Xherdan and Inter had to go their separate ways

I have to say a couple of words about the sale of Shaqiri.

It's bad PR - granted. Mancini begs for player - player arrives - all hell breaks loose - Mancini falls out of love - player is forced out.

Ok.

Now, do we actually blame Mancini for the sale or do we just say he made the wrong evaluation in deciding to go after him in the first place? There's a big difference.

All you people saying "Shaqiri would've fit in" - that's hardly the point, and he probably wouldn't have.

Disclaimer: Shaqiri has individual talent in abundance. He's fast, explosive; can shoot, dribble, cross - you name it.
He's shown glimpses of it for us too.

Now, that does not *necessarily* make him a good team player. A team of good players doesn't necessarily make a good team.
Notice the kinds of teams that Shaqiri has performed for - Basel and Switzerland. He disappointed in Bayern and more or less disappointed at Inter (remember the game v. Parma when Mancini's bubble of zen finally exploded?). Loosely keep in mind the rumors about Pep saying he was "not smart enough" - I'd go with Pep on these things.

Shaqiri plays well for teams that revolve entirely around him. You want Shaqiri to perform? Make the team bend completely to him - that way what he lacks in teamwork is covered by his teammates and his individual talents excel: win-win (remember Cassano at Parma?). Surely you can get this at a top team, right? Pep begs to differ, and so does Mancio in trying to make a top team out of Inter again.

You don't seriously believe that a coach with at least continental reputation, who has won the Scudetto, the EPL etc. doesn't take into consideration that a player needs time to get used to a new league and team - do you? 

So, your idea is, Mancini woke up one morning, said to himself "time to send Shaqiri into exile because I didn't like the way he wore his hair yesterday" and went to tell Thohir he wants him out.
Think again.

The club must have had problems with Shaqiri, otherwise I don't think Thohir would've stood still as Mancini gave the marching orders to a player which the club barely managed to sign for him just months ago. Did you notice any strain between the management and Mancini in the sale of Shaqiri? I know I didn't - they stood united and all pushed in the same direction - Shaqiri had to be sold.

What was his problem? I have no fucking idea - maybe it was discipline (tactical or general), maybe it was his attitude, his fitness, maybe the rest of the team didn't warm up to him, maybe there's been a serious altercation we don't know about.

Now, some of you will say "How does Shaqiri deserve to be sold when we keep hold of Ranocchia, Guarin etc?!" - and I'd be the first one to agree, but things don't work ideally in the real world.

Shaqiri, unlike Ranocchia, Guarin etc. is still quite marketable (at a time when the club is making one of the biggest overhauls in living memory). He recently had a terrific World Cup for Switzerland, and the fact that he's young and coming from clubs like Inter and Bayern still makes cash loaded, less reputable clubs (like Stoke, Everton, Newcastle etc.) to be willing to splash the $$.
You don't get this with the other nobodies I've mentioned above, or at least it's more difficult (and I'm sure Mancio would jump at it if he gets a chance, you've seen the club wants to sell a lot of the junk this summer but they refuse to leave).

Now I know the lot of you find it hard to accept this - we all had high hopes of Xherdan and expected him to make an instant difference. And that's important too - Inter bought him to make an instant difference - and in that sense he didn't deliver. So it wasn't enough to just be better than Guarin, I approve of judging him on high criteria, I can't judge him the same as I did fucking Schelotto or Dodo.

Please keep in mind that a lot of things happen behind the scenes that none of us see and that Di Marzio doesn't report about on his website. I'm quite sure this has been worked on for months; they probably tried to sort it out as well, but I suppose Shaq didn't take them too seriously because he didn't seriously expect to be sold that soon and even if he did - he probably was expecting a bit better than Stoke. 

Now it's a challenge for him to start climbing back up and another challenge for Mancini and Inter to pick out their reinforcements a bit better in the future. The point isn't whether he was a good player - it's about whether he was a good fit.

Good luck to both.