Simone Inzaghi’s father reveals how the Inter coach coped with criticism and reveals he has been ‘bombarded with calls from abroad’ amid Premier League interest.
Last night’s 2-1 victory over Milan mathematically clinched the Serie A title for Inter with five games to spare, going 17 points clear at the top of the table.
It is the first Scudetto of Inzaghi’s coaching career, though he had won as a player at Lazio under Sven Goran Eriksson, and brings his total trophies on the Inter bench to six.
This has earned some interest from the Premier League, above all links with Liverpool and Manchester United, while Inzaghi was mentioned around Barcelona and Bayern Munich too.
“I saw him get bombarded by calls from abroad over the last few days, but his thoughts remain with Inter,” Giancarlo Inzaghi told TMW Radio.
“This is a club with reliable people and they have a good rapport. There might’ve been a few clouds along the horizon, but these are good people and we cannot ask for more.
“Besides, if anyone wants to get him now, he’ll cost them dearly!”
Inter President Steven Zhang and director Beppe Marotta have made it clear they intend to keep going with Inzaghi and renew his contract.
Inzaghi dynasty
Giancarlo has two famous sons in football, as older sibling Pippo was a hero at Milan and then a coach most recently at Salernitana, while Simone was the younger brother and also a striker.
However, their family tried to keep a distance from them in the stadium.
“I only saw Inter play live twice, with Filippo playing at Milan at most a dozen times. I always watch the games from home, relaxed. I was always passionate about football, I was the vice-president of my local team and dealt with the youth system.”
The two brothers remain very close, but he stands out from Pippo in his ability to shrug off negative comments and outright insulting criticism.
“They hammered him, told him that the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa were worthless. He started out coaching the Lazio kids and won the league. Then did it with the Primavera youth team,” explained Giancarlo.
“I told him to respond to these things, but he always said: ‘Relax, I will remember all of it.’ Criticism is fine, but it has to be objective.”