Claudio Ranieri says “Leicester’s fairytale lives on in my skin, in my heart” and discusses the state of Serie A.
The Roman Coach won the Premier League title with the Foxes in 2015-16, but was sacked earlier this year after a poor defence of that title.
Now Coach of Nantes, the 65-year-old sat down with Gazzetta dello Sport to discuss various football issues.
“Leicester’s fairytale lives on in my skin, in my heart,” Ranieri told the newspaper.
Claudio Ranieri says “Leicester’s fairytale lives on in my skin, in my heart” and discusses the state of Serie A.
The Roman Coach won the Premier League title with the Foxes in 2015-16, but was sacked earlier this year after a poor defence of that title.
Now Coach of Nantes, the 65-year-old sat down with Gazzetta dello Sport to discuss various football issues.
“Leicester’s fairytale lives on in my skin, in my heart,” Ranieri told the newspaper.
“I wanted to participate in more events because we have a need for positive examples. I’ve had praise from Italians, English, Canadians, New Zealanders, Japanese… we touched the hearts of every corner of the world.
“Sometimes it happens that you win impossible challenges. I think of [Barack] Obama, President of the United States with his ‘Yes We Can’ and of Leicester winning the Premier League.
“What’s left of that achievement? The tears of the English fans after my sacking. I was a hero even after being got rid of. Indeed, I was most loved in that negative moment.
“The important thing is not to think you’re a superman, that you can win impossible matches. I couldn’t go to Mars, even if I wanted to.
“Nantes? I need to brush up on my French.
“Football is my oxygen, and in the period where I was unemployed I was twitchy, impatient. I didn’t enjoy this gold-plated holiday.
“I studied – football, of course – but I wasn’t happy.”
Ranieri has plenty of Serie A experience, having been on the bench at Roma, Juventus, Inter and others, and he was asked for his assessment of the current calcio landscape.
“Vincenzo Montella? As a Coach he’s not bad, but he’ll have to work a bit harder than, for example, [Inter Coach Luciano] Spalletti.
“Something important is already there [at Inter], Spalletti has a particular character but he can be the leader of this new Inter.
“There’s a problem right now though, Inter are like the waiting room at an international airport. It’s all about coming and going, they need to create an identity.
“Among their players I like [Roberto] Gagliardini, his mistake in the semi-final of the Under-21 European Championship notwithstanding, though it wasn’t just him.
“I’m pleased that the Chinese government has put controls on football operations. I’m not against opening the doors to new rich people, but with some limit.
“The Chinese are the owners of Milan and Inter, and I’ve read about interest for other clubs. Do we let them buy the whole of Serie A?
“In other countries, big investors become partners, not masters. In Spain the symbolic teams – namely Real Madrid and Barcelona – have the support of fan ownership.
“They don’t need Chinese money in Germany. We’re economically weak and therefore too vulnerable.
“Who is favourite for the Scudetto? Juve, naturally. They’re the strongest, the most solid. The club hierarchy are doing their jobs.
“Remember [Leonardo] Bonucci in the stands for the Champions League with Porto? These are the kind of gestures which make their mark.
“I like the idea of Douglas Costa, he was already very strong at Shakhtar Donetsk, not to mention [Federico] Bernardeschi who is a very interesting project.
“The Serie A player who excites me the most though is Paulo Dybala. Those who question his performance in the Cardiff [Champions League] final are crazy, he’ll become a Ballon d’Or player.
“Napoli? They only need a few adjustments. And do you know something? The continuous jabs between [Coach Maurizio] Sarri and [President Aurelio] De Laurentiis create positive shocks. It’s strange, but it’s true.
“As for Roma, they’re restarting with a champion like [Daniele] De Rossi, and capitan futuro [Alessandro] Florenzi.
“The problem is that if they can’t get the new stadium built I’m afraid [President James] Pallotta will go. Why can’t we build new stadiums in Italy? It’s absurd, it’s incredible.
“Why didn’t they fight to have the Olympics in Rome? The reason they gave is that it would all be fraudulent, but whoever steals should go to jail, right? If we live as prisoners of this fear we’ll never grow.
“Roma need that new stadium and a couple of new players now that Salah has left. I trust in [sporting director] Monchi, he’s very good. I can guarantee that.
“Eusebio Di Francesco knows Rome and Roma, he’s prepared.”