Two goals in two games show Ale’s worth, while the revolving door continues to swing at Inter after their appointment of a fifth manager in 15 months.
“Tonight’s game was a great one to win because it was charged with emotion for both us as players and for the fans. Then my goal made me twice as happy. I don’t score many, but when I do, they are good ones, like against Roma, AC Milan and Inter. Goals, whether you score many of them or few, always make you happy.”
So said Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero following his side’s 2-0 win over Inter at the weekend, but unfortunately for Claudio Ranieri, the club statement from Inter was a less joyous matter.
“President Massimo Moratti and everyone at F.C. Internazionale would like to offer their sincere thanks to Claudio Ranieri and his staff for the professionalism and commitment they showed over recent months in charge of the team.
“Furthermore F.C. Internazionale would like to report that Andrea Stramaccioni – the coach of the Primavera team, who won the NextGen Series – will take charge of the first team. The club wishes Andrea Stramaccioni the best of luck as he will join up with the team tomorrow at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti.”
For Del Piero, the last week has brought about a change in his fortunes. Having previously only scored one goal all season, against Roma in the Coppa Italia, Ale has now scored two goals in six days.
The first came against AC Milan in the Coppa Italia second-leg which helped secure victory in the tie and a place in the final; the second one against Inter in this week’s Serie A encounter where victory was vital in order to keep pace with AC Milan, who had defeated Roma the previous day to go seven points clear at the top of the table.
“Un capitano, c’è solo un capitano” (There’s only one captain) rang around the Juventus Stadium following his goal which gave Juve the lead in that Coppa Italia semi-final. And despite his 37 years, we should not be too surprised. With 697 Bianconeri appearances and 287 Bianconeri goals – both club records – Del Piero has earned the respect of fans and fellow players throughout the peninsula.
But the game against AC Milan marked only his seventh appearance in Antonio Conte’s starting 11 this season and following on from club President Andrea Agnelli’s clumsy farewell to Del Piero at last year’s shareholder meeting, it looked as if we would not witness his sublime talents on the playing field much more.
And, with a vital league game against Inter on the horizon, Del Piero’s selection in the mid-week cup fixture was surely more to do with rotation rather than any great renewal of belief in Del Piero’s talents by coach Conte. But cometh the hour, cometh the man and Del Piero did enough in that cup tie to show he still has something to contribute to ‘his’ Juve side by scoring his side’s opening goal against the Rossoneri.
With the clash against Inter still scoreless after 53 minutes, Conte withdrew Matri and was rewarded when in the 71st minute, Del Piero scored Juve’s second goal which sealed the victory.
We will see over the coming weeks whether there will be a glorious final chapter to Del Piero’s Juve career but for now, even a coach who has used him sparingly this season has been, temporarily at least, won over.
“He’s a champion, something extra for the whole squad,” said Conte.
“I’m really pleased for him. He’s going through a spell in which he can help us. Whenever I see this, I’ll play him.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Gigi Buffon, who like Del Piero, stayed loyal to the Bianconeri during their forced relegation to Serie B.
“I am very happy for Del Piero, who obviously deserves this goal,” he said.
“He is a great champion, but I’d like to point out how wonderfully professional Ale has been this year. He accepted this role and never made any trouble or controversy, working hard in training and repaying the coach when called upon.”
This weekend sees Juve face Napoli in another vital league game and so the question is asked: Will Del Piero start? At the moment it doesn’t seem so unrealistic. Borriello is showing why Roma were happy to recently release him and Matri continues to miss good chances, so why not play the fit and in-form Del Piero? Conte is a pragmatic coach though, so a substitute role from the bench is more likely.
Meanwhile, the defeat against Juve (finally) cost Inter coach Claudio Ranieri his job. Why Moratti waited until defeat against a top side like Juventus before pulling the plug is anyone’s guess, because there have been many other more opportune times, such as last month’s defeat to second-from-bottom Novara in the San Siro, to make the change.
The Tinkerman was the latest manager to exit through Inter’s revolving door
An upcoming Champions League fixture was probably the reason for avoiding upheaval on that occasion, but with six defeats and only one win in the last 10 games, Inter’s seven-game winning streak earlier in the season seems a lifetime ago now. Inter now have 12 defeats this season, leaving them just one short of their ‘record’ of 13.
Since Mourinho’s departure 15 months ago, Inter have appointed five different managers in Benitez, Leonardo, Gasperini, Ranieri and now Stramaccioni.
Whatever the merits of Mourinho as a coach, the fallout after his departure from Inter bears a striking similarity to the Chelsea situation, where there is an ageing squad with a level of influence over team selections and tactics that seemed to make it difficult for a fresh approach under a new coach, despite those coaches often holding a record of success at the highest level.
Moratti and Inter have taken the brave step in appointing Stramaccioni – a 36-year-old who will actually have three squad members who are older than him (AVB anyone?) – and some reports are suggesting that Stramaccioni could actually remain on the Inter bench for longer than just the remainder of this season.
“We’ll have to take things one step at a time,” Inter legend Sandro Mazzola commented. “Inter’s problem is today, not the future.”
However, with the club sitting in eighth place in Serie A and seven points off Europa League qualification, there may not be a lot that can be salvaged from this season and so, with all due respect to Sandro Mazzola, Inter’s problems may also include the future.
Results:
AC Milan 2-1 AS Roma, Palermo 1-1 Udinese, Atalanta 2-0 Bologna, Cesena 2-2 Parma, Chievo Verona 1-1 Siena, Genoa 2-2 Fiorentina, Lazio 1-0 Cagliari, Napoli 2-2 Catania, Novara 0-0 Lecce, Juventus 2-0 Inter
Fixtures:
Saturday, March 31
Catania v AC Milan
Parma v Lazio
Sunday, April 1
AS Roma v Novara
Bologna v Palermo
Cagliari v Atalanta
Fiorentina v Chievo Verona
Inter v Genoa
Lecce v Cesena
Siena v Udinese
Juventus v Napoli
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
