Former Inter manager Andrea Stramaccioni has spoken on how he felt taking on the Inter job with so many household names in the team whilst he himself was a complete unknown and only starting out as a manager at senior level.
“If you remember this dressing room it was full of unbelievable players,” he began an interview with the online edition of British broadcaster Sky Sports.
“Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Milito, Stankovic, Chivu and Maicon. One was the captain of Brazil, one was the captain of Argentina and I was a nobody.
“My thought was ‘the bosses decided to put you here. They look on you as something. So close your eyes and don’t think about the name on his back and think only about what I’m able to do.’
“I remember Milito came and knocked on my door before a game against Genoa. He said coach you are working very well, don’t worry. On Sunday we will score four. And we scored five!”
Stramaccioni then went on to recall what it was like for him when he was a youth coach at Inter and Jose Mourinho was messaging him and giving him advice.
“Mourinho is fantastic. I didn’t know him and he started to send messages to give me suggestions, tips. Unbelievable, I will never forget it. It was crazy. I will always say thank you to him.”
Stramaccioni then went on to reflect about his spell in charge of Inter and how things changed during his second campaign in charge.
“Thanks to my players we had a strong first season and in the second season until December we were second and unfortunately Marotti decided to sell the club.
“The new owners made different decisions. It was a fantastic experience and will be forever in my heart at the start of my career.”
The 44-year-old manager, who last managed Iranian club Esteghlal FC, managed Inter in 65 matches across all competitions. Inter won 31, drew 11 and lost 23 of those games. Since leaving Inter in 2013, he has also managed at Udinese, Panathinaikos and Sparta Prague.
