Interviewed by Amarcord, Paul Ince spoke about his experience in Milan with Inter and his praise for former Inter president, Massimo Moratti.

“One afternoon in June in 1995 I was playing golf with Giggs near Manchester and I received a call from Alex Ferguson who stated “We received an offer for you to Inter and we accepted”.  In two days I prepared my belonging and flew to Inter.  It was Massimo Moratti who wanted me at Inter, he came to see in a match against Crystal Palace.  It’s tough to describe how incredible Massimo Moratti is.”

He continued stating “He’s a great man (regarding Massimo Moratti).  He was a warrior who loved me.  At Inter there were marvelous champions like Roberto Carlos, Zanetti, Djorkaeff and Zamorano, but we weren’t the best team in the league.   At times we even felt weaker than Milan who had Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, there is no doubt we were slightly weaker in quality.   But this is exactly why he wanted to simply create a team to compete with Milan and Juve and create that upper quality of level for the club.  Things were very different at Inter.”

Paul Ince also discussed the difficulties in getting accustomed to a 3-5-2 formation “In the beginning it was difficult because of coach Ottavio Bianchi who didn’t insert me in the correct position, he used a 3-5-2 formation and he utilized me on the left wing.  I was wondering if this manager ever seen me play.  I’ve played in the center midfield position for seven years at United for six years, it was tough to adjust.”

Then arrived Roy Hodgson “Once he came in that is when my level of play returned to form.  Hodgson had a good report with Moratti who had to change some things around.  During the 96-97 season things didn’t go as planned, everything fell on Roy and in the end he was released.  It was very tough on him and I don’t believe he deserved the sacking.  Looking back, the Inter Milan test for one was not an easy one.  It’s very difficult especially with the language barrier as well.  I respect that man very much, once he came that is when my playing improved.”

On his Inter departure “When I told Moratti that I wanted to return to England, he simply started bursting in tears.  We had just acquired Ronaldo, but for family reasons it was best for me to return to England.  In reality I didn’t want to,  I would of remained at Inter forever.  I adore that man, I respect him and I still talk to him.  I will always remember that time with him at Inter.”