Inter Milan boss Frank De Boer took time to share his views of Italian football with reporters of La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The former Dutch international used to turn down the coaching job of the Nerazzurris in the past, but accepted to lead them into the new campaign with Roberto Mancini sacked. De Boer has always preferred the English Premier League to the Serie A but decided to take the plunge this time.
He revealed that the club contacted him through his agent a few weeks before he accepted the job to lead Inter, claiming the “the Nerazzurri project seemed immediately interesting.” He shared his take on the development of Italian football.
“Inter represent tradition and Italy. If you think of Italian football, the three great teams come to mind: Inter, Milan and Juventus. And there have been some supreme Dutch players in Italy: Jonk and Bergkamp on one side, Van Basten, Rijkaard and Gullit on the other. The prestige of the Biscione had its influence in my choice. I want to be part of this great history.”
When asked what he thought of Italian football, he said there has been a change in mentality, especially within the last two to three years. He cited an example using Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. He said the Italian goal keeper never played passes with the defenders before as he used to push out the ball to avoid risks but now passes a lot with the closest teammate, reflecting a change in philosophy. He said for Italian football, they used to be known for having the best defenders and one or two good strikers. He added that these days everybody was involved and that it was no coincidence that Juventus played in the Champions League final recently.