Inter have two reinforcements to make if they wish to be competitive in next season’s UEFA Champions League, according to Nerazzurri legend Walter Zenga.
Antonio Conte’s side moved 11 points clear at the top of Serie A last week and consolidated their lead with a 1-0 win over Cagliari yesterday.
Inter are odds-on favourites to win the Scudetto but some are arguing their current squad isn’t strong enough to make an impact in Europe.
“They need another player up front and someone in midfield (to compete in Europe),” Zenga told Radio Anch’io Lo Sport today.
“It’s one thing playing in the Champions League when you’ve finished fourth and it’s another thing trying to be protagonists after you’ve won the league.”
Inter are receiving criticism in some sections of the media for their supposedly cautious style of play, which sees Conte’s side often cede possession and strike on the counterattack.
Zenga cannot understand those who think his former team are playing ‘bad’ football and tried to clarify the issue.
“People are getting confused between controlling games and ‘aesthetics’, as it’s being called now,” L’Uomo Ragno explained.
“Inter have won 11 league games in a row, they have a great strike partnership, they’re on course to win the league… it all seems unnecessary to me.
“People used to say our record-breaking side (in 1988-89) played catenaccio, but we had Aldo Serena and Ramon Diaz up front and the league’s best defence.
“We controlled games just like Inter did yesterday, without running any risks.”
Zenga also identified the moment at which he believes everything changed for Inter this season.
“The two games against Shakhtar Donetsk (two 0-0 draws) were the watershed moments of the campaign,” he argued.
“Conte saw at that moment that there were things which needed changing, and from that moment on he hasn’t messed up a single game.”
Inter will return to Serie A action when Conte’s side visit Napoli on Sunday.