Inter and Mancini need each other
With speculation surrounding the future of Inter Coach Roberto Mancini, Edo Dalmonte cautions against a hasty divorce.
Inter’s tour of the United States has hardly been a relaxing affair: as if speculation over a possible Mauro Icardi departure to Napoli wasn’t bad enough, the Italian sports press is awash with reports of Coach Roberto Mancini’s dissatisfaction with the club’s transfer policy, with some even indicating that the former Manchester City gaffer would leave if his demands were not met.
There is, however, something that isn’t quite convincing about Il Mancio’s supposed desire to leave. What exactly was Mancini before Inter? Though he managed to conjure up a last-gasp Premier League title, he’d also had failed to make much of a difference at Galatasaray, and had lost the dressing room at the Etihad. Though coming fourth last season was impressive, the Sampdoria legend isn’t as likely to find an elite Champions League club knocking at his door if he bails on the Beneamata.
This isn’t the same Mancini who was being pursued by PSG a couple of years ago, a rumour that Le Parisien rekindled earlier this summer before the Ligue 1 side went with Unai Emery. It’s hard to see England and Russia’s national teams - two recent additions to the rumour mill- as enticing options. Just look what they did to Fabio Capello’s career!
Beyond that, the arrival of former assistant Angelo Gregucci surely means something: would Inter really try to bring him in if they didn’t think they’d be working with Mancini until next summer at the very least?
Though it isn’t in Mancini’s interest to quit Inter, it isn’t in Inter’s to dump him, either. What exactly was the club before him? A laughing stock, one that had spat out Coach upon Coach like they were chewing gum. The alternatives don’t sound enticing at this stage, either: what exactly has Leonardo done since he lost his job at PSG? And does winning the Coppa Italia really atone for being dismantled 5-2 by Schalke in the Champions League (they were 13th in the Bundesliga at the time), or 3-0 by AC Milan just a few days later?
The idea of bringing in Frank De Boer sounds interesting, but not several days before August. With the Nerazzurri under siege over Mauro Icardi, could new owners the Suning Group face the fans if they sell the Argentine, and then go through a possible transitional season with someone who doesn’t know Serie A at all?
The truth is, Inter and Mancini need one another, at least in the short term. For once, a quick fix is exactly what both parties need. Would Il Mancio work just as well in the long term? Perhaps not, and this may explain why the Nerazzurri are hesitating over giving him a contract extension, reportedly a cause of the current tensions.
This would partly explain Mancini saying that “there never is a project [in Italian football], not a real or a serious one anyway. They last 3-4 years at most, when clubs need to start again”. He uttered these words two weeks ago, when his discontent had came back to the fore.
Is Mancini the long-term solution? We have to remember that his insistence on signing ageing stars - like Antonio Candreva or Yaya Toure - doesn’t quite chime with Inter’s Financial Fair Play problems, and that the need to break even won’t go away once the Beneamata’s current deal with UEFA expires next summer. Massimo Moratti’s successors have yet to turn the club into the commercial success that Bayern Munich or Real Madrid are.
Moreover, it’s not as though Il Mancio’s first Inter team, or indeed his City side were on nothing but an upwards curve. His Sky Blues regressed after winning the title, while his Inter team of 2007-2008 saw him chop and change constantly, and bring veteran players like Cesar into the fold.
It may, therefore be best for Inter to keep going with the man who took the club from mid-table anonymity to leading Serie A into the Christmas period, the same Coach who was able to turn the defence into a strong unit and build from there.
If Mancini can prove that his development of Ivan Perisic and Mauro Icardi will lead to an improvement in attack, he may well be worth it. If, on the other hand, the arrivals of Eder and Ever Banega see the forward line make little progress (Inter netted 26 goals in the second half of the season, compared to 24 in their first 19 games) then looking elsewhere may be the best option.
--
FROM 137.222.114.*