Intermania: The Farce is over, but Pioli faces an uphill battle | Cristian Giudici
Whilst a relief, Inter’s win against Crotone can’t mask the club’s recent problems off the pitch, despite the club winning only its second league game in six and scoring three goals.
The sacking of Frank De Boer mere days after the AGM had backed him was bad enough in itself, if it wasn’t for the farcical casting process the club initiated in order to replace the Dutchman.
Rather than question the choice of Stefano Pioli, Inter fans are questioning the whole process behind the decision, the impression being that Suning took time to understand which option would have antagonized the fans, the players and the press the least.
Pioli was also the choice of director of sport Piero Ausilio and General Manager Giovanni Gardini, that of an Italian who knows the league and will be assisted by club legend Walter Samuel.
In any case, the most intelligent, cogent analysis has come from someone who pulled out of the race: Leonardo.
Suning’s decision to listen to the fans may well be what is behind the imminent sacking of CEO Michael Bolingbroke, never popular among the fans, who were angry at how much he was being paid as much as anything else.
With this process finally over, we can get back to the gritty business that is Calcio. The stats show that Inter have a lot of work to do: though they’ve taken the third-most shots in Serie A, they’re also third-best in shots conceded (Juventus and Napoli the only ones ahead of them).
We hope that this statistical anomaly can soon be converted into actual results, seeing as Inter are actually eight points off third place, and have the Derby waiting for them after the international break.
As talented as this team is, can Inter show that they’re more of a team than AC Milan? It’s far from being a given.
