Former Inter midfielder
Luis Jimenez discussed his time with the Nerazzurri, how it felt to play alongside top strikers and the current Inter squad in an interview with Italian media outlet Gianlucadimarzio.com
“I can consider myself a lucky footballer, I have always managed to match my personal goals with those of the team. Qualifying for the Champions League with Lazio and Fiorentina, the Scudetti with Inter and avoiding the drop with Cesena, these are all memories that I treasure with affection.”
The 36-year-old Chilean touched on how he missed out on the Nerazzurri’s Treble winning campaign and his relationship with then coach Jose Mourinho.
“The Nerazzurri allowed me to debut in the Champions League, it’s a pity I didn’t stay with them until the Treble. I had a good relationship with Mourinho, but it was me who asked to go to West Ham. I was back from the worst injury of my career, I needed consistency to return to the top. And at Inter I wouldn’t have found it.”
He spoke about the many top strikers that he has played alongside.“Crespo, Adriano, Cruz, Balotelli… Ibrahimovic, however, is something else entirely.
I have met many champions, but Zlatan is one step higher. And not only for the way he plays, but for everything he is.”
The former Inter man continued talking about the 39-year-old Swedish veteran, who is currently a core part of Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan.“You only have to see Ibrahimovic on the pitch today to get an idea. He is almost 40 years old and still looks like a kid. Maybe he runs a little less, but he runs well!
From the outside he may look so, but I assure you that he is a really nice person. Nice, funny, ambitious.”
The Palestino attacking midfielder then spoke about the current Inter squad and their start to the season so far.
“Inter need to find consistency in the league, this year they cannot afford to make mistakes. Compared to the past seasons, Juve have lost something and there are several teams that could take advantage of this. The Nerazzurri are among them, they have had an important market and should not waste this chance.”
Finally, Jimenez commented on the current situation surrounding Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, who has featured little for the Nerazzurri this season under Conte.
“I don’t know, there are many factors that could affect his performance. Italian and English football are very different, not even taking into account Christian’s qualities. For Inter’s sake, I hope that one day he will be able to convince Conte, he has all the cards in order to give the team something extra.”
Jimenez made 29 appearances for the Nerazzurri in his two seasons with the club, scoring four goals and providing two assists in that time.
There are legions of dickheads who were infinitely worse than Jimenez at Inter, both in terms of on-pitch performance, financial outlay, attitude towards the club, injury record etc. I really liked Jimenez and for the price we paid, he was fine. For whatever reason, Mourinho completely froze him out.
I just thought Mourinho spent some time on the failed 433 experiment with Muntari etc and then later preferred Stankovic ahead of Jimenez.