Former Nerazzurri striker Julio Cruz feels that the joy of the Inter Milan players is evident playing under Simone Inzaghi.

Speaking to El Jardinero, via FCInterNews, the former striker gave his thoughts on his former teammate from Lazio Inzaghi and praised the job that he has been doing in charge of Inter.

Inzaghi is now in his third season as Inter coach.

And this looks to have been the one where the 47-year-old has really found his niche.

In Inzaghi’s first campaign at the helm, there were certainly many positives. These included winning both domestic cup competitions.

But the fact that Inter failed to win the Serie A title despite having had a big advantage in February certainly counted against Inzaghi.

And then in the coach’s second season at Inter, the team won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana once again. And reached the Champions League final.

But truly erratic form in the league had raised doubts about Inzaghi’s future throughout last season.

Julio Cruz: Joy Is Evident In Inter Players Under Inzaghi

Asked if he expected Inzaghi would become a coach whilst the pair were teammates at Lazio, Cruz replied, “No.”

“But I think during that season at Lazio, there was also Lionel Scaloni. And now he’s coach of Argentine.”

Cruz observed that “Simone did very well at Lazio.”

“As did Scaloni, who also suffered a lot of criticism when he became coach of Argentina.”

“Then, I never thought I’d see Matias Almeyda as a coach. And Simeone was always like a coach on the pitch.”

Cruz said that “I’m happy for Simone because he’s a good guy.”

“Not everyone can do what he’s done. At first, he didn’t seem to have the trust of everyone at Inter. But now he’s done brilliant things with the club and his staff.”

“He’s demonstrating that he has players who know what the coach wants,” Cruz said.

“And you can see that when they play.”

“Now when I go to the stadium and talk to Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella, Marcus Thuram, I can see the joy on their faces,” Cruz said.

“They’re enjoying themselves, which is not an easy thing to achieve. They’re having fun playing, joking around.”