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Inter had come into the 2009/2010 season with a magnificent treble and expectations were high for a decent showing for the 2010/2011 season.
The least the fans were expecting was a Scudetto along with the Supercoppa Italian and the European Super Cup along the with a decent attempt at retaining the Champions League.
Rafa Benitez has always been in the shadow of his English Premier League rival Mourinho, and he did not manage to overcome that in Italy. He was even reported to have removed the team picture with Mourinho when they won the Champions League trophy in an attempt to make the players look to the future rather than the past.
Money wasn't spent during the summer, despite Rafa's wishes to add some new signings, but the board were against getting the chequebook out. In the end it was partly the boards fault along with Rafa's tactics that this season has ended on such a low note.
Now that the disappointing 2010/2011 season is nearing the end, Inter director of football Branca has stated the obvious: "The squad needs a freshen-up".
This is what I will talk about in the rest of the article, going through all the major positions.
In the goalkeeping department there will be little change. The 38-year old third string goalkeeper Paolo Orlandoni will be out of contract this summer, and young Italian Enrico Afonso is coming back from his loan stint in Modena, an adequate choice as backup, if the co-ownership issue with Chievo can be settled. Another option would be to give the youngster another loan period again with Chievo's agreement, giving him valuable first team experience, extending the veteran Orlandoni's contract for another year.
In defence, Cordoba and Matrix have a year left on their contracts, and out of respect for their loyaly, the board will probably keep them on. For the benefit of the club however, we should sell them, especially Matrix, as he has shown his inconsistency this season with his mishaps in the Coppa and in the last few games in the league.
The one right move by the Board was done in January, and it was not the Andrea Ranocchia acquiring - that goes without saying- but actually the re-signing of youth product Marco Andreolli but on a co-ownership with Chievo. Along with the others in defence, he will form a quality line of defense for the Inter. Chivu needs to be sold as his form dropped amazingly this season in both central defense and left back.
In the fullback positions, Maicon should almost certainly stay despite having a slow start to the 2010/2011 season. Santon should be brought back and will bring another option in the right and left flank positions.
Yuto is an acquisition that was not needed, but in the event of there being no other quality Left Back available, we thus have no choice. My problem with the Japanese player is that he is at best an average player, who has been rated at 6.5 on goal.com and provided no assists in 17 league games, scoring just once in all competitions. These stats prove his inefficiency in attack. He gave a particularly bad display against Parma which showed his defensive weakness against skilled attackers such as Candreva and Giovinco.
In midfield, Motta needs to be sold and Inter need to seek another DM/CM who can create as we as dictate play. Motta is a simple passer, but not a creator despite his accurate short and long passing skills. Mariga should be kept as he has competent in both defense and offense, he is a poor man's Essien but with a lot of differences obviously of course.
Adding to the midfield would be another central midfielder, but one who also can dictate a pass to assist Sneijder and Coutinho, therefore Kharja -who failed to do so despite an encouraging debut- should be given the boot. The 3rd component to add in midfield is in attacking midfield, notably on the wings, somebody to work with Sneijder and Coutinho. We need at least 2 of them.
Eden Hazard would be perfect, though half of Europe is after the teenage sensation, but still we need to look for another one as well. I just hope we don't go through the Quaresma saga all over again.
In attack, Pandev needs to go. A transfer that since it happened, I was not happy with but content because there were no other options on the table. Pandev is slow, and not a good passer despite being a second striker, creating a simple attacking pass is not his strongest asset despite his good finishing skills.
With Milito, Pazzini and Eto'o and the 18 year-old new signing Luc Castaignos we can be content. The stats for young Castaignos are good, with the teenager scoring 15 goals in 27 games in the current season. The question is how can he fair in the Serie A . It was sad to see Arnautovic leave Inter under Mourinho. Matteo Destro who is co-owned with Genoa can be loaned again, and if he proves himself even more while Luc flops in his first half of the season, then we can try and bring him back again in January.
However, in order to have success in the short term future, the Board will have to get their chequebooks out in the next two months, something they failed to do a year ago. They didn't need much then, now they need a bit more.
