Zanetti: Mourinho is unforgettable, but now there is Stramaccioni

Posted Monday, April 02, 2012 by Goal.com

Inter captain Javier Zanetti has heaped praised on current Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, saying that the Portuguese trainer's success will never be forgotten at the club.

The 49-year-old coach took charge of the Nerazzurri in 2008, guiding the club to two Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia and one Champions League crown before moving to Madrid.

Last week, Mourinho talked up the possibility of a return to Inter in the future, saying that the San Siro outfit remain 'his home'.

"Someone like him will never be forgotten for all he did with Inter, for all the memories we have," Zanetti told 5' di recupero.

"But now we have Andrea Stramaccioni and we must finish the season with him in the best possible way."

Speaking in the aftermath of Inter's 5-4 victory against Genoa, Zanetti then praised Stramaccioni, while playing down the fact that the new Inter coach is almost two years younger than him.

"I have the greatest respect for him," Zanetti said. "Although he is very young, his ideas are very clear.

"Today's match was very important to him. It was his debut and we are happy with the result and with our display. Overall, we had a good match.

"During this week, we did great work [in training]."

Inter are currently seven points adrift of the Champions League places, but Zanetti believes that his side can still finish in the top three in Serie A.

"Right now, we are still far away from the top three, but there are eight matches remaining," the 38-year-old noted.

"We must focus on doing the best we can and collect as many points as possible to move up in the table and then we will see what happens."