Former Inter Manager Stefano Pioli faces his former side this weekend as the Nerazzurri travel to the Artemio Franchi. Speaking to La Gazzetta Dello Sport he spoke about his short but eventful time as Inter manager recalling that time after the sacking of Dutchman Frank De Boer: “the whole thing about the “casting” for the Inter job had its’ affect but it is something that all the clubs do, not just Inter. They tell you that they are speaking only to you but then you find out that it’s not true and there are others involved too. The only difference is that Suning were open about it. When Ausilio called me I was in New York. I had just received an offer from another club that shall remain nameless: I landed at Milan, Ausilio and Gardini were there to meet me and they came to my home in Parma. They told me “for us two you are our number one candidate”. A couple of days later I met with the Chinese owners. It was the longest work meeting of my life. We spent two hours in a legal studio with ongoing translations Chinese to English to Italian. I left satisfied though “you said what you believed in and you couldn’t do much more than that” was what I thought to myself but it still wasn’t clear what the outcome would be. Overtime I learned that you cannot waste energy worrying about things you have no control over”
He recalls his time at Inter as manic. First the great comeback to set the team on course for a great turn around in form and results then the amazing fall in form and slide down the table eventually leading to his dismissal: “a sacking wounds you if it comes from broken relationships and if it leaves with you with regrets. For this reason I was more hurt by the time when I left Lazio. I regretted not having understood certain dynamics so I did perform as well as I could have. If I think back to my time at Inter I have no regrets, I would do it all again. I know that drop in form seems hard to explain but it isn’t. We spent a lot of energy in a mad and impossible comeback that the defeat against Sampdoria was the pin that finally burst our bubble of enthusiasm. After that the draw in the Derby in the 97th minute was the final nail in the coffin. But now the atmosphere at the club is different thanks to results and certain reinforcements. They seem more aware of their capabilities and more solid as a unit. With Spalletti on the bench since the start of the season helps too. It’s one thing to begin a project at the start of the season, it’s something else to take over half way into a season.”
He ended on Spalletti saying: “he has arrived at Inter at the highest point of coach, motivator and communicator even if he does not envy anything when thinking about the next challenge tomorrow. Not even Icardi who turns every ball into a goal evry time a cross arrives in the box like my old team mate Gabriel Batistuta.”
