Simone Inzaghi is like a boxer on the ropes. And like a fighter who collects punches and constantly covers his face because he can’t find the time to attack, he stays in the corners of the ring waiting for the referee’s final gong.
Inter Milan have lost five of their 10 matches this season, with their four Serie A wins coming against very beatable opponents, demonstrating they are not ready to face Napoli and AC Milan in the battle for the Scudetto or potentially even make the top four.
Barcelona will be the judge of the manager’s destiny and now all the certainties built by the chief executive Giuseppe Marotta are collapsing under the blows and frailties of a coach who has not understood the differences between the Lazio bench and Inter’s.
Simone Inzaghi’s job is on the line as Inter Milan prepare to take on Barcelona on Tuesday
It has been a weak start to the Serie A season for Inter, who have won four and lost four games
The big match against Robert Lewandowski’s team will be a decisive stress test for the psychological strength of a team which in the event of a KO would compromise their chances of reaching the Champions League knockouts.
It would also cause an emotional crisis at the club that would be difficult to overcome.
In the case of a heavy defeat, Inzaghi could be sacked immediately after the match but Marotta and president Steven Zhang have not made a final decision.
A knockout would be dramatic and could generate some unexpected choices on the part of the club despite the financial situation Inter are going through.
Like a horror film that repeats itself every week, the Nerazzurri always experience the same negative plot, made up of tactical obsessions and neurosis on the part of a coach who seems to have lost serenity.
A TEAM WITHOUT PRIDE OR IDEAS
Inzaghi is beginning to get nervous and in his press conferences he remembers how in the teams he coaches, he is the architect of three great results. He is the coach who reduces financial difficulties, wins trophies and improves the players.
Up until now, this sporting miracle in the 2022-23 season has now happened. Indeed, the start of the season has been disastrous in every regard.
The fault and responsibility are always with whoever is at the helm of the boat and that is Inzaghi but many players are also proving too fragile emotionally, suffering too much from the boos and whistles of San Siro.
Inter were second best to Bayern Munich, who won 2-0 at San Siro on matchday one
All 13 goals conceded in Serie A were avoidable and yet the defenders are always the same with Francesco Acerbi instead of the retired Andrea Ranocchia.
Inter’s defence once looked like a wall but now it is as fragile as polystyrene and any attacking opponent can hurt them.
One of Inzaghi’s biggest mistakes is putting his two goalkeepers in the worst psychological conditions possible.
Andre Onana believes he would become the No 1 while Samir Handanovic, playing despite being 38, is sensationally indecisive on the pitch, causing the team to lose points.
Unfortunately, Inzaghi has shown he does not have the courage to tell the team captain to sit on the bench and has created an annoying dualism with Onana, who only plays in the Champions League.
38-year-old goalkeeper Samir Handanovic (right) continues to make costly errors
INZAGHI RANKS AMONG THE WORST INTER MANAGERS
The Inter crisis is a mirror of a disorderly club, one abandoned two years ago by Antonio Conte precisely because of their inability to fully control the technical and economic situation.
Marotta is the best chief executive in Italy but he can’t work miracles and after the mistake of re-signing Romelu Lukaku, he does not have the courage to fire Inzaghi.
In this time of financial crisis, paying another salary would be complicated and it would further limit the availability of action in the transfer market.
But the disastrous numbers for Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri leave his job in the balance. Just four wins from the opening eight games ranks alongside the likes of Gian Piero Gasperini, Andre Stramaccioni and Claudio Ranieri.
Romelu Lukaku returned amid great fanfare over the summer but has suffered injury issues
With the fourth defeat from eight Serie A games, Inter find themselves down in ninth position. They already have too any teams to overtake if they hope to reach the leaders Napoli and the situation is so critical the fans fear the worst.
If Inzaghi continues to show signs of psychological weakness, Marotta will be forced to intervene in an attempt to straighten out a season that has started badly and risks ending in the worst way.
In their whole history, Inter have been defeated five times in their first eight league games only once – in 1924-25.
In the modern Serie A, only once have they lost four of the first eight. It happened in 2011-12 when they had three coaches.
Inzaghi knows how important Tuesday night’s clash with Barcelona will be for his job safety
Inter’s inconsistent start sees them ninth in Serie A, already out of the Scudetto conversation
IS ACERBI REALLY BETTER THAN DE VRIJ?
Inter at the moment is nothing more than a tragic film in which all the protagonists do the wrong things at the wrong time and are continually hit by their opponents.
Inter are prisoners of the fears and obsessions of a coach allergic to yellow cards and obsessive in resorting to Francesco Acerbi, an elderly defender bought at the last minute by Lazio, to revive the fate of a defence not protected by midfield.
This nostalgic desire to cling to former Lazio players like Acerbi and Joaquin Correa is proof of Inzaghi’s unfamiliarity with the Nerazzurri and his reliance on a happy past to forget his disastrous present.
Inzaghi finds it comforting to play his former Lazio defender Francesco Acerbi in defence
Putting Stefan de Vrij on the bench means undermining a defence that, with Alessandro Bastoni and Milan Skriniar, a few months ago was unsurpassable, but now has more holes than a French cheese.
This choice was made exclusively by Inzaghi and helped to evaporate the certainties and self-esteem of the whole team.
GOSENS, BROZOVIC AND BARELLA BELOW PAR
The team has no leader on the pitch and when Marcelo Brozovic is out due to injury they forget to play and open the game up with intelligence and speed.
Nicolo Barella alternates between exceptional matches with episodes of absolute uncertainty and superficiality, while Robin Gosens seems to have forgotten how he plays football since he landed at Malpensa Airport.
If two players considered fundamental find it difficult to give fuel to the team’s engine, then Inter are forced to play with nine for long periods of the match.
Robin Gosens has struggled to match expectations since arriving at Inter Milan
The feeling is that Inzaghi has completely lost control of the team without being able to give them security and stability in the most delicate moments.
The Nerazzurri concede too many goals and have great tactical problems due to the failure of Gosens. The full-back is in a crisis of physical condition and certifies his athletic problems with embarrassing performances.
He defends little and badly, is clumsy and, above all, fails to serve assists for Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez.
