Vieri issues Esposito warning: ‘Still don’t know how to manage young players in Italy’
Christian Vieri says that young players like Pio Esposito need protecting, but argues that the 20-year-old is still strong enough to be competing for a starting spot at Inter despite his age: “The fact that we still don’t know how to manage young players in Italy hasn’t changed.”
Vieri praises and protects Esposito: ‘we still don’t know how to manage young players in Italy’
Esposito is in contention for a starting spot in the Derby della Madonnina between the league leading Nerazzurri and their city rivals, Milan on Sunday evening.
The 20-year-old has impressed in his first full season in the Inter first team and will be going in search of his eighth goal of the season against Milan. He has also featured in 25 of Inter’s 27 matches of the Serie A season, as Cristian Chivu’s side look to go 13+ points clear in their hunt for a 21st league title.
Speaking in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Vieri spoke of the need to protect young talents like Esposito, but insists that he is already proving why he is good enough to compete with the likes of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.
Lautaro is injured and unavailable for Sunday’s derby. Vieri described the Argentine as “the strongest centre-forward in Italy. He’s Inter’s engine. They miss everything he does in games, and he can unlock it at any time. Only Hojlund has been as strong as him this season.”
Vieri believes that it is players like Esposito and summer signing Ange-Yoan Bonny that have made the difference this season, though.
“This year, Inter have what they have been lacking in the past: Non-starting centre-forwards who are still up to scratch.”
One of the standouts has been Esposito: “The fact that we still don’t know how to manage young players in Italy hasn’t changed,” Vieri argues.
“One day he’s amazing and the next he’s disappointing: ‘Why didn’t you score that goal’, or whatever. Pio isn’t even 21 years old yet, and it’s not been long since his journey from Spezia to Inter. Not many have done that.”
Despite the need to ‘protect’ youngsters like Esposito, Vieri believes that he is more than old enough to compete with Inter’s most senior players: “Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to hold his own on a physical level in Europe,” he says.
“If you train against strong guys, you improve. And they tell me that he has a lot of desire to improve. Now when he gets the ball, he plays with it a lot more than he did before. He also has the touch that you need to send your teammate through on goal.”