Walter Mazzarri

Inter coach Walter Mazzarri is completely focused on taking on his former club Napoli this weekend and is not anxious about his return.

The tactician joined the Nerazzurri during the summer after he refused to sign a new contract with the Stadio San Paolo outfit.

“I’ve been coaching for a long time,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “I know that my job is to focus entirely on getting my players ready during the week.

“I’m the coach of Inter now so I’m only thinking about that. I’ve looked at the mistakes we made in the last game, I haven’t thought about anything else yet.

“I expect I’ll feel something when I go up the steps to the pitch – after all I spent four intense years there and you can’t erase that – but at the moment I’m just concentrating on solving the problems my team might have.

“After the game on Sunday against Parma, I told the lads that we’d done some things very well but also got lots of things wrong.

“We’ve tried to understand that and work on our approach to the game, our mentality when we take to the field.”

Inter are currently fourth in the table, four points behind third-placed Napoli who are now coached by former Beneamata tactician Rafael Benitez.

Source - http://forzaitalianfootball.com/2013/12/mazzarri-ready-for-napoli-return/

APPIANO GENTILE - Walter Mazzarri gave an exclusive interview to Rai Sport’s Thomas Villa the day before Inter’s Coppa Italia meeting with Udinese.

The Nerazzurri boss began by looking back on Monday’s defeat to Lazio: “Was it our worst performance of the season? It might have been from an aesthetic point of view but when you analyse games you have to look at the other team as well and the tactical approach they took throughout the match. Obviously if one side sits back and waits then it’s going to be difficult. In many ways I disagree with that but then again it’s the result that counts in Italy. It’s our third defeat of the year and it’s the most galling because we had every chance of winning it. But we need to put it behind us now and turn our attentions to tomorrow’s game.”

Mazzarri then discussed Inter’s transfer business in the January window: “For a start, the transfer window has barely opened. Then, as I’ve said before, we’re a work in progress here because we have players who aren’t featuring much and deserve to be playing more elsewhere. We should aim first of all to use this transfer window to adjust the number of players we have in this squad so that we can train well, with others going out to get some experience under their belts or so that their value can increase. That’s the sort of choice we need to make. People need to know what’s going on. There are players here who have come back from injury and have played less. You know that the starting 11 has been much the same all along and that’s why, to avoid wasting our resources, ideally you’d have just the players you need for the league and the Coppa Italia, which is very important to us.”

The coach was also asked about the possibility of playing with two strikers, a suggestion that has often been put to him in recent months. He said: “After Monday’s game I was told that the defence had conceded a goal but that we need to play with two strikers. Let’s remember that when we had two strikers on the pitch we conceded and we didn’t score. Playing with one striker, until very recently, we had the best attack in Serie A. What matters to me is that my team scores one more than the opposition. People should have noticed that even if I’d wanted to play with two strikers, I’ve very rarely had that option available to me. I can also tell you that Icardi has had another setback following his operation and won’t be fit to play tomorrow.”

Source: Inter.it

Mazzarri: “We’ll turn things around with Chievo”

UDINE – After the match at the Stadio Friuli, the Inter coach answered questions from journalists.

Here are his statements:

“A delayed reaction? We played a great second half and it was all one-way traffic. We’re still a work in progress. We suffered in the first half because we were bewildered by Udinese’s high-speed play. Today I finally saw Milito on the pitch for 90 minutes. The result is less that we deserved. Now we’ll focus on the league with Milito back 100%.

“In the first half we started a bit tense. We had players on the pitch who hadn’t played much together, but I made some choices that fit. It’s a bit of an off moment for us, but I have to praise everyone for the second half. Today it was clear that the ball just wasn’t going to go in. That’s football. Getting Milito back was really the good news this evening. I’m convinced the results will start coming on the pitch. We have to try and play a strong game against Chievo. We need it to turn things around.

“The club and I were both mutually clear right from the beginning. We need to do many things this season, and right now we’re doing them the best we can. You have to test out players in the Coppa Italia who don’t get used as much. We’re doing well in the league this season when considering everything that happened last year and what was said last summer. We need to move forward and build.

“I don’t need to convince Inter fans the season is a positive one. I’m talking about reality here. We hadn’t been eliminated in the round of 16 since 2002? Just think that 14 years had passed since Inter last failed to qualify for Europe; it speaks volumes on what this club is going through right now. It’s no coincidence there’s also been a change in ownership after so many years. A rebuilding year; call it what you like. Everyone understands very well what we’re going through. This team has an identity, a soul. And obviously you can’t do it all in one year.

“This year we have 8 players with expiring contracts, which says a lot about the rejuvenation project. They got me from Napoli because they know what I did there, taking a team from the bottom of the standings to seventh place. And you all know how it went from there. We expect to climb as high as we can doing what we’re doing.

“Guarantees? I arrived in June and it was said we’d have to assess the current Inter squad. I did so and tried to re-evaluate it. Now we’re ‘skimming’ it, but overall the club made a conscious choice with me in mind; a coach who can evaluate a squad and organise a plan to take it back to the top. Today I had to do some tests specifically to make an evaluation of the squad. Besides, we had won the derby before the Lazio game. It seems as if everyone has forgotten that… It doesn’t happen often that we fail to take the three points.

“Qualifying for the Europa League? I don’t place limits for myself, and people who know me know that. I send the players out there with the desire to win everything. Napoli set out every season without making many proclamations, then ended up qualifying for Europe each time. That could easily happen here too.

“By now the penalties have become a joke. I’ve calmly discussed it for seventeen games now. Today there were three. But now enough. Starting with the next match I’m no longer going to get into the refereeing topic until the season is over. That way no one will be able to say Mazzarri always complains about the referees. You saw what happened today in our 17th game, with the quarter-finals at stake. I’m no longer going to say anything.

“Botta? He’s another lad we’ll try to evaluate. He trained well despite coming off of an injury. He got involved in the match immediately, and we signed him because he has important qualities. He’s come back from a difficult injury, but he’s recovering well. I’m happy for his debut, and he responded well from what I saw.”

Source: Inter.it

Mazzarri wants clarity

The first page of Gazzetta dello Sport is all about Mazzarri is feeling a bit of pressure after two straight losses.

“Inter, after TIM Cup elimination, Mazzarri wants important signals. The coach is calling for clarity regarding the transfer market and on the number of players that would be available. Borriello is in stand by: problem is the wage.”

Source: GdS

Mazzarri: "Could D'Ambrosio and Hernanes mean we change formation? With time the team will have to adapt to playing 4 at the back"



Thohir suggested he wants a more modern approach formation wise even before he bought Inter,and Mazzarri will probably have to adapt or face the axe.

What we think Mazzarri thought when he said that


What Mazzarri actually thought

"I'm going to start training the team to play in a 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-1-2 from the start of pre-season in Pinzolo"



I said it before,he's gonna have to comply with Thohir eventually and adapt or get scrapped.Unfortunately the formations he mentions are almost as outdated as the one we use now.