"This is a squad of champions," Ranieri said in his first news conference, a day after being appointed to replace the sacked Gian Piero Gasperini.
"I want to see the Inter that I confronted when I was Roma coach," Ranieri added. "A year-and-a-half ago these boys were champions and I believe in their ability to come back from adversity.
"I don't think Inter's players are worn out or finished," said Ranieri, who is Inter's fourth coach since Jose Mourinho led the Nerazzurri to the Champions League title 16 months ago.
"There have been injuries and bad luck but now we need to restore confidence by taking points.
"We've tripped up but now we need to get up and fight from the first to the last. I want to see that never-say-die, tight-knit group again. We need to win because the players are used to it."
"Everyone has their own karma; mine is obviously fixer," said Ranieri, who came close to winning the title with Roma in 2010 after taking over from Luciano Spalletti at a similar stage in the season.
"I'm happy to be here, even though it was a surprise as I had been thinking about coaching abroad."
"The results of the other clubs have gone our way," he said, referring to Milan's and Roma's winless start. "It's now up to us to get back among the pack. We are low in the table but the others are not too many points away."
The Italian, who will be without playmaker Wesley Sneijder because of a muscle injury and defender Andrea Ranocchia through suspension for Saturday's match at Bologna, said he would not tinker with the side's formation.
"I'm not a slave to any formation," he said. "I play to win and that's all. [Giampaolo] Pazzini and [Diego] Milito can play together as they both have good movement and are poachers in the box.
"We need to improve our crossing. The area counts a lot in football but it's mostly about common sense. Every club has good and bad points. I have to show up the good things and hide the defects."
