Legendary former Inter striker Sandro Mazzola believes that Simone Inzaghi can lead the Nerazzurri to the Scudetto in his first season in charge.
Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview published in today’s print edition, Mazzola praised the job done by Inzaghi so far and place his work in an historical context.
Inzaghi joined Inter from Lazio knowing that the pressure would be on him not only to repeat the feat of winning the Scudetto from last campaign, but also to live up to the historical standard at the club.
A number of not only great players but also great coaches have passed through the Nerazzurri over the years, and Inzaghi has his work cut out for him if he is to live up to the historical standard.
So far, however, the 45-year-old looks to be doing a very good job of imposing himself and could well be the latest manager to guide the club to the Serie A title.
“We must consider that a certain Giovanni Trapattoni had to wait until his third season at Inter to win the record-breaking Scudetto, and that World Cup winner Marcello Lippi never won it at Inter,” he stated.
“But Simone is really good and can do it,” he went on. “I like him, he has the team playing good football.”
The former striker explained that “Of course, we have really good players in every position, this should be emphasized.”
“But Inzaghi immediately settled in,” he emphasized, “he made quick, decisive choices, he was able to return those who were declining a bit to form. Bravo, great job – Simone is already following in the footsteps of the greats.”
Mazzola spoke about the Nerazzurri’s comeback Scudetto win during the 1970-71 season, stating that “During the week [then-coach Givoanni Invernizzi] spoke to each of us saying that Milan were catchable.”
“Then he said the opposite to people he knew we were close to, saying, ‘I want to get the guys up there but the city rivals are superior to us,'” he continued.
“To which we reacted strongly and put in a run of 23 consecutive games without defeat,” he stated. “Thanks to which we came back from Milan’s seven-point advantage, winning the Scudetto four points clear of them, a huge undertaking.”
On the fact that only Jose Mourinho has managed to win the Scudetto in his first season with the Nerazzurri since Invernizzi did so, he reminded that “Well if we’re talking about the Scudetto, yes. But Gigi Simoni took us to the top of Europe in his first season with a 3-0 win over Lazio in the 1998 UEFA Cup final at the Parc des Princes.”
“I pushed hard on Massimo Moratti to get Gigi on the bench here,” he added. “I was a director in charge of technical matters.”
“Massimo, I remember, wanted to find us a world-class coach because we had brought in Ronaldo Phenomeno, he asked for a style of play worthy of him,” he recalled.