After losing to Sassuolo last weekend, the opening 45 minutes of Inter’s clash with Torino on Sunday seemed to see a much improved performance from the Nerazzurri. Jumping out to a 2-0 lead in their first home game of 2018/19, Luciano Spalletti’s side left the San Siro crowd delighted at half time after a free-flowing attacking display that saw them dictate the tempo from the outset and look completely in control.
But (and you knew there was a but coming, didn’t you?) after the break, the game would take a dramatic turn, their opponents netting two goals and completely dominating the second half. In the end his men were fortunate to hang on for a 2-2 draw, but while Spalletti insisted that the result “was difficult to explain,” his opposite number had no such problems in understanding what had happened.
Himself a former Inter boss, Torino Coach Walter Mazzarri told reporters that he had predicted the collapse during the interval. “I know this place, so regardless of who is the Coach, there will always be a weight on whoever plays here,” the ex-Watford boss explained at his post-match press conference. “I told the lads to go out there and attack them, because I knew Inter couldn’t sustain that tempo and would fall away in the second half.”
Sadly for Inter, he was right and such a turnaround really was no surprise. Time after time, Inter have stumbled in similar fashion, with the presence of Spalletti – whose Roma sides endured eerily similar blackouts – only serving to exacerbate the situation.
After an impressive looking summer transfer campaign, the Italian press talked up the Nerazzurri as the “anti-Juve,” a moniker used on the peninsula for a title rival, but by Monday morning La Gazzetta dello Sport had decided they were instead their own worst enemy. “Inter are the anti-Inter” declared the front page of the pink paper, calling the display against Torino “another psychodrama” and noting that they were booed off the field at full time.
Club legend Sandro Mazzola added to the chorus of disapproval, telling RMC Sport that goalkeeper Samir Handanovic – who was certainly at fault for Toro’s first goal – to “get his eyes tested.” But while such comments and the general criticisms are certainly valid, there has to be some understanding that there are some very obvious mitigating circumstances for the poor start to the season.
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Foremost among those has to be the sheer number of players who are yet to reach anything close to full fitness. Following their run to the World Cup final, the Croatian contingent of Šime Vrsaljko, Marcelo Brozović and Ivan Perišić have been eased in slowly, while Radja Nainggolan appears to have returned from his summer off in even worse shape. Other new faces have yet to integrate themselves fully into the team, with Lautaro Martinez, Matteo Politano and Stefan de Vrij likely to need a little more time before becoming fully comfortable with life at Inter.
Yet even here Spalletti must take responsibility, the Coach neglecting a primary function of his job by not putting his players in the best position to succeed. Against Sassuolo he fielded Martinez alongside Mauro Icardi, used Kwadwo Asamoah in an advanced role on the left and De Vrij in a four-man defence, roles that none of that quartet are particularly comfortable with.
Then, after losing to the Nerazzurri, he completely abandoned that formation and opted for a three-man defence that helped De Vrij and Asamoah, but which saw Milan Skriniar deployed on the left where he understandably struggled. Mirroring Torino’s tactics was always bound to give the opposition the upper hand, and the constant alterations are clearly not helping the Inter squad gain any semblance of fluidity or cohesion.
To make matters worse, the Coach then responds extremely negatively both when speaking to the press and on the sidelines where his body language is constantly awful. That can hardly be inspiring to the team as they look to him for guidance, and nor can the excuses he has trotted out after the opening two matches.
Following the first, he blamed the pitch at the Mapei Stadium, following that up by appearing to lay responsibility for his team’s shambolic second half upon the press for making them title contenders. “It’s all fine and good you telling me Inter are the anti-Juve, but you have to be the anti-Napoli, Roma and Lazio first,” he told Sky Italia on Sunday. ”Because then you say it and let it all rest on my shoulders.”
In truth, that is exactly where it ought to rest, that is the job he is employed to do and after a summer where his club addressed every weakness in his squad, Spalletti has a responsibility to bring the most from them. He must start by finding the right formation for his players, then place each in their best positions while recognising what is working and what isn’t as the next few matches progress.
On Thursday, Inter will be part of the Champions League draw for the first time in six years, Italy’s most recent winners of the competition making a long-overdue return to it. They will hope to give a good account of themselves, but these early games have shown there is much work to be done before UEFA’s elite tournament gets underway next month.
Inter have given Luciano Spalletti all the tools he could possibly need, it’s time he showed he knows how to use them.
