Moratti fires criticism at Gasperini and Forlan
Reuters - Tuesday 27 March 2012, 21:51
Gian Piero Gasperini was to blame for
Inter Milan's woes this season, beleaguered club president
Massimo Moratti said on Tuesday, even though the former coach
was in charge for only five games.
Moratti, widely criticised for his handling of the Italian
club since Jose Mourinho's departure at the end of the 2009/10
season, also took a swipe at forward Diego Forlan.
He then described Claudio Ranieri, who parted company with
the Serie A club on Monday after six months as coach, as a
gentleman and named eccentric Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo
Bielsa as a possible long-term replacement.
"I'm not at all satisfied with Gasperini," Moratti was
widely quoted as saying on a number of Italian websites
including Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport.
"The blame for this disaster of a season lies with him, he
has spoiled everything, he was continually complaining about the
players, it was really bad."
Gasperini was appointed in the close-season and sacked after
winning only one of his five first competitive games.
Ranieri replaced him in late September and, although Inter
won seven league games in a row at the turn of the year, that
was followed by a slump which has left them eighth in the table,
10 points adrift of Lazio in the Champions League playoff place.
Forlan, signed at the age of 32 from Atletico Madrid, also
failed to impress Moratti.
"Forlan hasn't played very often but when he has been on the
pitch, he has played badly and failed to meet expectations," he
said.
Moratti said that caretaker coach Andrea Stramaccioni was
talented and a good tactician, but then started talking about a
long-term coach for next season.
"I've always spoken well of Bielsa, he's very well prepared
and very entertaining," he said of the former Argentina and
Chile coach. "But I speak well of a lot of coaches."
Stramaccioni is Moratti's fifth coach since Mourinho's
departure, with the list also including Rafael Benitez and
Leonardo.
Inter have been criticised for signing Forlan while
apparently unaware that he was ineligible to play in this
season's Champions League group stages.
Several days after signing the Uruguayan, Inter said he had
already played for Atletico in Europa League qualifiers, ruling
him out of the Champions League under UEFA laws.