Spalletti: "I'm here to get Inter back where this club belongs"

APPIANO GENTILE - After answering questions from Nerazzurri fans on Facebook, Luciano Spalletti sat down with the gathered media at Suning Training Centre in memory of Angelo Moratti for his official unveiling as Inter head coach.

“Thank you all for coming. I want to start by congratulating Stefano Vecchi for winning the title with the Primavera team. I hope our young stars will keep on doing what they've been doing. Stefano and I will spend a lot of time talking about his players.

“I'm here to put this club back where it belongs, in line with its history. Inter have a wonderful history and I want to take it all in and be a part of it – both actively and by enjoying it from a privileged position.

“The first thing we have to do is play as a team. 4-2-3-1 is the formation I have in mind but formations are relative. What matters is that your players buy into certain ideas and that we know where we want to be. From a tactical perspective, it's important to study how the opposition's backline moves.

“We have some fantastic players in this squad but they need to fit within a team. I want all my players to put themselves at the service of the collective.

“We're in the process of discussing transfers. We must make sure we buy the right players. We're working on that while getting an idea of how our own players feel.

“There's a whole series of things you need in order to win games. Ideally, we'd have all the players to work with as soon as possible. If a player knows what we want, it's easier for them to slot in. We have 50 days to work together without having to worry about any competitive matches.  

“I'm no better than any of the other coaches who preceded me but I'm different. We'll do things my way because that's what I believe in and I'll ask the players to buy into it because I'll be there with them 100% of the way. I think it would be a step too far to say we have the solution but I think we have every chance of getting Inter back in line with this club's history.

“We must respect Juventus for what they've achieved but we mustn't confuse respect with fear. We mustn't have any fear, but go out there determined and then see who's best.

“I decided to leave Roma and thanked everyone there for our time together. Once I'd left, Inter was the best thing that could have happened to me.

"Fabio Capello is a very important figure in football. He's taught all of us something over the years, just as other greats have – like Herrera and Mourinho at Inter. Capello is part of the Suning family now and I'm sure he'll show his worth. I haven't spoken to him yet but I'm looking forward to doing so.

“The fans are the soul of the team. The more we have, the more we can win, and we have loads of fans – you only need to look at this club's history to understand how many.

“We must reinforce our sense of belonging. We'll look forward to seeing the fans in Brunico because we want them to be a part of what we're doing.

“Joao Mario is an attacking player who's also good at helping you control the play, and controlling the play helps you win games.

“Players who come on for the last 10 minutes must give the same as what their team-mates who played 80 minutes did. If we don't change, we won't win.”