Roberto Mancini loses to Sampdoria for the first time since becoming a headcoach as Inter record their 9th loss of the season in the Serie A in a match where a draw would have been the fairest result but where Inter’s impotence in front of goal make the Nerazzurri suffer again.
Rafael Benitez, Leonardo, Gianpiero Gasperini, Claudio Ranieri, Andrea Stramaccioni, Walter Mazzarri and Roberto Mancini are the names of the 7 coaches Inter have had since May 23rd 2010. Since winning the historic treble at the Santiago Bernabeau, Inter average a new coach every 8.3 months which should serve as an explanation as to why the results are as abysmal as they are, or to put it bluntly: if changing coaches really was a guarantee for success then Inter should have been winning trebles every year.
Sure, there was no choice but to let Gasperini go, Benitez created nothing but chaos at the club, Mazzarri alienated all Interisti, Stramaccioni was too young and inexperienced whilst Leonardo inherited a treble winning squad and still managed to only win the Coppa Italia. Whilst each and every single one of those statements are true, there is a bigger problem which cannot be blaimed on the current coach or any of Mancini’s predecessors. Inter is a club who currently lacks a solid identity and despite efforts being made by the old as well as the new President and his newly assembled team to give Inter an identity, they have all failed so far.
Massimo Moratti started failing when appointing everyone from Benitez to Mazzarri and Erick Thohir failed when continuing with Mazzarri after taking over. However, none of this is surprising or unexpected because one shouldn’t underestimate the magnitude of the impact of the change that Inter has undergone, is currently undergoing and will undergo. When any organization undergoes such a massive fundamental change, there is bound to be some teething problems and that is where Inter are now: a new identity is slowly showing itself whilst the bridge between the old and the new which will ultimately lead to the future is being built. As long as the criticism against Roberto Mancini and Erick Thohir is understood in this light, then no-one can demand that President Thohir should sack Roberto Mancini as that would be a disaster.
What the club needs now is a bit of breathing space, time and patience to allow a provedly title winning coach to work in order to get this squad to where the club wants to be. However, in order for him to do so the upcoming transfer window has to be nothing more than an exercise in ‘house cleaning’ when it comes to the playing squad because no matter who the coach is the following issues need to be addressed:
- Inter currently have only 1 full-back in the squad who can cross the ball adequately,
- The current captain creates more havoc and chaos than provides the team with stability,
- Apart from Mauro Icardi the current strikers are completely impotent in front of goal,
- Hernanes and Kovacic are yet to find their roles on the pitch,
- Zdravko Kuzmanovic is Inter’s ‘go-to’ guy in the middle of the pitch,
- Despite enjoying a rise in form, Fredy Guarin is too inconsistent to be relied upon,
Fortunately, Erick Thohir and Roberto Mancini seem to see eye to eye in this matter as Mancini’s words in the pressconference leading up to the defeat against Sampdoria indicated that a revolution of sorts is coming. The statement “next season we will be fighting for the Scudetto” together with “changes will be made in the summer” cannot be interpreted in any other way. But until next season starts I have only one wish, and it’s one I share with many Interisti: please dear Inter, stop making excuses, or as Elvis Presley once sang: “A little less conversation, a little more action please.”
Spot on Nima…….
A revolution is exactly what this impotent Inter needs, and that should not include the coach as this article rightfully argues, as Mancini has proven more than once to be a good team builder. He did it with Inter to start with. However, Inter needs to change a lot of players, Inter needs at least two more clinical finishers, Inter needs at least another fullback, and at least a reliable defender. Rannochia does need to be relieved of the captain armband too. Lots of changes only results in an evident revolution.
Agree 100%. Inter must understand that Mancini inherited a bollox squad full of journeymen, pensioners and inconsistent turncoats. Fredy Guarin showed he has the skills and physique to be world class but only if the manager can get him in the right frame of mind because he seems to switch off while others are either unable to fit the system or are simply not good enough. It will be interesting to see if Kovacic gets sold. He doesnt seem to have a roll in this team at the moment and Mancini seems unsure where his best place is. Palacio is clearly past his best, as is Vidic. Rannochia again as you said provides no stability as captain and for his own good should be relieved of the roll just to take some pressure off him. Let him be a rotation defender for a bit and see if his form and confidence can return. Hernanes is another earning big money who is not giving enough of an impact. Maybe it is time to let him go as well. Too many players on too high wages are simply not giving the impact they need to be.
Mancini does have a good record as a team builder though so I would bank on him to know what sort of players he wants once he gets a full transfer window.
this article addressed the overall issue of how inter got to this point and that inter would not find a better coach then Mancini right now(which I agree) and there are a few issues I would like to add that is driving me nuts:
1- why bring false champions league hope if you barely can reach Europa league? Most probable reason is that to raise hope for the team and inters stakeholder. To be honest, in a rebuilding phase from anti football (Mazzari) to actual football (Mancini), the real target that should be addressed to the fans is that inter need time to build quality football and not be afraid to criticize mazzari because the fans want someone to blame why don’t you just give them mazzari instead of Mancini by stating that the three man defence system was a mistake (unwatchable) and now the inter that will come would be something better with a more entertaining attacking approach to the game.
2- why oh why desperately ask the fans to come to a match(inter-Wolfsburg), if you know that inter is no where near playing that full aggressiveness in a rebuilding phase? Most probable reason is that they wanted the “12th man on the field”, however the reprucation of this action is that inter officials again produced false hope that would allow less and less fans to come to the stadium till the end of the season.
3- in the past few matches it’s like no one can shoot the ball, paritcularly in yesterday’s match, which was absolutely shameful. Icardi was a fox in the box and now his a mouse in a maze, for gods sake focus what happened to that killer instinct.
RM could have eased the tension himself by at least makes the team win. I have conceded Inter chances of anything but to win some of the remaining matches this season. The 3rd place target was way too much and the EL prove as much a gap for Inter to challenge but at least Inter could have won or draw the match vs Sampdoria. 9 loses is huge. a couple could have been won, some at least a fighting chance for draw. like i said, it hard how RM will fare if he would lose the opening match next season.
hohohoho a terzo tempo who does not address about the game but address the whole bigger problem this team has. this is new. so after reading this, the question is when will mancini sacked? and who will replace him? as we all know no matter what happened, no matter how obvious the problem was, those are the same question inter fans always had a hard on. seems like these people are having some S&M in terms of sacking and hiring a new coach