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.”