Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio spoke to the microphones of Pressing after the Inter-Parma match: the joy for the Scudetto, the trust and work of Chivu, and a look at future transfer strategies.
How many years at Inter?
“It’s been 28.”
What kind of Scudetto is this?
“This is a Scudetto that few believed in—certainly we did—and we knew it wouldn’t be easy, especially after last season, but I also know what this group is capable of, what they showed right from the start: great desire, determination, from the first day of training with the new coach, and they managed to do again what they had already done after Istanbul. Basically, after a season that ended with a lost final, they immediately bounced back and we won the league again. We managed it once more.”
After the first three matchdays, with two defeats at the start of the season, did any of your convictions waver or did you truly believe in the Chivu choice?
“We never wavered, absolutely not. It would be easy to say that now, but believe me, we believed in it. From the beginning we thought he was the right coach. We thought he had all the qualities, not just technical but also moral, to rebuild certainties in this team. This team needed a change of mindset, it wasn’t a problem of formations, systems of play, or tactics. It was about what that final had left behind, that end of the league as well, losing the league by one point. And he immediately got into the heads of these guys in the right way, so we knew it would be an important season and that’s how it ended, we finished it with an incredible run and a thoroughly deserved Scudetto.”
The secret to building such a strong team?
“There’s no particular secret. There’s the desire to always build something important right from the start. It may sound trivial, but actually it’s something that’s been a bit underestimated and I was pleased you mentioned the working group. We are a close-knit group with people, I think, who are also fairly good, each with their own skills and responsibilities, and we’ve all managed to channel our respective qualities in the same direction. In these six years we’ve won three Scudetti with three different coaches. That’s an incredible fact in my opinion, because we went from Conte to Inzaghi, now Chivu in his first real year with a team that’s competitive to win the Scudetto, and it’s never easy. The fact that we managed it with this alternation of coaches, with a historic group of fantastic players and also with some new young players we brought in this year who immediately made an important contribution to the cause.”
What does this team need for the next transfer window?
“We’ll do something, there are players whose contracts are expiring and beyond that, there’s always the desire to improve. That’s one of the strengths of this club, we’re never satisfied. Before we focus on the transfer market, we still have to think about an important match on May 13, the Coppa Italia which we care a lot about, it’s another trophy we’d like to bring home. After that, we’ll have time to calmly focus on the market, knowing that something will need to be done, because to always have a strong team, you need to keep investing and keep raising the level of the club, of a squad that is certainly competitive but can always be improved.”
