Cagliari coach Walter Zenga discussed Inter owned midfielder Radja Nainggolan and the current Inter squad in an interview with Italian broadcaster Telelombardia yesterday.
First, he spoke about the qualities of the 32-year-old Belgian midfielder.
“I found a guy very helpful in any situation and of great depth. When I heard about Vidal, I always thought why would they take Vidal if Radja is there. This is a thought of mine, I am happy to have him with me because he is someone who makes the difference. I’m his coach and I’m holding on to him, if Inter wanted to leave him here for another year I’d be the happiest man in the world. Then I don’t know if there are possibilities, my idea is to be a coach and I express my needs but I can’t get into various situations.”
He spoke about the emotions he feels when he goes to the San Siro.
“Every once in a while, the polls come out on the best goalkeeper at Inter. Inter have always had excellent interpreters of the role, the last one being Samir Handanovic but also Julio Cesar, Gianluca Pagliuca, Francesco Toldo… But the difference is one thing, it’s one thing to arrive and do well in a club, it’s another to grow up in a club, be part of a fan base and do what I did. Every player has his own era, you can’t say that Sarti was better than Zenga or Toldo, but the only difference is that I was born, grew up as an Inter fan and I’ll die as an Inter fan. 22 years of Inter will never be erased. Then it’s clear that now I’m the coach of Cagliari and I’m keeping this bench tight, then with Crotone at San Siro I almost won.”
Zenga was positive about the current Inter squad and coach Antonio Conte.
“Yes, Antonio Conte did a great job. We’re talking about a coach who is in the top ten in the world, you can also see how he was managing the season. Maybe winning the first go round isn’t as easy as it happened to him elsewhere, but he cleared the dogma of a coach of a team who would never go and coach a rival.”
The former Nerazzurri goalkeeper knew that he would never coach rivals Juventus.
“Juve would never call me, because I’m not among the top ten coaches in the world. My coaching career was created by myself, I went around the world. I’ve coached in places like Gaziantep in Turkey, 100 km from the border with Syria, but they always treated me well.”
He spoke about what would happen should he push Cagliari to a top 6 finish and Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici called him.
“If that happens, Tommaso Giulini will do anything to hold me back. And it would be the greatest satisfaction. Every coach is a professional, Conte, Allegri and Sarri are great coaches and those who are at the top have a different vision of their work. There’s no way they call me, teams like Inter, Chelsea or Real Madrid, but not because I’m poor, but because I have to do a certain path. If I’m going to do it, then I don’t know.”
Zenga spoke a little about Inter’s youth system and his experiences there.
“I’m the kid who went to Inter when I was 10, I went on loan and came back. I went to Curva Nord, I turned Viale Ungheria into a place where they can look at me with pride. There won’t be any stories like mine because the systems have changed, the foreigner was once seen as a particular player, with the world that has changed so many things have changed. People like Baresi, Maldini, Bergomi, Costacurta, who were used to playing derby when they were little, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. When I see a Primavera lad who looks up to the grown-ups with admiration, like when I took four youngsters to Cagliari in the first team, I get excited.”
Finally, Zenga sent out a positive message to the city of Milan, touching on the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
“I was in Milan until 19th February, I must say that I was seeing the Milan of the 90s again, I’d like to find it like that. This is my wish for all the Milanese and all the Lombards, Lombardy gives a lot and we’re tough.”
Zenga spent the majority of his career with the Nerazzurri, where he made 473 appearances across his 22 seasons with the club. In that time, he conceded 424 goals and kept 194 clean sheets.
