After an 11 year wait, Inter Milan were finally crowned Scudetto winners in 2021. Amidst the celebratory atmosphere in Milan the future looked bright for the Nerazzuri with plenty of scope and potential for improvement. A case against Inter defending their crown was difficult to make keeping in mind the squad quality they had and the level of competition in Serie A. However, fast forward 12 months, Inter find themselves in second place in the league table two points behind AC Milan with just two matchdays to go. It will require a spectacularly improbable situation now for Milan to slip up and hand over their title-winning the chance to their city rivals. But what exactly have been the causes of Inter’s disappointments this season. Let’s have a look.
Even when Inter won their 19th Serie A title last year, the mood was not all high amongst the club and the fans. Owing to the pandemic, the owners of Inter Milan, Suning were hit hard and that undoubtedly brought an impact on the club. A largely fan driven club and absence of fans in the stadiums last year affected the club’s financial resources. While there was much talk about the club being sold, Inter’s Chinese owners continued on, though at a heavy price of the sale of many important players. Currently too, the financial state of the club hangs by a thread and that has again led to the rumours of potential sale of star players like Lautaro Martinez, Denzel Dumfries and others. With so many uncertainties regarding their respective futures, the players undoubtedly would feel the pressure much more and that has in turn led to the club’s misfortunes this season.
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One of the major reasons for the rollercoaster season that Inter Milan have endured is the lack of uniformity as compared to last season. Arguably, two of Inter’s most dominant and effective players last season, Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi left the club at the beginning of the season. Financial worries were cited as the reasons behind their departures and the club has clearly suffered in their absence. Lukaku was replaced by Edin Dzeko who initially showed promising signs of fitting into the team but as time passed, he has failed to keep up the form and is now struggling for a place in the team. Dumfries who replaced Hakimi took sometime to settle in but now has become one of the key Inter players but still hasn’t been able to replicate the quality that the Moroccan displayed.
Along with the players, Inter was shaken hard by the departure of head coach, Antonio Conte. The Italian who couldn’t come to an agreement with the club officials regarding the transfer policy last year, left the club by mutual agreement. Conte had put in a lot of work to get the champions mentality back within the club. Former Lazio manager, Simeone Inzaghi replaced him and while he has done a commendable job till now, he might fall short of the mark in Serie A. It is clear that the instabilities within the club have affected their performances to a great extent.
Under Antonio Conte, Inter had one of the most organized and stable defensive structure in the world. However, this season that hasn’t been the case. While statistically, the club still possesses the best defense in Italy along with Milan having conceded just 31 goals, the club has been facing the problem of conceding goals in short times. During February and March, Inter conceded 7 goals while scoring only 9 in Serie A. This period greatly faltered their title defence and they still haven’t recovered from it. Individual errors too have been a cause for the Nerazzuri. Stefan de Vrij who was their best defender last campaign has often suffered lapses in concentration while their captain Samir Handanovic too has been guilty of some errors this season.