There is no 25m€ clause. It costs about 16€ to release him.
According to Di Marzio, it would cost 28m to Inter to fire Spalletti. 20m gross for Spalletti (he earns 5m net per season) and 8m gross for his staff for the next two seasons. He claims he has verified the figures.
Just to state some facts:
- Inter are 3rd
- We are on 60 points after 32 games, exactly the same as last season
- We had Europe this season, 10 extra midweek games + the psychological impact of getting knocked out
Without Europe, we would have been even higher in the table. It is reasonable to say that we have made progress over last season. This despite changing our style of play this season as the team is getting more comfortable playing out from the defence. Spalletti delivered considerable improvement at Inter in his first season, and now is delivering improvement over his first season. Considering that it will cost us €28m to change the coach, continuing with Spalletti should be the default option. He has delivered enough to justify it.
However if there is an opportunity to upgrade the coach, we shouldn't ignore it. I don't consider Conte an upgrade. I am sure most of us will have different opinions on this, but for me an upgrade is a whole level better coach and ideally someone who can take the same style a notch or two up (instead of starting from scratch to develop a completely different style). I rate Conte in the same level as Mancini or Spalletti - maybe a bit more or a bit less. And he is also of a very different style and will need to start from scratch. IMO the only reason Conte is rated higher at FIF by some is because he hasn't coached at Inter yet (Just wait till he starts Candreva in every game and in 3 months most people here will want Conte sacked).
Coaches like Pep or Klopp are a level better than Spalletti, and more or less in the direction of where we are trying to go style wise. I am sure nobody will object if Inter change to a coach of that level, if we have the funds to support that. Mourinho was also a level better, but these days he seems like an analog coach in a digital world.
Yeesh, a lot to parse out here:
First of all I think we all agree that Spaletti's role has always been to take us to the point where we can consistently qualify for the CL, maybe win a Coppa and build a platform on which we can launch a mission to finally compete for the Scudetto and eventually aim for the CL, no one ever expected LS to win the Scudetto with Inter. In which case, it seems like by the end of this season, Spaletti will have accomplished his objective. And from where I'm sitting, I don't see what more we can expect to see from him next season. Is fighting with Napoli for 2nd and getting knocked out of the round of 16 in CL enough of a step forward for you? (I ask with no sarcasm, I just think in conversation we need to state the givens before agreeing or disagreeing) If so, then by all means keep Spaletti. However, if you think that after the summer mercato we can be in a position to aim for more, then I don't believe Spaletti can deliver that much more, not with Milan reinforcing, Napoli possibly getting silverware and Juve just improving.
So if we agree that now's an opportunity to change coaches, we need to realistically assess who are our available options: Conte, Mou and..... *crickets*. I am torn to chose between the two, I would always accept Mourinho with open arms and tears of joy but will constantly be weary of him tarnishing his legacy. Lots of people bash him for his Man Utd tenure, but people forget that he took a team who finished 5th and was in shambles, made them finish 2nd, won the Europa league and reached the FA Cup final, all with a club hierarchy that didn't trust him or support him in his stand against bratty players. Anyway, I digress re Mourinho, it's a subject that's not for this thread.
Now onto Conte, again we need to talk about givens, if you just don't like Conte for his Juve links, then so be it, everyone's entitled to their opinion. However, if you're going to try and make a case for him not being an upgrade to Spaletti then I'd have to disagree with you. Spaletti has won just two Coppe in his career (in a top tier league) and that was over a decade ago. The 11 years younger Conte has more recently won three Scudetti, an EPL and an FA Cup. You might have a bone to pick with his European credentials and you would have a strong case there, but to think that domestically he isn't an upgrade to Spaletti is a difficult argument to back up. Now this, of course, doesn't mean that shit can't and won't hit the fan with Conte; of course it can, nobody can predict the future. I think that Conte is a sensible hiring if you want to solidify your domestic credentials (in the same way Spaletti did an amazing job in laying the foundations) and then you move on to a manager that can get you everything.
Finally, your point about Pep and Klopp. I can't disagree more. Maybe it's because I'm a dinosaur who's living in the past, but I honestly believe that clubs have DNA. Catenaccio was invented at Inter, almost all our success, Herrera, Trapatoni, Mancini, Mourinho has been under managers who put tactical defensiveness ahead of style of play. I hope we're not moving to the "modern" expansive style of football, but evolve a pragmatic balance (as is the case with Conte, Mourinho and Simeone) an a modern interpretation of the football that has not only been successful for Inter, but is our very own DNA.
Finally, your point about Pep and Klopp. I can't disagree more. Maybe it's because I'm a dinosaur who's living in the past, but I honestly believe that clubs have DNA. Catenaccio was invented at Inter, almost all our success, Herrera, Trapatoni, Mancini, Mourinho has been under managers who put tactical defensiveness ahead of style of play. I hope we're not moving to the "modern" expansive style of football, but evolve a pragmatic balance (as is the case with Conte, Mourinho and Simeone) an a modern interpretation of the football that has not only been successful for Inter, but is our very own DNA.
