Inter’s mid-season crisis is the result of a growing discontent inside the Nerazzurri’s dressing room, Corriere dello Sport reported today.
Luciano Spalletti’s side are winless in three matches following Thursday’s Coppa Italia defeat on penalties to Lazio and have scored just once in their last 300 minutes of football.
Spalletti’s job is not currently under threat but his problems are mounting, with several players no longer said to be no longer on good terms with the former Roma boss.
“Behind Inter’s crisis is an ‘agitated’ dressing room with a player-coach dynamic that is no longer idyllic like it had been in the past,” Corriere dello Sport wrote.
“Spalletti is a great motivator who can often get the best out of his players, but he’s a hard taskmaster and not everyone reacts to his coaching style in the same way.
“Some players are fired up when he shouts at them during games, but others end up failing to produce under pressure.”
Miranda and Ivan Perisic were known to be keen to leave Inter in January but the Rome-based publication insists there were several other players who wanted to depart as well.
Angry outbursts from Lautaro Martinez’s father and Antonio Candreva’s wife are mentioned but it is not specified whether those players were among those looking to move on.
It was also reported Mauro Icardi did not appreciate the fine he received for returning to Italy late at the start of January, a fine believed to have been explicitly requested by Spalletti.
“The upshot is that, a year and a half after Spalletti arrived, Inter often (not always) don’t have a clear identity on the pitch,” the paper concluded.