The president of Inter Beppe Marotta spoke to Sky Sports on Christmas Day, touching on various topics related to Nerazzurri current events and beyond:
Can it be defined as the year of Inter and Marotta?
“It is the year of Inter, in which Giuseppe Marotta is also active. Clearly these two situations combine: the fact of having received so much from Inter and of having given my experience within of certain objectives”.
What level has Inter reached overall, also looking at the European panorama?
“I must say that she has once again become one of the most authoritative protagonists. The history and palmares of this club say that the trophies won are many, the Scudetti are many, as are the Champions League. So we have returned to the stage most suited to history. With the new ownership, we are giving continuity to this.”
What has changed for you since you became president and what differences have you found compared to management roles? What about working with Oaktree?
“First of all, I have to thank the owners of Oaktree who immediately placed their trust in me and gave me greater responsibility by appointing me president of a club like Inter, which is something extraordinary. It is for me and for my career, always with a view to to ensure that Inter’s path is successful and full of results. Not much has changed, except the absolute dedication and commitment that I had and that today I have experienced even more club management models. In historical evolution and social aspect of this phenomenon, I have adapted, I have drawn a lot from my presidents and they have all given me so much and enriched me and today I clearly demonstrate this enrichment even more in this top role at Inter.”
How has Inzaghi grown in these years at Inter? And what kind of coach has he become today?
“Simone Inzaghi has proven to be a great professional and also an intelligent person. He arrived here with his feet on the ground, without proclamations. Then he grew as he achieved results, acquiring awareness of his abilities and managed to transmit everything to players One of his qualities is that of being a leader of the group, he knows how to inculcate the culture of work, passion and sense of belonging. All these components, supported by the management, by Ausilio, Baccin, Zanetti and the whole club have created that symbiosis that has brought us quite far”.
How much do you compare with him? And in what way?
“Respect for roles is the first thing for me. Piero Ausilio, as sporting director, is the one who compares himself the most with Inzaghi, but since ours is a team game we compare ourselves every day. Every day we talk about the various dynamics , with everyone bringing their own expertise.”
Where do you prefer to talk to people from Inter?
“It also depends on what type of fear you have to inculcate. The institutional place, the headquarters or the office in Pinetina, is an advantage I have. Otherwise I can face the dialogue in a restaurant or a hotel”.
The ideal team?
“If you have 11 talents you won’t win in any competition, you have to mix young and old. We have found a balance, you know that the oldest is Acerbi who is 36 years old. Experience is not only put into practice on the pitch but even in the locker room. The team has both components: the dynamism of the young player and the wisdom of the less young player.”
Is the Italian hard core an advantage?
“Of course yes, I think the results achieved prove it. In Italy the championship is unique and particular, there is nowhere else this pressure. Italians are what it means to go to Empoli, Cagliari or Lecce and find difficulties. Then it is a pride to make our players available to the national team.”
What are Oaktree’s guidelines?
“Oaktree arrived on tiptoe, in silence, but in a concrete and participatory way in the club. The relationship is positive and daily, all aimed at guaranteeing the search for economic-financial sustainability. This sustainability takes place through agreed guidelines, that is, composing a squad that responds to economic limits from the point of view of labor costs, at an average age that can guarantee the fact of investing in young people who represent an asset, an element that contributes to sustainability. Next season we will guarantee maximum competitiveness through players less old than those of today, but which also represent quality, professionalism and heritage”.
On the investigation of curves?
“Meanwhile the investigation is underway and I can only express gratitude to the judiciary and the police for what we are doing. We have made ourselves available and are collaborating in order to eradicate this extraordinary negative phenomenon. They are criminal activity which have nothing to do with sport. I have experienced previous decades in which there was physical violence committed inside or outside the stadium, but it was in the context of what is a football phenomenon we are faced with today to a difficult situation from eradicate for a society. I thank the judiciary and the police, we are collaborating in order to guarantee transparency. It is difficult to combat a type of violence when it is consumed by many people, I believe it is a cultural fact elementary school explaining that the game of football is a game. Today the culture of defeat is missing, you have to know how to lose. There are no judges who have to give a verdict at the end of the match.”
Could he have done more to avoid too much contact between players and ultras?
“Much more can and must be done. Today the figures within the system help a lot in guaranteeing a certain transparency, we clubs can do something by acculturating the players to the laws of the State, we do it. During of the lessons in which we explain, but then it is difficult to enter into the private life of a footballer, then there is a shadowy part where we cannot enter, we can help the player with a greater culture”.
Many define you as the most powerful figure in Italian football: what do you think?
“No, I am a person who has reached the full extent of his football experience, I know this sector well having started as a boy. The aspect we have to combat is quarrelsomeness and exasperated personalism. We must all be united to carry forward a phenomenon that at times it wobbles in comparison to other European nations. We must turn to the Government, the big problems are the Growth Decree which does not give us the possibility of using foreigners with the benefits that a manager has, coincidentally, at the time it was implemented the Decree, our teams all reached the bottom of the Cups. We also went back there, Atalanta won.”
Thus there would be no space given to young Italians.
“You just need to calibrate, putting a ceiling upwards so that the youth world isn’t touched. You don’t go and get a 16-year-old foreigner because you wouldn’t get the discount, but established players who help the others grow.”
President of the FIGC, Minister of Sport, are you thinking about this idea?
“I am a lover of the world of football and sport, I am happy with my career and I am very happy to be president of Inter, a role that occupies me a lot. Then I dedicate myself to observing what is happening around us. One of the big flaws in our system is that it cannot guarantee sport for free to our children. Abodi is a modern, acute minister, together with Valditara they must create the union between scholastic and sporting activities”. Will you stay at Inter for much longer? “Yes, I feel good at Inter so I hope to give results and contribute to obtaining them.”
Champions League final, dream or goal?
“We must always ensure that we are competitive in order to be there, after which we win or lose. We must strive to be there at the right time, it is not an act of arrogance, but of sporting ambition. In sport you have to be ambitious otherwise you won’t win When some of my colleagues say ‘you have to get to the top 4’, I don’t really agree. You also have to have the audacity to have utopian goals, to believe in this.”
What is the Marotta method?
“My method is to have listened to everyone who was older than me for a large part of my life. Then in the second part of my life I try to give the teachings I received. I still enjoy it a lot, otherwise I wouldn’t do this job Passion is what stimulates me, nothing or anyone gives you the adrenaline of the match.”