Simone Inzaghi is ready to lead Inter into next season, and there is confidence that the former Lazio manager is the right man to take charge as the club look to defend last season’s Scudetto.
This according to today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, who note that the Italian tactician has looked at home already, and impressed with his demeanour and tactics during Wednesday’s 6-0 friendly win over Crotone.
Inzaghi has a difficult job on his hands, as he will be expected to bring continuity with the work of his predecessor Antonio Conte, who departed suddenly from the club earlier this season after winning the Scudetto last season.
The new manager has as his task winning over the squad members who were crucial to last season’s success, but also the integrating of new signings into the team, with Hakan Calhanoglu in particular set to be an important player for his regime.
Tuttosport highlight his relationship with the Turkish midfielder in particular, writing “Hakan Calhanoglu in the action of the goal, however beautiful, was accompanied step by step by the coach.”
On star striker Romelu Lukaku the newspaper writes, “Lukaku, when he shook [Inzaghi’s] hand at Pinetina, seemed to have known him for a lifetime – partly because he had asked his brother Jordan for references on the newcomer, and partly because Inzaghi had picked up his cell phone and had called him even before his appointment was officially announced by Inter.”
“And so he did with a bit of all his players to whom, even in training, he always dedicates a word, which has also positively impressed those who have been around Pinetina for years,” the paper continues.
On the progress made under the new manager and the player still arriving from vacation, they write that “In the first tranche of retirement, closed with yesterday’s double training session following the friendly match with Crotone, those who gradually joined the group learned about the highly qualified staff of the coach (in this sense, word of mouth among the players already gave them a sense of what to expect, which was verified) and found many tactical certainties acquired in the two-year period with Antonio Conte – the fact of restarting with the 3-5-2 formation was certainly helpful, especially in the first weeks when the material available was necessarily tight due to the many players being away with their national teams.”
