Inter hit rock bottom

Sunday’s Serie A programme brought the curtains down on the 2012/13 league campaign.

For some, the season was a success but for others it would be better to just forget about it and start afresh after a very difficult year.

Only in 2010 Inter had completed an historic treble but their fortunes changed dramatically since then. On Sunday they got thumped 5-2 at home by Udinese to finish ninth in the final standings and out of the Euro zone, a staggering 33 points behind champions Juventus.

Many pundits had placed their bets on Inter in autumn after they interrupted Juve’s 49-match un-beaten run with a resounding 3-1 win in Turin. However, the Nerazzurri faltered badly after that.

Juventus recovered well from that partial setback though and went on to clinch their 29th league title with a few matches to spare as Inter continued to lose ground with the leading pack.

In season 2010/11, Inter were the league runners-up behind Milan after a strong comeback before lifting their seventh Coppa Italia under coach Leonardo.

In the season that followed, Inter finished sixth after resorting to two coaching changes – Claudio Ranieri replaced Gianpiero Gasperini and Andrea Stramaccioni came in for the current Monaco mentor.

The changes on the bench clearly showed that club owner Massimo Moratti had failed to identify the right man to fill in the huge gap left by Jose Mourinho almost three years ago.

In general, Moratti did not have an adequate plan for Inter after reaching the dizzy heights of season 2009/10. But Mourinho was not the only one to quit Inter after the treble.

Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi), Thiago Motta (Paris SG), Maicon (Manchester City), Lucio (Juventus), Julio Cesar (QPR), Goran Pandev (Napoli) and Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray) were all key players in Mourinho’s squad.

However, they all left in search of pastures new and the club justified their departures by insisting that they needed to balance off the books before the introduction of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules.

True, some of those who left were in the twilight of their career.

However, it is equally true that Inter had failed to strengthen the squad adequately.

Moratti and the other chiefs at the Inter boardroom did not succeed in working out a plan on how to keep the team going.

As they say, it is more difficult to stay at the top rather than to reach the summit. And this is precisely what happened at Inter following the successful years with Roberto Mancini and then Mourinho as coach.

This year Inter were also faced with an unusual long list of casualties which novice Stramaccioni had to deal with.

Perhaps, Inter’s early pre-season ahead of the 2012/13 Europa League qualifiers last summer left a devastating effect on the physical condition of the squad in general.

The injury sustained by veteran Javier Zanetti last month goes a long way in saying that something went wrong with Inter’s physical preparation this season.

The captain, 39, had established a name for himself for playing regularly at Inter under different coaches and for conducting an injury-free career.

Now Inter have to look forward and acquire a new coach, a man with huge experience at domestic and international levels... some-one in the mould of Mourinho.

Stramaccioni looks promising but he’s still young and erratic at times. If Moratti opts for change, it is better to do it in the close season.

Also, the new coach has to be involved in chartering a route to success and make sure that Inter are back among the greats in the least possible time. It is crucial for Moratti to, at least, consult his man on the bench before committing to sign new players.

The intentions of the club seem to get young talent in the transfer market this summer, the likes of Sampdoria striker Mauro Icardi.

Next season, Inter will not play in Europe so they will concentrate all their efforts on the Serie A and Coppa Italia. Surely, it is the right time to start laying solid foundations for the future.