Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi suffered his sixth defeat of the season in yesterday’s 2-0 loss to Sassuolo in Serie A, but it looks to be the one that will be most difficult to stomach.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who argue that this loss was the first one for which there are truly no excuses, and the first which the coach was squarely to blame for.
Inter have suffered three defeats at the hands of Europe’s elite in the Champions League this campaign, twice against Real Madrid in the group stage and then in the first leg of their Champions League round of sixteen tie against Liverpool.
In the league, the Nerazzurri squandered first-half leads against Lazio in October and then in the derby against AC Milan at the beginning of this month.
All of these results dealt a blow to Inter’s hopes for important trophies and indicated areas where the team was not quite up to par, but at the same time the performances in each one of these matches looked broadly encouraging.
Against Sassuolo, by contrast, the Nerazzurri put in one of their least composed displays of the season to let themselves get overrun in the first half and then looked laboured and toothless in front of goal in the second.
Inzaghi’s tactics played a big role in the problems that the team had in both halves, and he was quick to admit in his post-match interviews that the approach had been all wrong.
Now, instead of taking advantage of a slip-up by city rivals AC Milan away to Salernitana to go top of the table with a game in hand, the Nerazzurri could finish the matchday third should Napoli beat Cagliari today.
For the first time in his first campaign as Inter boss, Inzaghi has experienced a defeat with no silver lining and which puts the team’s Scudetto credentials fundamentally in question.
