It's been a long time since I've posted something here, but had some musings about the ongoing speculation re Conte joining Inter this summer to replace Spalletti, so I thought I'd give it a go here.
I believe Conte is ultimately a good fit for where we are right now, and is a mostly logical next step (with limitations, obviously, because that's what we can afford).
The number one reason is because I believe Spalletti has run his course with this team - he did a magnificent job with Brozovic, has qualified the team for the UCL (hopefully for two years in a row), strengthened the defense - but has not been able to instill a particular identity to the way we play, has been VERY inconsistent and made dubious decisions in the sense of game management, played probably less discrete than the club would have liked re Icardi etc. and is ultimately losing strings over the team with so much crazy shit going on. I can't say he's always been done justice in various situations, but has had his own share in lighting up the flames too.
Now, that being said - no matter how much I want - I simply cannot imagine Inter becoming a side distinguishable for a very attractive brand of football - like Barcelona, Liverpool, City have become recently. Can you imagine Guardiola having our team play like City are at the moment? I can't. I don't ever remember it being part of Inter - even historically, our two best sides (Herrera and Mourinho) were teams that did not excel to the point of being distinguished in the technical department - but they were powerhouses on the physical, mental and tactical side.
And that's where Conte comes in. He doesn't strike anyone as the builder-coach, because none of his sides are publicly lauded for their enchanting playing style like City, Liverpool are (deservedly, though, they are fucking awesome). However, I would argue that Conte is strong on building another element, one we're more attuned to as a club - and that is guts and a siege mentality, backed up by perfect discipline and professionalism in the dressing room. Inter didn't outplay Barcelona in the classic sense of the word in 2010 - but came up on top because of the aforementioned. And Conte did this with Juventus - he set up the work ethic they would carry on with them under Allegri, he gave the team the identity of being persistent and giving 100% in every game, which they did because they won three Scudetti in a row with him and broke records while at it.
Does he have flaws? Of course. Conte can be childish over transfer policy, and is bound to sign some random Italian players nobody has ever heard of (which then invariably turn into deadwood once he's gone). Then again - is Inter objectively the most tempting of destinations right now? I wouldn't say so. So we're still improvising as the top solutions are not yet within reach (Simeone, for example). Conte has a history of taking teams to the next level, making them push a little over their weight - which he did with that Juventus side at least at the beginning and then did it again by wining a BPL title with a team that could hardly compete with the likes of City on paper.
All in all, though, I think we're at the same phase with Conte here, we're a good fit for each other. A major disclaimer to all speculation as to the role of the coach next year though, is that the management have to do their bit on the market and on getting professionalism back into Inter's dressing room - no more scandals like Nainggolan, Perisic, Icardi this year. Then MAYBE we make a step forward and take advantage of the fact that this Juventus is finally looking into a potential period of transition, that Napoli have lost the growth rate they had under Sarri, Roma and Milan are in shambles etc. Maybe we want to stop being Pazza Inter for a little bit and make some rational choices to end this almost decade of suffering.
No comments:
Post a Comment