Inter coach Simone Inzaghi expects a ‘beautiful’ start to the season, said Edin Dzeko was one of ‘his requests’ and stressed the Nerazzurri are ‘ambitious’ ahead of the new campaign.
The new Inter coach prepares for the opening game of 2021-22 against Genoa on Saturday and admitted he is excited to play in front of the Nerazzurri fans.
“It’s normal that borth for me and for the players, it will be emotional to play in front of people again after one and a half years in empty stadiums,” Inzaghi said at a press conference.
“Tomorrow will be beautiful, exciting and I can’t wait.”
The former Lazio tactician expects a tough test from Genoa, when Inter start their defence of the Scudetto.
“We will face a difficult match and against a coach who trained me,” he said. “I will want to see what we have done over these 45 days on the pitch.
“The lads have trained well and tomorrow I want to see what we have prepared from the first to the 95th minute.”
Inzaghi said the team are ambitious ahead of the new season, even if Vice-President Javier Zanetti said he expects a ‘difficult and complicated’ 2021-22 for the Beneamata.
“I think Inter’s goals are ambitious, I don’t like making proclamations but the motivation will make the difference and the lads have shown me they have something to sell, so I’m confident,” Inzaghi continued.
“We will do everything to make sure things go smoothly. We know there will be difficulties this season, but I’m confident for what I have seen over these 45 days.
“There’s a great relationship and daily confrontation with the club, we know that something is missing but I’m happy with the arrivals so far.
“There were due divestments like [Achraf] Hakimi’s, then [Christian] Eriksen’s problem and [Romelu] Lukaku’s unexpected farewell.
“[Edin] Dzeko would have been one of my requests regardless, we all know [Hakan] Calhanoglu well and [Denzel] Dumfries is very interesting. He will need some time to get used to everything.
“Then there’s also [Federico] Dimarco, who returned from Hellas Verona with two more years of experience.
“We will go and play with the Scudetto on our chest and try to do our best.”
Inzaghi said he knows he has accepted a ‘great challenge’ by replacing Antonio Conte at the helm.
“I know it’s a great challenge, the fans and the environment are going in one direction and they know that we have had to deal with important sales to secure the club,” Inzaghi continued.
“We will have to make a difference in the difficulties, remaining united.”
The coach praised new striker Dzeko, who has replaced Romelu Lukaku at San Siro.
“He’s a player I have met all these years, one of the best strikers around and I’m happy to coach him,” Inzaghi added.
“It’s my explicit request to the club. Tomorrow, Lautaro [Martinez] and [Alexis] Sanchez will be missing, then another player will arrive to complete the department and Satriano and Pinamonti have trained well.
“There there are Calhanoglu and [Stefano] Sensi that I can put behind the striker.”
Inzaghi doesn’t want to predict the outcome in Serie A this season but stressed the Nerazzurri are ‘ambitious’.
“It’s a bit premature. There are seven equipped teams,” he said. “At the moment I don’t want to make any predictions.
“I’m just saying that Inter will be an ambitious team with motivation. My lads trained in the best way. I can say that we will work and do our best to defend the Scudetto we have on our chests.”
Inzaghi wants a quick start and admitted Inter ‘have a decent schedule’ in the first weeks of 2021-22.
“It will be important to start in the best possible way, we have a decent schedule but tomorrow’s match will be anything but simple,” he said. “We will find an organised team with an excellent coach.
“I, for one, want to start tomorrow in the best possible way.”
The new coach revealed he expected the pundits to favour Juventus ‘after losing Hakimi, Eriksen and Lukaku’.
“I expected that from the outside you could see others in front,” he said. “But we must have ambition and team spirit.
“I’m very calm, a coach has to rely on the things he sees in his daily work.”
Inzaghi revealed Lukaku decided he wanted to re-join Chelsea and didn’t push to convince the Belgian to stay.
“Lukaku’s departure was not planned,” he said. “But he came to me with good manners and told me that Chelsea was his dream and that he had already made the choice.
“Together with the directors, we tried to talk to each other for a day and a half, but once he had chosen, we decided to organise ourselves in the best possible way.”