The least the fans were expecting was a Scudetto along with the Supercoppa Italian and the European Super Cup along the with a decent attempt at retaining the Champions League.
Rafa Benitez has always been in the shadow of his English Premier League rival Mourinho, and he did not manage to overcome that in Italy. He was even reported to have removed the team picture with Mourinho when they won the Champions League trophy in an attempt to make the players look to the future rather than the past.
Money wasn't spent during the summer, despite Rafa's wishes to add some new signings, but the board were against getting the chequebook out. In the end it was partly the boards fault along with Rafa's tactics that this season has ended on such a low note.
Now that the disappointing 2010/2011 season is nearing the end, Inter director of football Branca has stated the obvious: "The squad needs a freshen-up".
This is what I will talk about in the rest of the article, going through all the major positions.
In the goalkeeping department there will be little change. The 38-year old third string goalkeeper Paolo Orlandoni will be out of contract this summer, and young Italian Enrico Afonso is coming back from his loan stint in Modena, an adequate choice as backup, if the co-ownership issue with Chievo can be settled. Another option would be to give the youngster another loan period again with Chievo's agreement, giving him valuable first team experience, extending the veteran Orlandoni's contract for another year.
In defence, Cordoba and Matrix have a year left on their contracts, and out of respect for their loyaly, the board will probably keep them on. For the benefit of the club however, we should sell them, especially Matrix, as he has shown his inconsistency this season with his mishaps in the Coppa and in the last few games in the league.
The one right move by the Board was done in January, and it was not the Andrea Ranocchia acquiring - that goes without saying- but actually the re-signing of youth product Marco Andreolli but on a co-ownership with Chievo. Along with the others in defence, he will form a quality line of defense for the Inter. Chivu needs to be sold as his form dropped amazingly this season in both central defense and left back.
In the fullback positions, Maicon should almost certainly stay despite having a slow start to the 2010/2011 season. Santon should be brought back and will bring another option in the right and left flank positions.
Yuto is an acquisition that was not needed, but in the event of there being no other quality Left Back available, we thus have no choice. My problem with the Japanese player is that he is at best an average player, who has been rated at 6.5 on goal.com and provided no assists in 17 league games, scoring just once in all competitions. These stats prove his inefficiency in attack. He gave a particularly bad display against Parma which showed his defensive weakness against skilled attackers such as Candreva and Giovinco.
In midfield, Motta needs to be sold and Inter need to seek another DM/CM who can create as we as dictate play. Motta is a simple passer, but not a creator despite his accurate short and long passing skills. Mariga should be kept as he has competent in both defense and offense, he is a poor man's Essien but with a lot of differences obviously of course.
Adding to the midfield would be another central midfielder, but one who also can dictate a pass to assist Sneijder and Coutinho, therefore Kharja -who failed to do so despite an encouraging debut- should be given the boot. The 3rd component to add in midfield is in attacking midfield, notably on the wings, somebody to work with Sneijder and Coutinho. We need at least 2 of them.
Eden Hazard would be perfect, though half of Europe is after the teenage sensation, but still we need to look for another one as well. I just hope we don't go through the Quaresma saga all over again.
In attack, Pandev needs to go. A transfer that since it happened, I was not happy with but content because there were no other options on the table. Pandev is slow, and not a good passer despite being a second striker, creating a simple attacking pass is not his strongest asset despite his good finishing skills.
With Milito, Pazzini and Eto'o and the 18 year-old new signing Luc Castaignos we can be content. The stats for young Castaignos are good, with the teenager scoring 15 goals in 27 games in the current season. The question is how can he fair in the Serie A . It was sad to see Arnautovic leave Inter under Mourinho. Matteo Destro who is co-owned with Genoa can be loaned again, and if he proves himself even more while Luc flops in his first half of the season, then we can try and bring him back again in January.
However, in order to have success in the short term future, the Board will have to get their chequebooks out in the next two months, something they failed to do a year ago. They didn't need much then, now they need a bit more.
