Roberto Mancini said he hopes to get stuttering Inter Milan back to winning ways quickly after returning to the Serie A giants for a second spell as coach on a two-and-a-half-year deal on Saturday.
“I don’t have a magic wand,” Mancini told reporters in Milan. “In football you don’t have much time. So as of today, we have to start working hard and get back to winning as soon as possible.”
I need to get to know the squad first. It’s not so easy to sign players in January to immediately strengthen a squad, as he either has to be a world class star or he’s likely to take time to settle. We need to see what is needed and what we can do with the current team.
“This is a wonderful challenge for me and one of the many reasons I accepted, as this is a young team and we can grow together. I think if we work well, have the same objectives and enthusiasm, then we can build a team that is young and strong for years to come.
“It is also very important for me that the team plays good football.”
Mancini, who spent four success-laden years with the club in 2004-2008, has replaced Walter Mazzarri, who was sacked on Friday after Inter had slipped to ninth in Italy’s Serie A with only four wins from their opening 11 games. Mancini’s contract will expire in June 2017, with reports claiming he is set to become the league’s highest-paid coach in history.
Gazzetta dello Sport on Saturday claimed the deal will total 21m euros gross with Inter expected to pay him 14m before tax over the next two seasons. Having led the Nerazzurri to a club record of three consecutive league titles plus two Italian Cups and two Super Cups in his previous stint in charge, Mancini was welcomed back to the club with open arms.
Mancini has not yet completed his staff, but confirmed he did ask David Platt to join him.
“I asked Platt, who I worked with at Manchester City, but David won’t leave England.”
“I never thought I would come back to Inter after ten years, but they convinced me to come back after laying out their vision for the future,” said the Italian. “Inter called me on Thursday night. I’m very happy with the enthusiasm shown by the fans. We have to use that to attract them back to the stadium, but above all to start winning games. That is fundamental.
“It’s hard to compare with my first experience here ten years ago, when I was much younger. Every experience is different.”