Despite reassuring words from Erick Thohir after Inter’s humiliating 3-0 defeat in Florence, there has been no let up in the rumours surrounding Walter Mazzarri’s future. After back to back league defeats and a less than convincing display in the Europa League, the newspapers have been full of ‘Inter in crisi’ (crisis) headlines. Sky reported that Mazzarri had informed the players that he ‘will never resign’ leading many to believe there is friction within the dressing room. On top of that Piero Ausilio and Mazzarri himself referred to ‘many problems’ which Inter needed to solve. However, when we take a step back, does a freakish defeat to Zeman’s Cagliari and an awful away result at a perceived rival really constitute a crisis? Especially after such smooth sailing in the Europa League so far this campaign. The answer of course is no but there are other factors which must be considered as to what has lead Inter under Mazzarri to this point.
Draws at Palermo and Torino were painted in a positive light by both Mazzarri and the players. Looking back these results against the teams who currently occupy 19th and 14th positions in the Serie A table only added to the uncertainty surrounding the club. The integration of Nemanja Vidic into the Nerazzurri side has been difficult to say the least, the former Manchester United captain looks lost within Mazzarri’s preferred back three. Many observers point to the language barrier as one problem but surely this was taken into consideration when Thohir, Ausilio and Mazzarri pursued the Serbian international? There is then the questionable decision to award Yuto Nagatomo the captaincy when Andrea Ranocchia was out against Cagliari. Nagatomo is far from being an automatic selection in the team so what kind of message does this send to the other players? Finally the elephant in the room that neither Mazzarri, Thohir or even Ausilio seem prepared to discuss. Why are Inter unable to play with a back four despite countless claims to the contrary throughout the summer. Erick Thohir asked Mazzarri to be flexible, Mazzarri spoke about a plethora of systems he would train the team in, all using a back four. In preseason, Serie A and the Europa League all we have ever seen is Mazzarri’s tried and trusted back three. A few fleeting minutes here and there is not how you implement a new defensive system.
Taking all this into consideration it’s fairly obvious that Mazzarri is not only under pressure due to the last two Serie A results. The former Napoli coach must find a solution to all of these problems if he is to survive many more months in Milan. The irony of course is that this process will begin against Mazzarri’s former team next time out at San Siro.
Source: SempreInter.com
