Giuseppe Bergomi: Inter Milan lack confidence

Last Updated: 12:35am GMT 09/03/2008

Inter Milan legend Giuseppe Bergomi believes his old club's dominance of Serie A is frustrating their burning ambitions to recapture the Champions League, which they have not won since successive triumphs in 1964 and 1965. And Bergomi, a World Cup winner with Italy in 1982 at the age of 18 and an Inter player from 1980 to 1999, gives them little chance of overturning Liverpool's 2-0 lead in the second leg of their Champions Bergomi, now a commentator for Sky Italia, says: "In Italy, everyone knows Inter are the best team and they know it themselves. So when they play league matches, they have it very much their own way and other teams do not even attack them. Then, when they play in Europe, all the top teams attack them, which presents a tactical problem.
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"But to me, the biggest factor of all is mentality. They have the players to do it and the squad to do it but they do not have the belief.
"At Liverpool, they were not like the team we see in Serie A, they looked frightened to play that game. They need a switch to change their mentality, like producing a great performance against Liverpool to win this tie.
"They need something like that to convince themselves and then maybe they would go all the way. But they have too many injuries and Liverpool are very strong."
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, who put his job on the line to force the club's owners to sign Javier Mascherano, will be delighted to hear Bergomi claim that he is the most important player in the side. He says: "We all know how good Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard are but for me, Mascherano is the most important. He contacts the defence and robs the opposing midfield."
Although the Premier League stars are considered to be a whingeing lot by most critics, it is also interesting that Bergomi believes players in Italy are far more spoiled and hung-up about things off the park.
He says: "An Italian player is a stressed player, a player who always sees problems, either playing too many games or having a disagreement with fans or the press.
"Our managers and directors are the same, whereas players from English clubs just get on with it. I think players who play in England are more free in their mind on the pitch. But it's our culture that we have to find a problem."
Given that Bergomi was given his chance so young, it is remarkable that he believes one of the biggest problems in Italy is that their home-grown youngsters do not get an opportunity. He says: "In Italy, we are really frightened to give youngsters a chance.
"Inter have a good young player in Francesco Bolzoni, who has played in the Champions League but they don't even let him in the team now. They preferred to get Maniche on loan from Atletico Madrid.
"They also have to change the mentality of the youth academies here. For Italian clubs, it is important to win even at youth level, so players are kept down until they are 20 so that they can help win those tournaments."