After a decade of disappointment, surely now is Inter’s time?

Ten years ago, at the start of 2011, Inter Milan were at a crossroads.

Barely six months had passed since the joyous scenes of captain, Javier Zanetti lifting the Champions League trophy at the Bernebau. Jose Mourinho was now in Madrid managing Real and his replacement at Inter, Rafa Benitez, had just been sacked. Little did Inter fans know, that Mourinho’s tenure of unprecedented success and trophies would soon look become a distant memory, with periods of instability, rebuilding and change becoming the norm for the next decade.

Since Benitez, Inter have had nine permanent managers, a remarkable rate of turnover even by Italian standards.  After Benitez came Leonardo, Gian Piero Gasperini, Claudio Ranieri, Andrea Stramaccioni, Walter Mazzarri, Roberto Mancini, Frank De Boer, Stefano Pioli, Luciano Spaletti and finally, the current incumbent Antonio Conte.

To illustrate the instability that engulfed the Nerazzurri from 2011 onwards, we only need look at two of their managers from this period who had previously and since achieved great success. After domestic success in Holland with Ajax in the early 2010s, including four consecutive titles, De Boer’s tenure in charge of Inter in 2016 lasted a meagre 12 games.

Gasperini, the architect of the current swashbuckling, Champions League underdogs Atalanta was sacked after only five games on the Inter bench in the autumn of 2011. The only addition to the trophy cabinet in this time? The 2011 Coppa Italia as Leonardo briefly galvanised the remnants of Mourinho’s all-conquering squad before being himself resigning as manager.

 

In 2011 Inter managed to finish in second place in Serie A. What followed was a half-decade of mediocrity with finishes of sixth, ninth, five, eighth, fourth and seventh. Even, the fourth place in 2015-16 was not good enough to qualify for the Champions League, with Serie A’s comparative weakness meaning Italian League was only awarded three places at this time.

To offer some mitigation, Inter have also undergone two ownership changes in the past decade. In 2013, Massimo Moratti sold his majority stake to Indonesian millionaire Erik Thohir. Only three years later Thohir, following fines from UEFA for Financial Fair Play breaches, sold his shares to the Chinese company Suning and their billionaire owner, Steven Zhang.

In 2017, former Roma Manager, Luciano Spalleti arrived and bought relative stability as the new Chinese ownership found its feet. Inter invested in young players with experience in Serie A. Milan Skriniar, Roberto Gagliardini, Matias Vecino and Alessandro Bastoni, all under the age of 25, were purchased from Fiorentina and Atalanta, giving Spaletti’s side a promising spine.

Spaletti returned Inter to the Champions League for the first time in seven years, fourth being good enough with Italy again being awarded another place at the end of the 2017-18 season. With the free agent addition of the established Dutch centre-half Stefan De Vrij from Lazio, Inter were expected to challenge for the title in 2018-19. A fourth place finish maintained Inter’s Champions League status but it was not enough for Spaletti as the Nerazzurri hierarchy secured a blockbuster managerial appointment.

Antonio Conte arrived in the summer of 2019 after a long and public pursuit by Suning. With a massive contract, making him one of the highest paid managers in world football, as well as high profile transfer investments in Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Cristian Eriksen, expectations were to challenge for the Scudetto.

Conte’s Inter started the season well, winning their first six matches of the season and were top of Serie A after February’s Derby della Madonnina. However, despite only losing four games, 10 draws, including a number against mid and lower table opposition consigned Inter to a second place finish behind Juventus. Inter also managed to make the Europa League final, losing to Sevilla, meaning the nine-year wait to add a trophy continued.

Conte nearly left Inter at the end of the 19/20 season but managed to settle his differences over transfer investment with Inter’s hierarchy in a much-publicised meeting at a wedding venue outside Milan.

As we enter 2021 Inter are at a crossroads once again and in their strongest position domestically for a decade. With Andrea Pirlo still figuring out what it means to be a manager at Juventus, it seems that Inter’s biggest challenge for the Scudetto will come from resurgent city rivals, AC Milan, who hold a one-point lead as Serie A entered its Christmas break.

In their second season under Conte, with arguably the strongest squad in the division, Inter have no more excuses, the time to end their decade of mediocrity is now.

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