Let’s put it straight – Inter are a really great team, but the competition in Serie A last season was pretty pathetic.
Napoli have been unable to shake off the summer hangover from their first title in three decades and have been far from their level of the previous campaign. Juventus suffered a number of blows on and off the pitch and Milan began a major restructuring. And against this background, Inter was logically the most stable team.
On top of that, he has shown spectacular football all season and sealing the title after success over AC Milan in the derby earlier in the week was a deserved triumph for the Nerazzurri. By the way, Simone Inzaghi’s team surpassed its neighbors in the number of championship titles and put a second star on its emblem – 20 against 19.
Coach Inzaghi
After great success in football, it is a little unfair to give in-depth personal evaluations. However, a team is a sufficiently complex organism in which every organ is of utmost importance. But if we have to distinguish someone as an individual, it will undoubtedly be coach Inzaghi.
Exactly eight years ago, in April 2016, he began his solo career when Lazio president Claudio Lotito sacked… Stefano Pioli, the current AC Milan coach. Inzaghi was then a coach at the Eagles’ school and was called on to finish the season on fire.
In the summer of the same year, Marcelo Bielsa had to arrive at Olimpico and work long-term. Everything was arranged and the contract was signed, but after only a week in the Eternal City, the legendary Argentine announced his retirement. It’s just that the reality he faced was very different from the one Lotito had described to him beforehand. And then Inzaghi was appointed permanently.
The main thing that makes him likable is that Simone never whines and is not afraid of difficult situations. Such was the case at Lazio, where much is traditionally demanded with minimal resources. And he was like that at Inter, where he was recruited after the departure of Antonio Conte.
The Nerazzurri won the Scudetto in the spring of 2021, but at the same time, the club’s owners, the Chinese company Suning, were seriously hampered during the pandemic. The club was mired in debt and Conte left in scandal, but Inzaghi had no qualms about starting work in this stressful environment.
And day after day, after day, he passed on his footballing philosophy to the players, building a great team without grumbling about missed transfer targets and without blaming the management for anything.
We recall a case from last summer. In mid-July, Inter were preparing for their pre-season tour when they ran out of goalkeepers. Samir Handanovic retired and Andre Onana went to Manchester United. The contract with Jan Sommer was signed only on August 7, but Inzaghi showed restraint and did not publicly express dissatisfaction at all, although the situation, to put it mildly, was not very pleasant.
In addition to the trophies he won with Inter, the young coach also earned great recognition in purely football terms. Hakan Calhanoglu is thriving in his new role and Henrik Mkhitaryan is also like a reborn. Federico Dimarco became the main left back of the Italian national team and the best in the league in this position. The same Inzaghi turned an ordinary player like Matteo Darmian into a universal defensive monster, and Alessandro Bastoni – into one of the best attacking defenders on the continent.
Beppe Marotta
The Nerazzurri coach’s individual qualities are beyond doubt, but he also has the great fortune of working side by side with Giuseppe Marotta.
The club’s general manager earned a reputation as the best in his field at Botshua during his time at Juventus, which he, along with Conte and Andrea Agnelli, pulled out of the quagmire at the beginning of the last century and turned it into a super-dynasty. Now at “Meatza” he defended his reputation in an incredible way against the background of all the financial problems of the “black and blues”.
With Bepe there are no panic solutions and every problem has a solution. Yes, quality players like Skriniar and Onana may have left, but at the same time, there is an adequate replacement for everyone.
The Cameroonian was sold to Manchester United for €50m and Sommer was brought in, equaling Julio Cesar and Handanovic’s club record for clean sheets in a single Serie A season. The 35-year-old Swiss needs one more “zero” on his account to come out on top alone.
The case of Markus Thuram, who scored the championship goal on Monday, is also special. “I should have come here two years ago,” admitted the 26-year-old forward. The deal was then hampered by Thuram’s knee injury, but Inter continued to be interested in the player and eventually snapped him up under AC Milan’s noses last summer.
And Marcus repaid this selfless trust. With 12 goals and seven assists to his name, he is among the most effective in Calcio. And the most important thing is that he is a football player for the big matches. Besides the goal against Milan a few days ago, he scored twice against Roma, against Lazio, Napoli… Plus the winning goal against Benfica in the Champions League (1:0).
The prospects
For a few days now, the black and blue part of Milan has deservedly celebrated, but when the intoxication gradually begins to leave the fans, the question will inevitably arise: “What’s next from now on?” And his answer is quite difficult.
Inter’s financial situation is still as precarious as ever. Club president Stephen Zhang continues his battle with creditors, and at the end of March a Chinese court ordered him to repay a loan of 320 million euros, which was taken out by one of the companies he controlled.
In addition, Inter were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 and UEFA’s income will be much lower than it was a year ago, when the Nerazzurri reached the final. If we talk in numbers – 100 million euros in 2023 against 35 million this year. A difference of 65.
All of this will result in at least one big outgoing transfer of someone from Bastoni, Nicolo Barella, Dimarco, Denzel Dumfries, Lautaro Martinez or Thuram.
But besides the financial one, there is another problem. The fact is that Inter is a very aging team. The average age of the starting line-up in the match with Milan was 30.1 years, and that of the opponent – 25.2.
Sommer is 35, Francesco Acherbi is 36, Stefan de Frei is 32, Darmian is 34, Mkhitaryan is 35, Calhanoglu is 30, Alexis Sanchez is 35, Marko Arnautovic is 35…
All in all, Beppe Marotta is facing another tough summer, but now is still a time to celebrate for all those who carry the Nerazzurri in their hearts.
