Roberto Mancini says Inter can ‘return to victory’ just as Manchester City did, whilst it would be ‘an honour’ to someday manage Italy.
Il Mancio, who returned to the Nerazzurro bench this November after the sacking of Walter Mazzarri, has faced a challenge in picking up a team mid-season that needs immediate results.
Despite a difficult start to life back at San Siro, the former Manchester City man is adamant that the club cannot do without a winning mentality.
Roberto Mancini says Inter can ‘return to victory’ just as Manchester City did, whilst it would be ‘an honour’ to someday manage Italy.
Il Mancio, who returned to the Nerazzurro bench this November after the sacking of Walter Mazzarri, has faced a challenge in picking up a team mid-season that needs immediate results.
Despite a difficult start to life back at San Siro, the former Manchester City man is adamant that the club cannot do without a winning mentality.
“It takes time, work, planning and care,” Mancini has told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But we must return to victory. I think so and I'll say it again.
“The other teams have been playing together for years. Juventus, Roma, and after them Milan – and Napoli, who have improved enormously.
“I think it's fair for me to highlight something – picking up a team mid-season is never easy. You must slowly get to know the situations, the players, and everyone's state of form.
“And everything is harder compared to 10 years ago because back then I was picking up a team that had already won, and knew how that's done.
“But these lads learned right off the bat – in so many years on the job I've never had a team that was so receptive over such a short time.
“Defensive errors can happen, as they did against Lazio, but the reaction was excellent – this team has character. And mistakes are part of what makes the team grow internally.
“Let me tell you this – when I came to Manchester we were the noisy neighbours. [Michael] Bolingbroke can confirm that for you.
“At Old Trafford the United supporters always displayed a banner, each time showing the number of years we'd spent without winning anything, so 36 years, then 37.
“When I came, in 2009, we were in seventh. I told the players and the club: ‘Let's make that banner vanish’. We won the Cup, the League and we changed the hierarchies in Manchester. We can do the same here at Inter.”
The former Sampdoria striker was seen over the summer as one candidate to replace Cesare Prandelli on the Italy bench, before that place was given to Antonio Conte.
When asked whether he would be willing to leave the Inter bench in favour of the Azzurri one, Mancini was uncertain.
“I don't know, in football unexpected things happen frequently. I didn't even think I'd be here and instead I came back to Milan, 10 years later.
“It was like finding an affection, a home. Having said that, if the azzurro colour should come in the future, it would be an honour.”
The Inter Coach was asked specifically about the dates between November 11 and 13, when his succession at Inter was decided.
“Those were beautiful, intense moments. On Tuesday I said: ‘let's talk about it’, then I said yes.
“Everything happened over three days, but it felt like a month to me. The hours were interminable, they never passed, but there was something beautiful about them.
“The club told me: we don't have a dime, but we want you. I didn't believe what they said about the dime.
“I said yes because of the affection that binds me to this place, because the idea of trying my hand at something difficult excited me, and because when Inter calls, well, they are Inter.”