‘Wake me up when September ends’, Greenday once sang in a famous song. And the Inter fan can wake up in a wonderful mood as September brought seven wins from eight matches, making us forget a dismal August in the process.
Yet we didn’t start the month on this positive tone. Despite winning 3-0 away to Inzaghi’s Bologna, Inter soon fell against lowly Parma, bringing back the ghost of August. But that absurd loss was to be the only dark mark, as Inter got back up and registered a win after the other. Tottenham, Sampdoria, Fiorentina, Cagliari, PSV and SPAL all lost against Icardi and Co.
Much improvement was noted on the mental aspect of the game. In almost all the matches, Inter had to either come from behind or leave it to the very last minutes. This was no easy feat, and indeed showed that finally Spalletti’s men became aware on how to control the game, the opponent, and hit back at the appropriate time. It was truly a relief to see that Inter were no longer the pitiful team that once it conceded a goal it conceded the game.
But we must now look forward, as Inter enter a new phase of the league facing Milan, Barcelona and Lazio, one after the other. If September was the month where Inter needed to readdress a poor campaign, October will be the month of direct encounters of even greater difficulty than the ones faced in the past month.
It will be the month where Inter will test their nerves and composure in much-felt games. For instance, history always taught us that the Milanese derby is unpredictable, despite the fact that I feel we have a much stronger side than Gattuso’s Milan. In this regard, a win against them would provide an immense boost to Inter’s self-confidence and stamina just before facing Barcelona. This is why I deem the derby equally important to the Barcelona encounter.
Should Inter manage to scrape through these games with at least two wins from three, it will already be another important step ahead. It can cement Inter’s standing with the very top part of the standings. While Juventus seem to be unreachable, Inter may mount a serious challenge to Napoli for the second spot.
Obviously all of this is still premature, and knowing Inter it is better if we take it game by game. Inter’s fortunes in recent years were very much volatile to say the least, leading first place by December and finishing fourth in the same season.
But what is evident to me at this point is that Inter’s quality has increased substantially when compared to the recent past. So far, this quality delivered the desired results more often than not. October’s direct encounters will tell us more in this regard. For the time being, we will have to wait and see.
James J Piscopo is a journalist based in Malta. 27 years old, he has been following Inter for more than two decades. He writes a weekly editorial exclusively for SempreInter.com
