Inter's Mid-Season Review

Inter has ended 2021 on a high as Winter Champions. Personally, it is not a title that I cherish as it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I would have been happy finishing the year in second or third but within touching distance of the top but I will take whatever good that comes my way.

Dark Clouds In The Summer

We impressively clawed back a deficit on AC Milan and Napoli who both had perfect records in the early months of the season to get to where we are now. Inter didn’t enter the season with an air of optimism after losing our manager, Antonio Conte, one of the best wing-backs in the world, Achraf Hakimi and when we thought that is all we would lose over the summer, we lost our most prolific striker in the last two seasons, Romelu Lukaku. We had also lost a key player in our title charge over the summer in the European Championships, Christian Eriksen, due to a heart issue.

Composure Of Inzaghi

The jury was out on Simone Inzaghi on how he would manage this Inter team that was entering the season as defending champions but in a cloud of off-field financial turbulence and weakened squad. At the moment, Inzaghi has shown great composure and sensibility in getting Inter to play his way. He has inherited a well-drilled team that had just got the feel of being champions and played in a similar formation to what he used at Lazio. What he needed to do was to get the team to play and express themselves in the way he wanted them to.

Shaky Results

There were some shaky matches at the start and the away matches to Hellas Verona, Fiorentina and Sassuolo come to mind; Inter struggled in them but yet managed to emerge with all 3 points in each of those matches. Inter also let a 2-1 lead slip to draw 2-2 away to Sampdoria. The team lacked balance as they were exposed defensively and were not able to impose their game for long periods. Inter had also faced a tough time in big matches getting less than they deserved; conceding a late penalty equaliser for Juventus to draw, sucker-punched by Lazio to lose at Stadio Olimpico and missing a penalty in the draw against AC Milan. Atalanta provided Inter with the toughest challenge in a big match but they too could have been defeated had Inter not missed a penalty. It was the same in the Champions League as Inter lost to a late Real Madrid goal despite dominating their opponents.

Slow & Steady

Slowly but surely, Inter has got better as the season has progressed. The team has better balance now and they play more offensively than compared with Antonio Conte’s reign although I would argue that Conte was only defensive in his approach during the crunch time of the season. Inter has scored the most number of goals in Serie A and that is an indication of their offensive approach. Another indicator of Inter’s progress under Simone Inzaghi would be their qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since the 2011-12 season with a game to spare.

Team Effort

I have been most impressed with the way players like Danilo D’Ambrosio and Andrea Ranocchia have stood in for the injured Stefan De Vrij after the last international break in a run that included key matches against Napoli and Roma in Serie A and Shakthar Donestk in the Champions League. Matteo Darmian has also performed ever so well in the right wing-back position while Denzel Dumfries needed more time to settle in. When the former then got injured, the latter took his place and proved to be a worthy replacement. After a below-par start to life for Inter bar the first match, Hakan Calhanoglu has come good. Arturo Vidal has also made some very good cameo appearances. It has really been a team effort for Inter up to this stage of the season as every single player has contributed in one way or another.

Tough Start to 2022 Awaits

Inter face a tough run of fixtures when they return from the international break with matches against Lazio, Juventus, Atalanta, Milan, Napoli in Serie A and Liverpool in the Champions League on the horizon. Inter will need to guard against complacency and Inter are known to struggle when they return from their winter break which is why I am cautious. At the moment, they have been playing well and winning games but they will need to show the ability as well to win ugly. The season is not over yet and there is a lot to play for yet; the title of Winter Champions mean little to me. I would want us to win in the summer which is when it matters but at the moment, so far, so good.?