I hate being the one to have to write this, as early as match day 21, but after the horror show in Turin today one cannot help but feel that boss Luciano Spalletti has reached his ceiling here at Inter.
What started as a season filled with optimism has quickly derailed into a familiar, grim feeling which can only mean one thing, wInter has definitely arrived. Despite a couple of good wins in December against Napoli & Empoli accompanied by a 6-2 thrashing in the Coppa, Inter have returned to showing their true, cowardly like colours as we have collected a total of 2 points from 12 agains Sassuolo & Torino in the 18/19 campaign.
Spalletti’s body language has started to suggest that he knows his job is on the line. With the team still failing to find its identity and a lack of flexible options tactically, the fans are sick of the attack having to fall to chance. Sometimes i wonder what goes on in training week in & out because i swear i have been watching the same mediocre, good luck football since he took over.
The club is exactly where it deserves to be in terms of the league standings and should be counting their lucky stars that the inconsistencies of our noisy neighbours and Roman rivals are superior to ours. The fact that after this match day we still sit 5-6 points respectively clear in third is a minor miracle in my opinion.
Emperor Spallo has seemed to reach his ceiling. One dimensional tactics encompassed with a poor judge of character both on & off the pitch has seen a majority of the Inter fan base see themselves at wits end with the manager.
On the pitch, poor distribution of minutes to forwards Lautaro and Keita Balde have seen the two sporadically perform but fail to develop an identity with the side. Ivan Perisic has looked demotivated from the second that final whistle blew in the world cup final, and not once has he shown any signs of regathering his best form this season. Yet he was given 90 minutes after 90 minutes week after week, seemingly backed 100% by the manager, only to not only perform consistently poorly, but to hand in a transfer request hours before kick off against Torino & 3 days before the end of the winter mercato.
His other loyal counterpart in Raja Nainggolan appears to have rejected the Inter project altogether and seems disinterested in becoming the lethal weapon Spalletti wants him to be. We don’t need to mention the Icardi situation, it does my head in. Long story short, the dressing room appears to be all but lost.
The fact that Luciano & Inter have not addressed the midfield issue, or better yet have failed on numerous attempts to address the issue is laughable. There is a reason players like Vecino & Gagliardini struggle to perform and are being made to hustle against opponents like Torino & Sassuolo, it is because that is their level of competition. Inter need to wake up to themselves and realise that fixing the midfield is the foundation going forward, and if they have any appreciation and respect for Marcelo Brozovic’s efforts, they will gift him a Barella or Milinkovic-Savic ASAP.
We’ve been here before ragazzi, mediocrity, from the ground up & straight through its core. From D’ambrosio to Vecino, Spalletti to Candreva, the overhaul is nowhere near done. With Marotta & Zhang seemingly hell bent and driven to take this club back to the top, action needs to take place immediately.
Spalletti, grazie. You came in to stabilise the club on the pitch, and to your best extent, you have done that. We are back in the Champions League, and regardless of the inconsistencies this season, we will still probably take the 3-4 standing in the league and remain in that zone. For Inter to move forward into that next tier and class of football, they will need a manager with a hungry, winning mentality who can elevate the still fragile mentality of many of these players.
Mounriho, Conte, Simeone…any of which I believe would be taken with open arms by interesti all over the world, what are your thoughts?
