Cambiasso: Inter will bounce back

Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso feels that the club is hungry for success and eager to move on from their disappointing season last term.

The club that won five consecutive Serie A titles from 2005-2010 endured their worst season in 13 years after achieveing a sixth-placed finish and the team nearly failed to qualify for the Europa League as well.

And to make matters worse, the 2010 Champions League winners were eliminated from continental competition by Marseille making it a remarkable fall from grace for the Nerrazzurri. Along the way, president Massimo Moratti dispensed with the services of Claudio Ranieri and Gian Piero Gasperini and eventually settled upon youth team coach Andrea Stramaccioni.

Under the 36-year-old, Inter went on to win seven of their remaining 11 games completing a remarkable turnaround and Cambiasso believes that his side are now ready to produce much better displays in the 2012/13 season.

In recent weeks, there has been an active attempt to rejuvenate the ageing squad with Goran Pandev, Sulley Muntari, Angelo Palombo, Lúcio and Diego Forlan all released from the club and replaced by the likes of Rodrigo Palacio, Francesco Bardi, Matías Silvestre, Fredy Guarín and Samir Handanovic.

Cambiasso sensed real hunger and a willingness to improve from the new-look Inter squad during their annual get-together for pre-season training.

"I'm happy because there's always something new to spur you on. Perhaps pre-season is the hardest part of the season, but we're facing it with a lot of hunger," he told the Inter Channel.

"I said it many times last season; a year like that one has to help us learn from our errors and start again. There's more anger when you can't manage to win.

"Of course, it would have been lovely to continue doing so for five, six or even 30 years [since the fifth straight Scudetto in 2010], but no team can do that. What we had done was already something out of this world.

"Did we initially not give the proper value to those victories? Yes, it's true. But that's perfectly normal. That's what happens in everyday life.

"People also realise how important their loved ones are once they're no longer around."

Much is expected of their young coach but the former River Plate midfielder refused to be drawn into making a comment on whether Stramaccioni's youth could prove to be a hindrance or whether it could help inject fresh ideas and new approaches into the club.

"I don't like to talk about coaches. Right now it would be normal to say that I like his tactics, but then someone might think I'm doing it to gain favour with the coach," he commented.

"The most important thing is to try to interpret his instructions and to do it in the best way possible."

Inter have friendlies against Trentino, Como and Celtic lined up in July and officially begin the new campaign with a Europa League Third Qualifying Round fixture on August 2.