazio, but a negative period started and all sorts of things went wrong,” said Icardi.
Mauro Icardi gave a lengthy interview covering his desire to stay at Inter and rapport with Roberto Mancini, Frank de Boer and Stefano Pioli.
The striker spoke to Inter Channel at the close of 2016, which had more downs than ups for the Nerazzurri.
“It was a strange start to the year, because we were still top of the table even after losing to Lazio, but a negative period started and all sorts of things went wrong,” said Icardi.
“It’s difficult to explain why we didn’t qualify for the Champions League. What we lacked in 2016 and really need in 2017 is consistency.”
The summer months were particularly chaotic, as his wife – and agent – Wanda Nara fuelled transfer gossip with Napoli and Atletico Madrid, while Mancini walked away just two weeks before the start of the Serie A season.
“I always remained calm, trained well and didn’t think about anything else, even if my name was in the papers. I said from the first day, I want to win with this shirt. I have five years on my contract and I’ll try my best to achieve that.
“Mancini is certainly the Coach who changed my way of playing. We talked a lot, he asked me to do many things better, I listened and I can say today that I have improved a great deal.
“Then De Boer arrived, he tried to change things in the team, but there was the difficulty of a foreign Coach having his first experience of Italian football. He spoke face to face with everyone, but unfortunately the results are decisive.”
Stefano Vecchi was temporarily promoted from the Primavera youth team while auditions went on to find new Coach Pioli.
“I spoke to Vecchi on the first day as captain. We know each other well, as he is always at the training ground. We were all ready to work for each other and I’m happy we allowed him to win his first Serie A game. He arrived with great humility.
“Pioli immediately got to work to change things, as the results just weren’t coming. He is slowly achieving his aims and uniting the squad. We are working on both psychological and physical aspects to be ready.
“Hopefully January 2017 will not be the same as 2016 for Inter, so we’ve got to learn from that and concentrate on every game.”
However, 2016 did have one very special moment for Icardi and his wife.
“Isabel was born on October 27, which is also the day Wanda and I first met.”