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"MY INTER CANNOT GO ON LIKE THIS: YOU MUST DO IT."

"And if they knocked out Marseille, it may be easier to reach the Champions League final than achieving third place in league."

Materazzi, in these 50 days when Inter are struggling, what would you want to say to them over and over again?

"My heart bleeds, I cannot keep seeing them like this."

Like? What did you see?
"What I did not see was the soul of the past years.  And that beyond all the justifications which also exist."

What did you see on Friday against Chievo?

"More than anything, I saw an Inter with Stankovic in front of the defense, Sneijder behind the forwards and Poli in the midfield.  This team must have quality with people that run and know the lines of passing: Ranieri understood this so bravo Ranieri.  And the rest, like the saying where you come from, when the water level reaches your ass, everybody suddenly learns how to swim."

He has understood it but a bit late?
"It is never too late, there's still time to do things.  Ranieri deserves credit for trying to find stability through reliability.  But then, when it's time to speed things up, he needs much more."

Alluding to Sneijder?

"When there's talk that Inter could do without Wes, I said: 'The world is going backwards.'  But maybe Ranieri needs to stimulate a bit: he's the one that sees all the trainings and he knows if he needs to."

As a former player: changing the style/system of play often helps or confuses?
"For me it was a source of motivation. That wasn't the point though: the problem was that the tactics were changing, but the players were almost always the same.  And it is the coach who should be able to manage: the players always want to go on the field and for me it is a honor, not a defect."

Were you hoping to see more of Ranocchia?
"And a bit more rotation would not have been bad.  There is no pressure with the number 23 on his back but at the moment he is living more or less like my situation before the World Cup 2006 and this for him is before the Euro.  Here, I hope that Prandelli would be able to comfort him like Lippi did with me."

But little rotation is not just depended on a transfer market which was wrongly executed?
"To think that Alvarez is the new Kaka, Castaignos the new Henry and Jonathan is the new Maicon was doing an injustice to all of them.  Moratti has always spent the money but he is not one wants to do everything himself.  Everybody, including myself, congratulated Branca when he got every single choice right. However, you always get to a point where you should admit to your mistakes."

Is it delusional to think about the third place?
"I know what getting someone to come to Inter for the Europa League will be though.  But let be real: too many teams in front, too many points lost.  If they beat Marseille, it is easier to reach the Champions Final than third place in the league."

Three seasons to beat Marseille?
"Only one: you must get pass them.  A team that has made the Champions League for ten seasons cannot be afraid of Marseille after losing 1-0 in the first leg and we will be playing at home."

The San Siro effect?
"When it boils, that stadium can do everything.  And that would help pushing Julio Cesar or Samuel, Zanetti or Stankovic or Sneijder.  It would be much easier."

When that stadium was asking for a "strong man" was it right?
"After losing against Catania by a goal which was two meter offside, I would have said something else."

Which is more, Inter miss Materazzi or Materazzi misses Inter?

"I think the club misses me and the fans are saying the same thing.  Even my old teammates, to be honest: if it were up to them, I would have stayed.  If I wasn't good enough to play, I could have given serenity to the surrounding atmosphere at the club, or even not that, I could have brought good luck.  Apart from my first year, which was not up to me, I always made the Champions League."

Who decided that Materazzi was no longer needed on the field?

"I thought it was Leonardo but then he went away: evidently someone has ridden the wave of that decision, without the will to change it."

But off the field, wasn't there a role for you?
"Obviously, it was thought that I wasn't a good fit.  However, I spoke with the president a week ago: someday he will ask me to do something for Inter and he will have my full availability."

And in the meantime?

"In the meantime I do a lot of things, but one that is engaging me the most these days is to know as much as possible if Italy has the will to fight all the way in a battle against the criminal Kony."

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport