Inter: Five Years On from trophy-laden era

Date: 21st August 2015 at 1:11pm
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This summer has seen Inter wrestle with Financial Fair Play with the arrival of Geoffrey Kondogbia from AS Monaco and the departure of Mateo Kovacic to Real Madrid the stand-out transfers, Kevin Pogorzelski takes a look at where the Nerazzurri find themselves five years on from claiming a fourth trophy in four months.

Jose Mourinho Inter
Friday 21 August marks the fifth anniversary of Inter overcoming Roma in the Supercoppa Italiana and claiming an amazing four trophies in just under four months with a squad that was arguably the strongest in Europe.

Five years on – and just the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup and 2011 Supercoppa captured within those years – the Nerazzurri head into the new Serie A season having had to wheel and deal their way through the summer transfer market.

However, after being ‘forced’ to sell Kovacic to Real Madrid for €35 million – a player expected to help the club out of their recent slump – the signs are there that under Roberto Mancini’s guidance Inter could soon challenge the domestic dominance of Juventus once more.

Although former coach Jose Mourinho rightly lays claim to Inter’s historic treble win in 2010 the foundations were laid by Mancini during his first spell in Milan, yet many underplay his work given that the Nerazzurri had swept up the majority of Serie A talent post-Calciopoli scandal.

It is now a far different proposition for the former Sampdoria hitman, though, and while insisting that the sales of Kovacic and Xherdan Shaqiri were needed to meet current Financial Fair Play regulations his restructuring of the squad resembles his penchant for defensive solidity above all else.

kovacic

Ignoring for a moment the belief that the 50-year-old was never quite convinced by the creative Croatian, Inter have ultimately replaced Kovacic (cost wise at least) with the more combative Geoffrey Kondogbia having handed out an identical fee to Monaco in spite of having Gary Medel on the payroll.   

With another €23m paid out to shore up last terms shaky defence with Miranda, Martin Montoya and Jeison Murillo from La Liga it is clear where Mancini’s priorities lie.

Just like his arrival at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in 2004 when the purchases over the next few years of Walter Samuel, Maxwell and Maicon – to supplement Ivan Cordoba and Javier Zanetti – formed the basis for the Nerazzurri ‘winning’ their first Scudetto under Mancini in 2006-07.

That is not to say that the former Manchester City boss has completely neglected the teams attacking deficiencies, by bringing in Stevan Jovetic on loan the Premier League which he also started on the road to success he has successfully helped balanced the books for FFP requirements and improved the team.

Mauro Icardi Inter

While Mauro Icardi will be expected to fire in the goals to take the Nerazzurri into the Champions League qualification places, if not beyond, Kovacic’s goal return per season was poor – although a major improvement was achieved in 2014-15 with five strikes in 35 Serie A appearances.

The Montenegrin should reach at least double those figures providing he remains injury free and, whilst providing an able partner for Icardi, can also fill the void left by Kovacic linking the midfield with the Inter attack.

So, whilst Interisti may yearn for those ‘long and distant days’, when the club would break the bank for the striking talent of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Diego Milito and Hernan Crespo, they should take comfort that Mancini will bring stability once more as he puts in place the building blocks for another period of success in Milan.


 

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