Inter defender Stefan de Vrij feels that even with the Scudetto win of last season, the team are not ready to rest on their laurels by any means.
Speaking to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad in an interview published in today’s print edition, the 24-year-old stated that he and his teammates want to keep winning.
The Nerazzurri achieved something very significant by securing the first Scudetto in eleven years last campaign, capping off years of growth.
This time around, the Nerazzurri have reached the round of sixteen of the Champions League for the first time in a decade.
De Vrij is happy to have gotten this far along the path of growth and success since joining the Nerazzurri from Lazio in the summer of 2018, but he still feels that there is much more to come and that he and his teammates are very motivated to keep going.
“Winning the Scudetto was nice, but what I noticed above all in the Inter locker room is that nobody feels satisfied yet,” he stated.
“We want much more,” he went on. “For the first time in a long time we have made it out of the Champions League group stage, we have taken top spot in Serie A. That’s how I feel, there’s more to win.”
Regarding criticism he’s received in his career, de Vrij stated that “At first you’re preoccupied with it. But gradually you learn to let it go. It’s not so important what people think.”
“When I was voted as the best defender in Serie A, I felt that something had changed,” he continued. “The Scudetto was the thing that the team and I have been working towards for a long time.”
“I didn’t see us as driven by a need to prove anything to others,” he added. “There’s not a lot you can do about that, the only thing you can do is go and prove yourself on the pitch.”
“Sometimes it’s annoying for my family,” he added with a laugh, “I often had to tell my parents not to watch and read everything.”
“But then, it makes you more resilient,” de Vrij reflected. “You learn to filter what people are saying.”
Of the Champions League draw, in which the Nerazzurri drew Liverpool after the draw which resulted in Ajax being named their initial opponents was voided, he stated that “I liked the draw that had us facing Ajax.”
“But as I was watching and I saw Villarreal against Manchester United, I immediately thought – something is wrong,” he continued.
“Then we got Liverpool, who are a very team strong, but we are preparing well,” he added.
De Vrij closed by reaffirming that “Inter want the second star on our chest and this requires that we win another Scudetto.”
