The new season is drawing ever closer and Inter are now back at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti preparing for their first taste of competitive action. For Esteban Cambiasso, the coming campaign will be his tenth in black and blue, an anniversary he’ll celebrate on his birthday when the Nerazzurri take on Cittadella in the Coppa Italia next Sunday.
The Argentine midfielder assessed how Inter’s pre-season is going in an interview with Sky Sport 24 today, starting with what the team got out of their recent US tour. “Lots of travelling,” Cuchu replied with a grin, before analysing the football side of the Nerazzurri’s stay in the States. “It helped us grow as a team regardless of the results, although that’s obviously the first thing people talk about in this game. We know there’s more to it than that; we have to look at the way the team plays. Could the results get us down? This is Inter we’re talking about here – there’s no time to get down about things. Whether you’ve won or you’ve lost, you can’t be thinking about the past.”
So when will we see Mazzarri’s influence on the team? “We’ve already seen it. Perhaps not everyone can see it immediately but hopefully it will be clear to everyone soon. Did we not work hard enough or well enough before Mazzarri? The training methods have changed as you expect them to when there’s a change of coach. But you should never say anything bad about a coach who’s not here anymore.”
What about new signings to strengthen the team? “That’s a matter for the club to deal with. We just have to give everything we’ve got, then it’s up to the coach and the club to decide what we need.”
Cambiasso continued by talking about his role in front of the defence: “What you do in your own position depends on how the rest of the team is working. You use up more energy if the team isn’t organised, otherwise you all work just as hard as one another. You have to make sure you understand what the coach wants.”
It was then put to the midfielder that after a year like last season, results are perhaps all that matters to the Nerazzurri. “When you play for Inter, you always have to win. That doesn’t change from one year to the next. If you win one year, you have to repeat your success the year after; if you didn’t, then you have to make up for not winning.”
Would Cuchu take third place now if it were offered to him? “No, I’d never settle for anything from the outset.”
Tevez and Higuain? “Players of that calibre can only be good for Italian football.”
Is Cambiasso envious of his fellow countrymen who took part in today’s meeting with the Pope ahead of tomorrow’s friendly between Italy and Argentina? “Envy isn’t the right word in situations like this. Everyone would like to meet Pope Francis. I had the opportunity to meet the last two Popes so I’ve already been lucky.”
The veteran midfielder also gave his views on possible future events, including Samuel Eto’s’s return to Italy and Inter (“Anything can happen in football, in Italy people are more interested in the transfer market than actual games”) and Massimo Moratti handing the club over to Erick Thohir: “For the time being it’s all hypothetical; nothing is certain until the documents are signed. It’s got nothing to do with us anyway, it’s out of our hands. I don’t know Thohir but knowing president Moratti I’m sure that whatever decision he takes will be what’s best first of all for Inter and then for himself.”
Does Cambiasso have a new contract? “No, I haven’t signed one yet but I’ve already said there will be no problems there.”
Source: inter.it
