Legendary former Inter captain Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Bergomi has revealed that he does not want to get too carried away with Christian Eriksen’s recent good performances for the Danish national team amid his ongoing struggles at Inter.
“How many have seen Denmark play and his performances? How many goals did he score, and how many were penalties? Not seeing the performances I can’t judge,” he explained in an interview with Italian radio station TMW Radio on Monday night.
“I don’t want to get too excited, I was the first to say certain things and they told me all kinds of things, but the point is that our football is very different from the English one, you are left with little in the way of space and in my opinion, he is not suitable for Serie A.”
The 1982 World Cup winner was then asked whether the investment Inter made to sign Eriksen from Tottenham Hotspur back in January was worthwhile.
“I have never been an admirer of Eriksen. Watching Tottenham I would have immediately signed Kane or Son. There was a market opportunity that ended up putting the coach in difficulty. An opportunity that has also come to cost on the whole. Eriksen also has important qualities, I say that it [his arrival] did not happen in a favourable situation.”
Bergomi, who spent the entirety of his playing career with Inter, was then asked whether Inter need a new left wing-back such as Marcos Alonso more than they need a new striker such as Olivier Giroud.
“If Kolarov is playing as a centre back, Inter are missing a left wing-back. With Sanchez having physical problems, this team needs good players, and if I have to sign a striker I’m going for a fast one, one like Gervinho.
“The defensive line is not very fast, and Inter should sit deeper however, there is time to settle things. If I had to choose, I would sign a fast forward.”
In conclusion Bergomi was asked whether he thinks Inter manager Antonio Conte knew that a change in system would lead to an increase in the number of goals conceded.
“I asked him, if it were true that he wanted to win all the games 4-3, since I am old school. He told me that he plays with two strikers, two very attacking wing-backs and he also tries to bring in a playmaker and at that point wants to dominate the game.
“To be able to do this, however, it takes technical qualities that I don’t think exist today, the team is more muscular than anything else. It is no coincidence that Inter have more points away from home. The draws with Lazio and Atalanta came after Inter had an advantage and they should have taken the results home.”
During his career with Inter, Bergomi made 754 appearances across all competitions, an appearance tally bettered only by Javier Zanetti. Bergomi won seven trophies, including three UEFA Cups.
