Inter slipped to yet another defeat at the San Siro last week when they went down to lowly Bologna 3-0, their fifth home defeat this season.
The Nerazzurri have now extended their negative run to six games during which they only managed one positive result – a 4-4 home draw with Palermo.
Apart from that, Claudio Ranieri’s beleaguered team have been beaten by three relegation-threatened sides – Lecce (0-1), Novara (0-1) and Bologna (0-3) – and an inconsistent Roma (0-4) in Serie A.
In between, they also bowed out of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals after a 0-2 defeat to Napoli.
Inter had revived their chances of a top-three finish thanks to a run of seven straight wins, which included a 1-0 victory over Milan in the derby. At that stage, many suggested that Inter were ready to re-launch their challenge for their 19th title. A 2-1 home win against Lazio strengthened that optimism.
Up to mid-January, Inter were firing on all cylinders and brimming with confidence. A return to the glory days of the Jose Mourinho era was possible, at least that was the impression.
But, Inter unexpectedly experienced a dip in form and poor outings followed one after the other.
Lecce had not won at home before seeing off Inter and Novara only had two draws to show from their 10 away fixtures before edging Inter 1-0 on their first Serie A visit to the San Siro in 55 years.
In similar vein, Bologna hammered Inter 3-0 on Friday and that was only the visitors’ third away success this season.
The Nerazzurri fans are now asking for explanations and who can blame them.
With this pool of players plus Samuel Eto’o, Goran Pandev, Mario Balotelli, Thiago Motta and Sulley Muntari, Inter completed the treble less than two years before.
Since then, Mourinho stepped down and so did his successors Rafa Benitez, Leonardo and GianPiero Gasperini. Like the ones before him, Ranieri failed to build on the solid foundations left by Mourinho before joining Real Madrid.
It is clear that Massimo Moratti and the rest of the Inter hierarchy have failed to identify a suitable replacement for the Portuguese mentor.
Moreover, the club did not rejuvenate or bolster the squad adequately. These days Inter rely mainly on ageing players.
Moratti and his men committed some serious blunders in the transfer market lately.
Take Thiago Motta’s case for instance.
The Italy international was a pillar in midfield and when Paris SG approached Inter last month, Ranieri made it clear he did not want Motta to leave.
Instead, Inter agreed terms with the mega-rich Ligue 1 leaders and offloaded one of their best players for a hefty transfer fee.
However, one still finds it hard to believe that a side that pulled off seven straight wins in Serie A are suddenly found wanting when facing modest opposition.
Now, the critics are speculating that Ranieri is on his way out with Fabio Capello, Pep Guardiola and even the under-pressure Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas touted among the favourites to replace him.
Tonight, Inter take on Olympique Marseille at the Velodrome in the Champions League, last 16.
Former France great Didier Deschamps, now coaching OM, has already caused a major upset against a side led by Ranieri in season 2003/04. Deschamps was in charge of Monaco who surprisingly went on to oust Ranieri’s Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals.
So, the omens do not look encouraging for Ranieri and his team.
Serie A statistics
1 penalty given by referees in the last round of matches from which David Di Michele made no mistake to put Lecce on their way to a comprehensive 4-1 home success over Siena. Four players received their marching orders – Simone Pesce (Novara), Marco Motta (Catania), Andre Dias (Lazio) and Manuele Blasi (Lecce).
2nd home win for back-to-form Lecce as Serse Cosmi’s side claimed three more points in a direct clash with Siena who are still in search of their first away win. Novara and Atalanta shared the spoils in an encounter that could have gone either way. Emiliano Mondonico’s Novara are unbeaten in their last three outings during which they’ve also kept a clean sheet.
3rd win for Napoli in their last seven visits to Fiorentina’s Artemio Franchi stadium as the southerners cruised to a fourth away success of the term. Napoli are unbeaten in their last four games in the league (two wins and two draws).
5th home defeat – and second in a row – for Inter who were soundly beaten 3-0 by Bologna last Friday. Victory was Bologna’s third away from home this term – the first since beating Chievo 1-0 on the ninth day. It was also Bologna’s first win against Inter at the San Siro in 14 years. Bologna are undefeated in their last six outings (two wins and four draws).
27 goals scored on the 24th day: 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining 13 from the visitors, who managed four wins. Foreign players contributed with 15 goals and there were 14 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 589. Antonio di Natale (Udinese) is still the leading marksman with 17 goals.
28 years had to pass for Juventus to return to winning ways against Catania in their own backyard. On Saturday the Bianconeri came from behind to win 3-1 and record their eighth home success of the term. Catania’s only away win so far came against Lecce (1-0) on the 13th day.