Congratulations Internazionale. In a season when most of their compatriots have failed badly in Europe, the Nerazzurri will now deservedly compete in the continents biggest showpiece on May 22.
The run to the final hasn’t been completely blemish free. Jose Mourinho’s ultra cautious approach to Wednesday’s return trip to the Camp Nou wasn’t far short of a return to the darks arts of catenaccio, and of course, an Italian team representing Italy have only a few peripheral players from the motherland. However, those are just minor, cynical detractions and as a football team, Inter have pathologically gone about their assigned tasks with a commitment and clarity of vision which has seen them put out the challenge of arguably the two best sides around in Barcelona and Chelsea. Whilst others have faltered, nobody can deny Inter have gotten to where they deserve to be.
What must fill the Interisti with the greatest pride is to see the collective fight their side have amply demonstrated along the way, best illustrated in their abrasive display at Barcelona, where bodies and minds endured the most rigorous of tests, passing with flying colours. Il Biscione’s efforts are all the more satisfying given the ridicule Italian football has been subject to in this competition over the past couple of years. Barring Milan’s 2007 triumph, the rest have regularly dropped off the radar with the minimum of fuss, embarrassingly so on occasions. It was enough to, metaphorically at least, demote the levity of Serie A to way below that of its English and Spanish rivals, and whilst one swallow doesn’t make a summer, Inter have restored a lot of pride to the peninsula. It will also be solely down to la Benemeata to ensure that Serie A still has four Champions League slots for the 2011/12 season. The UEFA coefficients have the Bundesliga and Serie A neck and neck, meaning the tie between Inter and Bayern will essentially take the form of an unofficial play-off to determine which of the leagues is entitled to four Champions League places.
The fact that Serie A is vying with the Bundesliga over fourth and not la Liga or the Premier League for first, does add weight to suggestions that Italy lags behind those powerhouses, but as Inter have proven, the raw materials are there. The playing squads in terms of strength and depth can be concocted, the money and appeal of Calcio is still there, and Inter have remained domestically superior by running a relatively tight ship. It seems that Italy’s deficiencies stem from a kind of Calcio suicide, the sort of irrational, manic management which has spread contagiously through Juventus this season. Inter maybe able to paper over the cracks; the rest must soon sort themselves out.
A case in point is Milan. Change was needed after Carlo Ancelotti left and the general consensus was that things needed freshening up throughout the club. Leonardo was brought in as a highly thought of young tactician and man-manager, yet he was dealt the same collaboration of old and stale players that even Ancelotti struggled to flog much out of. The freshening up process was supposed to consist of two parts. On and off-field, instead, a relatively inexperienced coach was brought in and asked to do the same job as one of the world’s best managers. The results have been predictably familiar, and what has been even more predictable is the response of the Rossoneri board, who have been talking Leo out of the door since the Scudetto went pair shaped after their derby defeat to Inter.
Apparently this week Silvio Berlusconi told confidants that Leonardo was...wait for it... ‘stubborn’, pots and black kettles, and that the Brazilian was due to leave the San Siro this summer. Despite widespread reports of his words in the press, there has been no retraction or clarification of these comments and Leo himself has spoken of his ‘difficult relationship’ with Berlusconi, one which is ‘incompatible.’ One way or another, it is highly unlikely that Leo will be in the il Diavolo hot-seat next season. But what difference would a change of coach make? Are the routes of Milan’s recent travails more deep lying than simply problems attributed to the coach? After all, it was the very same board who appointed Leonardo that will bid Arrivaderci and decide on the next tactician. It is also the same board who have been so frugal in their spending of late, that the playing resource falls way short of their neighbours and dominant force, Inter. Unfortunately, you can’t sack the board, especially when the Prime Minister of the country is its head honcho, but unless things are sorted from the top downwards, whoever holds the team reigns will not be in charge of the ride. And this is the problem.
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