Javier Zanetti looked back over 20 years at Inter, including Jose Mourinho, talking to the Champions League and his worst Coach.
The captain is releasing his autobiography and sat down with TG1 to discuss his highs and lows at the club.
Javier Zanetti looked back over 20 years at Inter, including Jose Mourinho, talking to the Champions League and his worst Coach.
The captain is releasing his autobiography and sat down with TG1 to discuss his highs and lows at the club.
“It is an infinite love affair. I will never stop thanking the Moratti family and the fans for all the love they’ve given me from the very first day. Inter is a family I truly love.”
Zanetti was asked to look back at his many tacticians at San Siro during the last two decades.
“Roberto Mancini was the Coach we started the new era with and he did a great job. Marcello Lippi was given everything he needed to make a great team, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. It wasn’t just his fault, but it turned into a very complicated year.
“I was annoyed by his comment that he wanted to kick the players up the backside. I don’t think that was the right way to behave towards the group. Mistakes can be made, but there are other ways to teach people what’s going wrong.
“I was very sad at how Hector Cuper’s time with Inter came to an end. He was a reliable and capable person who unfortunately paid for that May 5 when we lost the Scudetto.”
Of all the Coaches he has worked with, Zanetti pin-pointed Marco Tardelli as the worst.
“It was a very tough year with him. We lost the derby 6-0 and something broke that day… I don’t know if he really was the worst, but he is the Coach I was least fond of.”
Naturally, he tips Mourinho as the best after they won the Treble together in 2010 – Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia.
“Mourinho was a winner who took care of every detail and his two years will remain in the hearts of all Inter fans.
“When we were losing 1-0 at half-time in Kiev and practically out of the Champions League, he told us we would go on to win and had to risk everything. He took off two defenders to put on two strikers and we did win. He said it with such conviction that when we stepped on to the field we knew it could happen.
“When I carried the Champions League trophy and put it next to my locker, I spoke to it,” revealed Zanetti.
“I told the trophy that I’d been chasing it for a long time and finally it was in my arms.”