Former Inter Primavera coach Stefano Vecchi has given his thoughts on some young players currently with the Nerazzurri.
Sepaking to Italian news outlet FCInter1908.com, the Italian coach provided his assessments of Inter players Federico Dimarco, Zinho Vanheusden, and Andrei Radu, and outlined his views on their prospective career paths.
Vecchi has taken over at Serie C team FeralPisalo, but he also has extensive experience with the Nerazzurri, having been in charge of the Primavera team between 2014 and 2018 as well as acting as caretaker manager for the first team on two occasions.
In his role, Vecchi became familiar with a number of then-youth-sector players who are only now beginning to really blossom as senior footballers, and he was able to give insight into these players which could help predict how the trajectories of their Nerazzurri careers will go.
Vecchi started by talking about his project at FeralPisalo:
“We started a few days ago and the feeling is that we have a good group in a well-organized club. The goal is to try to getting closer to the top of the standings, reducing the gap from last year. We want to play good football, allowing youngsters to play too. We do not preclude anything.”
Next he spoke about Federico Dimarco, who returns from an impressive loan spell with Hellas Verona and could look to cement a first-team place for himself with the Nerazzurri:
“I think this is the next step for what he has shown up to now. He immediately jumped ahead, you could see he was more ready than the others.
“He went to play elsewhere for this very reason. On his way, away from Inter, he has shown that he can aspire to be one of the players in the Nerazzurri first team, though it is clear that he will have to sweat and fight to succeed.”
“It is not easy to prove that you belong at Inter, but his path has put him in a position to play foe his spot and take his chance. Great credit to him, because the expectations put on a youngster are not always confirmed.”
Next, Vecchi was asked about what he thought the best position of Dimarco was, stating the following:
“In the youth sector it was said that perhaps he could only make it as a full-back. Then he played wing-back, and in Verona he showed that he was also able to be the third centre-back.
“He can easily play more roles, but it is clear that we must take into account his characteristics.”
“He is not a six foot player, but he reads any situation well and has a really great left foot. This comes in handy not only on set pieces, but also in the buildup phase of the game. And there is also a another aspect to consider.”
Expanding on the previous remark, Vecchi spoke about Dimarco’s mentality and love of the Nerazzurri:
“This guy practically has an Inter shirt tattooed on him. I laughed when he scored against Inter and they criticized him for his jubilant celebration. If there was a real Inter player in those years in the Nerazzurri youth sector, it was definitely Federico. He grew up with those colours in his heart.”
Next, he gave his thoughts on Andrei Radu, who looks destined to remain at Inter as a backup for next season:
“He would do well, trying to seize any opportunities, and thus prove that he is up to the challenge.
“We said a lot of good things about him, [PSG and former AC Milan keeper Gianluigi] Donnarumma and [Sampdoria keeper Emil] Audero, and it is no coincidence that all three reached high levels.
“Then some had more luck than others so far, but he is really a high quality goalkeeper. He certainly won’t make a bad impression, on the contrary.”
Finally, Vecchi gave his thoughts on Belgian defender Zingo Vanheusden, who will go out on loan next season after returning to Inter from Standard Liege:
“I hope Zinho can follow the same path as Dimarco and return to establish himself at the Nerazzurri. Unfortunately he has had two major injuries, otherwise he would have been an immovable starter at Standard Liege.
“He is very young, but equally serious, with great personality and depth. It doesn’t surprise me that they had also given him the captain’s armband.
“I hope he has overcome the physical problems he had, because in this way he will surely have the opportunity to stand out. It would be nice to see him one day in the squad at Inter.”
