Inter Milan: New beginnings

For much of last season, Internazionale were downright awful. In late September, after having seen his team lose four games in five, Massimo Moratti relieved Gian Piero Gasperini of his managerial duties. The man who replaced him on these shores is known as ‘The Tinkerman’.

However, in March of this year, Claudio Ranieri was also sacked, paving the way for Andrea Stramaccioni to take the reins. After a presser which involved an encounter with Mario Balotelli, Stramaccioni did well, leading Inter to sixth place. A disappointing season overall but at least a sense of stability from Moratti in giving Stramaccioni the job on a permanent basis.

So now to this summer- Inter have quietly strengthened, adding much needed mobility to their midfield in the likes of the tenacious Walter Gargano from Napoli (loan with option to buy) and Fredy Guarin from Porto, along with Rodrigo Palacio, Alvaro Pereira and others.

They have also kept the young Brazilian, Coutinho in the squad rather than shipping him out on loan, an excellent decision by coach, Stramaccioni who by all accounts, has very much impressed.

At the tail-end of the transfer window, Milan approached Inter about a swap involving Cassano and Pazzini, after Cassano had informed Milan of his desire to leave the club, which was eventually confirmed- Don Antonio is an Internazionale player, and Pazzini joined the Rossoneri.

However, as you may well know, Inter also let go of both Maicon and Julio Cesar, gaining only 1 Million Euro in transfer fees, although of course, they trimmed their wage bill significantly, and before that they lost Lucio.

Given the players they had, it may be a mystery to some as to how Inter were so poor last term, but the players simply weren’t ever motivated, which is possibly why the likes of Maicon have moved on, in order to face new challenges.

Lest we forget though that outside of the players that Inter have acquired, they still have so much experienced quality: Sneijder, Cambiasso and Milito to name only a few.

In addition to this, Andrea Ranocchia has started the season strongly, showing signs that he actually has brain cells and a sense of defensive position, things you wouldn’t have been able to conclude from last season’s displays.

As for the season thus far- They started brightly winning by three goals to nil at Pescara, but before the international break they were defeated by Roma at home.

Despite that, on this occasion, it was Zeman and Totti who defeated Inter more so than other players, and I fully expect Inter to pull ahead of Roma in the end and clinch second place. I think this season has come too soon for either side to challenge Juventus for the title.

Written by Josef O’Brien