Claudio Ranieri should fear for his job, as the September loss to Novara cost Gasperini his. A wayward Inter Milan have now lost of their past four games and the pressure is mounting.
If it seemed too good to be true, then it probably was. Those must be the thoughts of Claudio Ranieri looking back at their 7-game winning streak that has come crashing to a halt over recent weeks.
Following their 0-1 defeat by Udinese at the start of December, the Nerazurri went on a winning run that delivered consecutive victories against Fiorentina, Genoa, Cesena, Lecce, Parma, AC Milan and Lazio, which lifted them within touching distance of the Champions League qualification places.
However, a 4-4 draw with Palermo in the San Siro ended that sequence of wins and the subsequent 4-0 drubbing by Luis Enrique’s AS Roma in the Stadio Olimpico in the following fixture would start to change the mood.
If it was an unhappy return to the capital for the ex-Roma coach Ranieri, he was still keen to play down the overall significance of that result: “The fans needn’t worry. Before the Roma game we trained really well, and it was a one-off performance not helped by the fact that everything they (Roma) did worked. I’m happy because the team works hard and they’re reacting like champions.”
Ranieri’s confidence, apart from the fact that it is the Roman’s default setting, might have stemmed from that fact that his side’s next fixture would see them face bottom-placed Novara in the San Siro. With 8 defeats and only 2 draws from their 10 away fixtures, the return to Serie A for the first time in 55 years has been proving difficult for the Piedmont club.
The highlight of their season so far was a famous 3-1 home win over Inter back in September, a result that would cost the-then Inter coach, Gian Piero Gasperini, his job. But with only one other win all season, an immediate return to Serie B has been looking imminent and so manager Attilio Tesser was dismissed in mid-January and replaced with veteran coach Emiliano Mondonico, whose lengthy career has seen him manage Atalanta, Torino and Napoli amongst others.
Inter coach Ranieri would be welcoming back Wesley Sneijder into his starting line-up and with Diego Forlan back in full training, there was reason to hope that a second run of winning results, beginning with Novara, could yet see them relaunch their challenge for Champions League qualification.
But with the only goal of the game coming in the 56th minute from Novara’s Andrea Caracciolo, it meant that while the Biancoazzurri may be relegated this season, they will still have completed a famous double over their more illustrious near-neighbours.
Rossi tweets his rage
Ducati MotoGP rider and Nerazurri fan, Valentino Rossi tweeted after the final whistle: “I wouldn’t like to be Moratti’s ashtray tonight,” referring to the cigar-smoking owner and president of Inter Milan, Massimo Moratti.
During the game, Rossi had tried to make sense of Inter’s performance tweeting just after the winning goal: “I understand…the team in white are Real Madrid, not Novara.”
A little later he was even more ironic: “Exchanging Eto’o for Forlan is the equivalent of changing Roberto Carlos for Pistone (Alessandro Pistone, ex-Inter, Newcastle and Everton, replaced Carlos at Inter)”
His most pertinent tweet of the night asked: “Why did we sell Thiago Motta?”, following the departure of the influential midfielder at the very end of the January window to Paris Saint-Germain. for a fee believed to be around €10 million, despite the belief held by Ranieri that the player would remain until the end of the season.
This latest reversal means that Inter have now suffered 9 defeats this season with 7 of these coming during Ranieri’s spell. Last season – which was far from perfect – ended with eight defeats and you need to go back as far as the 1946/47 season to find 9 defeats after 23 games. If you include the Coppa Italia defeat to Napoli, Inter have now lost four of the last five games with only the 4-4 draw against Palermo breaking up the losing streak, not a game to take much solace from for Inter fans.
The Nerazzurri have not scored in the last 180 minutes, they have conceded ten goals in their last four matches, they are eight points worse off than this time last season and the 7-game winning streak seems a long time ago now.
Former coach Gian Piero Gasperini took their current predicament as an opportunity to end his five-month silence over his ill-fated five-game spell as Inter Milan coach, accusing president Moratti of breaking promises, especially in relation to the sale of Samuel Eto’o and the failure to bring in Rodrigo Palacio, in an interview this week with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The problem in the transfer market was getting rid of Eto’o,” Gasperini said. “(Diego) Forlan and (Mauro) Zarate joined but they’re both very different to Palacio.
“And it was last minute, but a big team needs to be defined before the beginning of pre-season so they can work together.
“In July half the squad was playing at the Copa America, in August the other half went away on international duty, I only had the whole squad together for three days before the league started.”
When questioned about Gasperini’s interview, Ranieri’s response was untypically blunt: “He seems to me to be a very bitter man. I hope he gets the satisfaction he deserves.”
But Ranieri should be careful not to judge Gasperini too harshly, a coach who was only given 5 games before his swift removal. Inter visit the Stade Velodrome for a Champions League encounter with Marseille next Wednesday and an exit from that competition may ensure Ranieri has more in common with Gasperini shortly, that of a wave goodbye from Moratti and the title of ex-Inter coach.
Results:
Catania 1-1 AS Roma, Lazio 3-2 Cesena, Udinese 1-2 AC Milan, Cagliari 2-1 Palermo, Atalanta 0-0 Lecce, Catania 4-0 Genoa, Inter 0-1 Novara, Napoli 2-0 Chievo Verona, Siena 1-0 AS Roma
Fixtures:
Wednesday, February 15
Atalanta v Genoa
Parma v Juventus
Friday, February 17
Fiorentina v Napoli
Inter v Bologna
Saturday, February 18
Juventus v Catania (7:45pm Live Setanta Ireland)
Sunday, February 19
Lecce v Siena
AS Roma v Parma
Cesena v AC Milan
Genoa v Chievo Verona
Novara v Atalanta
Palermo v Lazio (7:45pm Live Setanta Ireland)
Udinese v Cagliari
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