Well, it's indeed time to say “thank you Luciano” and play the violin for a few minutes, after two crazy years.
Spalletti made his mistakes and he may be a stubborn madman, but he took over after the annus horribilis 2016/2017 and succeeded in bringing back some logic and more importantly long-awaited CL football at the end of his first season.
From those ruins he built something in the space of twelve months (from the solid run in the first half of the season to the Spring formation with Cancelo and Rafinha), despite winter black-outs and various relapses, all while dealing with broken promises, average players, the inner contradictions of this club, the “centrifuge” of Inter environment and the “Sword of Damocles” of FFP.
Obviously he has his fair share of responsabilities for what happened right after, starting with the summer.
Even if, in his defense, after the agreed and controversial decision of stripping Icardi of the captain's armband and the self-destructive drama that unfolded, he was almost alone and by himself:
- Marotta already had Conte and the future in his mind (no matter what happened)
- The positive effect of regrouping that bunch of players was immediate but didn't last long (old habits)
- Rightly victimized or not, the dethroned kinglet Icardi came back as a shell of his former self (after a series of pathetic theatrics).
By the end we can say Spalletti was definitely lost, cautious and involuted just like his style of play in relation to the characteristics of the players he had at disposal.
He worked hard to bring stability, he was professional till the end, somehow he reached his goal again (he deserved it)... but after the drama of the last six months, it became difficult to talk about the arguable 2-years progression and all the positives, let alone imagine a continuation.
And the “Marottian die” was already cast.
At the end Spalletti achieved what he had to achieve, but overall he produced less than he could have, if we consider who he "is" as a coach (but Inter often means anomaly, and time goes by anyway).
Speaking about sliding doors and fascinating whatifs, Lazio-Inter 2-3 changed everything, just like the last minutes of Inter-Juventus 2017/2018 and the header of Lautaro in Inter-PSV could have written a lot of different things, in Serie A and for our club.
Honourable mention for his press-conferences/sideline antics/post-game interviews (where he confirmed himself as fabler, thespian and provider of gif-material) and for all the times Spalletti stood up for the club in the media, when the management was nowhere to be seen.
I don't know what's next for Lucianone (media are already at it: sabbatical year or possibly a retirement, the new Fiorentina, shocking return to Roma, management role in a smaller team, even Gazidis' under-23 Milan against any logic, you name it), but I guess for the moment he'll return in his Certaldo, not only to recharge his batteries, but to mourn (it's sad to hear about the personal problems with which he had to deal for a while, and how it all ended - the news put things in perspective).
He'll probably sleep on the floor, in the same way he was seen by his astonished Roma players during a retreat, before an away game in Tuscany (“I wanna feel the contact with my land”, as he explained to them, according to the anecdote).
Mandatory “Forza Luciano” (and nice tribute from Steven Zhang on his Instagram profile).
well goodbye and good luck Spaletti
