Filippo Inzaghi wants his first Serie A game as Bologna Coach to be against Lazio – “hopefully they use heated balls!”
The former striker was officially confirmed as Roberto Donadoni’s replacement on the Rossoblu bench yesterday, having taken Venezia from Serie C to the Serie B play-offs in two seasons.
Super Pippo’s younger brother, Simone, has drawn widespread praise for his work at Lazio, and the older Inzaghi wants to meet the Aquile as soon as possible.
Filippo Inzaghi wants his first Serie A game as Bologna Coach to be against Lazio – “hopefully they use heated balls!”
The former striker was officially confirmed as Roberto Donadoni’s replacement on the Rossoblu bench yesterday, having taken Venezia from Serie C to the Serie B play-offs in two seasons.
Super Pippo’s younger brother, Simone, has drawn widespread praise for his work at Lazio, and the older Inzaghi wants to meet the Aquile as soon as possible.
“This year I’ll be calm, above all when I play against my brother,” Inzaghi said in his presentation Press conference.
“He and I talk seven or eight times a day, we only talk about football and tactics, what we see in the week before a game, especially deal balls.
“I’ll have to tell him some lies, but he’s very sly…
“I hope for Bologna-Lazio straight away, hopefully they use heated balls! I can only learn from my brother.
“Then I’ll find [Carlo] Ancelotti, [Gennaro] Gattuso… there will be good memories.”
Inzaghi worked with Mattia Destro at Milan, but the striker was openly criticised by Donadoni for his attitude and work rate.
“Right now I haven’t talked to anyone, but anyone who wants to stay here will need to work. I haven’t seen him for a long time, and it was a complicated year for everyone at Milan.
“Our door isn’t closed to anyone.
“Some players will need to leave for financial reasons, and clearly we’ll reinforce the team. We have a good base to work from, there are some players who can grow a lot and I’ll speak to the sporting director and the President often.
“Be patient, the squad will be competitive. If not I wouldn’t be here. [President Joey] Saputo has invested a lot of money in three years and he wants to see results.
“I don’t feel I need to prove anything to anyone. I was very happy at Venezia, wherever I coach is like my Champions League. This is an incredible opportunity and I’ll try to prove myself up to the task.
“I think a good Coach never stops learning. In 10 years I hope to be better than I am now. I went to Venezia to work well with a serious club. To work well I need a serious club that believes in me.
“They were two fantastic years, then I had other opportunities but I didn’t even talk to the others when Bologna was suggested.
“I didn’t look at the money, I don’t care about that. When I was at Milan there were no excuses, just like here. You need to think about playing and doing your job.
“I’ve always played to win, I always want the best. I see Bologna as a wonderful thing that happened to me, inside I hoped to come here.
“I thank the fans because they came to talk to me and we were in harmony. It won’t be easy to be loved by everyone, but anyone who doesn’t believe Bologna is something magical won’t play with me.
“I always liked to play here, and now I want to make the city of Bologna proud.”