You talk about Conte and then talk about the club's DNA. You should realize that Guardiola or Klopp at Inter is less of a clash than Conte at Inter.b
Also, Catenaccio was not created at Inter. It probably was perfected here. And it wasn't a "park the bus" system. It was a patience game that then torpedoed the opponent with lethal counter attacks in numbers (usually we had 5-7 players on a counter). Let's call it a cautious streamroll method. And it was bloody beautiful.
The Europeans (and British) hated it because it was a distinct style that did not rely on a 4 or 5 man attack.
Mnassar, first of all, great post. A few points of argument:
1. Inter DNA: I understand where you are coming from. Pragmatic, counter attack based football may be a bit out of fashion, but it will also reinvent itself and make a comeback. There are some fans who want Inter to play a more attractive, attacking style, but I am not one of them. I want Inter to win, and I don't mind if that comes from counter attacking football or more modern attacking football. If Inter were focussed on that DNA, I would agree with you. The issue here is that Inter have for better or worse taken a decision to move away from pragmatic football, and play a more possession based attacking style building attacks from defence. It would be silly to abandon this now and go backwards. This has been one of the biggest problems at Inter, we change our philosophy with every change in coach and hence keep going back to Year Zero. At this moment, IMO it would be better to build upon the work of Spalletti and take it up a notch of two.
2. Conte: I don't like the Bianconeri blood in his veins, but lets put a pin on that for the moment and analyse this rationally. You talk about his trophies as the main reason he is better than Spalletti. Mancini has the same level of success as Conte, Sarri has no real trophies to talk about and he is older than Mancini. By your logic, would you prefer Mancini over Sarri at Inter? Would you consider Mancini a sufficient upgrade over Spalletti? I have great respect for Mancini as a coach unlike some people here, specially for what he achieved at Inter, but I wouldn't call him a sufficient upgrade over Spalletti. They are of a similar level, as is Conte or Sarri. Spalletti (and Sarri) haven't won the Scudetto yet coz of the teams they have managed. Spalletti coming close to winning the Scudetto with Roma (and Sarri with Napoli) was an over achievement in itself. It may very well be that history will regard Mancini and Conte much higher for the trophies they have won (and deservedly so), but that doesn't mean that AT THIS MOMENT they are a level better than Spalletti and Sarri. Infact if we have to change the coach, I would rather have Sarri here than Conte. Because of the style of play is in the same direction that we are going towards.
3. Spalletti: You are spot on about Spalletti being here to lay the foundation for the next coach to come and win trophies. I have said exactly that many times here too. But this is an incremental job, you could say it was done last year or this year or maybe next year. I would say Spalletti's job is done the moment we find the right next coach who can win silverware and when we are financially ready to invest big time in the mercato. If thats this summer, thats awesome. If not, I don't mind waiting another year. But its critical to get the right coach, or else all this work of last 2 seasons could be undone and we could end up right where we started.
Now lets take off that pin, Conte is a fucking Bianconeri through and through. You can't put Conte and Inter DNA in the same sentence. His style is in the wrong direction for us, AND he has a divisive personality. At Juve where he was a legend and the club is far more organised, that was less of a problem. At Inter where there is already chaos, Conte could cause a lot of damage in the locker room. The way he handled Diego Costa at Chelsea was quite poor and at a detriment to the club. And it won't take much for Inter fans to turn against Conte, they have hated him all their life already. Yes, its possible he still could be successful at Inter but its a wildcard, a throw of dice. We are in a good position now, lets not play that lottery. Lets be sure. I don't have the same problem with Allegri if and when he is available. He is more successful, he is not a hated bianconeri, he is quite mature and he has won more. Not Conte.
So basically what I am saying is that we are in a good place, Spalletti is delivering exactly what we got him here to do and the club is becoming more consistent. Lets be patient. Change the coach when we get the right one. This summer or next. Coaches don't last too long at clubs these days. It won't be long before a coach like Pep, Klopp, Allegri, etc will be available. Lets wait for that.
Trapattoni managed Juventus, being a professional. He became a coaching legend there but not a Juventino legend. Conte on the other hand was their captain and was considered on a higher level than even Del Piero for them for years.
Trapattoni made a name of himself as a Milanista, not a gobbo. He left Milan for Juventus and the rest is history. I get that you think he's a Juventino, but he was no Lippi. Sure he had a Juventus past and lots of people didn't want him at Inter because of that, same way lots of us were against hiring Marotta for the same reason.
Lippi on the other hand was some guy from Sampdoria who became a Juventino pezzo di merda and Moratti wrongly thought he'd make a Trap out of him.
Now add all these factors around Lippi, a mixture of Chiellini, Zebina's ugly cuntface, Nedved, Montero, Del Piero and Agnelli himself and you get Antonio fucking Conte in a zebra shirt.
Fabio Capello is a better 'professional' example. Also a Juventino, played and managed at Milan with success and also played and managed at Roma with success. I wanted him at Inter at some point and I'd still say he's a fucking juventino. It's not just a matter of the past. Conte is crossing the line, going back and forth several times and then crossing it again. Would you hire Gattuso or Ambrosini if they had a similar managerial path?
Sorry man, don't give a shit about Milan. But if Cambiasso or Materazzi or Mourinho go to Juventus then they can be considered done by Interisti unless they miraculously manage to gain forgiveness with future actions.
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Fuck Conte, how much does Erick ten Hag want?