Walter Mazzarri Presentation to the Media Highlights

I will try to get the whole thing up on the blogsite for those that want it but for right now I am going to cobble together what I can find from various sources immediately until I can get a full official version from the official website.

TRAINING IS SACRED

In modern-day football, and this is where we can talk about Inter, you need to be extremely well prepared both physically and mentally and that’s why I insist on a work ethic – that’s sacred to me. The first thing I’ll say to the players when I see them is that training is sacred: if you miss a training session there must be an extremely good reason for it, otherwise you need to be training and pulling out all the stops. If a player is skillful, he’ll show that he’s better than the others on others pitch.

I DO A LOT OF WORK ON TACTICS

Going a bit further, it’s the players who have got to know me best down the years and they tend to see me as a coach who does a lot of work on tactics, a tactician who tries to give his teams a clearly defined structure.

INTER’S SQUAD WAS BETTER THAN THE RESULTS LAST SEASON

Inter’s squad was better than the results and I say this without passing judgment on the previous coach. I have the duty to assess all available players. Then based on what they do on the field, and I want to see a great work ethic on the field, I will report back to the club whether we need to bring in new players.

INTER HAS A DUTY TO RETURN TO COMPETATIVE PLAY

The fans should be proud of a team that doesn’t quit, this is the first goal. I believe that results will come through this. The closer you get to perfection the more success you have. Immediately, the fans want to see a tough team that plays tough with everyone. And Inter must limit losses in their own stadium.

PRE SEASON AND TRANSFERS

I won’t discuss the market with the media, I’ll do that with the club. We spent until midnight yesterday talking about players. Playing with a lot of youngsters and coming in the top places in Serie A are not things that always go together. I like young people, if you only require that I make 50 points, and then I could make a young team. But to compete with the top teams of the league is different. I want to have 22 players in retreat. I want 2 players for each role plus 4 or 5 young players who are ready to take over.

MY DECISION TO LEAVE NAPOLI WASN’T CONNECTED TO ANYTHING ELSE

For a start, my decision to leave Napoli was in no way connected to anything else. I decided to bring an end to my four years at Napoli at the start of the season, as you all know. Last summer the club offered me a contract extension which I turned down, as I thought I’d probably leave the club after my fourth year as motivation levels would have dropped. I didn’t leave Napoli to come to Inter, or to go to Russia or anywhere else. I might have taken a year off if I hadn’t received an offer that really motivated me. I had lots of offers, one of which was from Inter and the president wanted to meet me. I was totally taken. I just want to go on record and explain what happened again so that people don’t twist things.

More to follow...

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