Overview Of Inter 2021-22

 Inter ended the 2021-22 season with two trophies in the trophy cabinet and nearly a clean sweep of domestic honours but had to relinquish the Scudetto they won last season to neighbours, AC Milan on the last day. Inter ended a long, excruciating wait of 11 years to win the Scudetto last season but we couldn’t enjoy the triumph for long as days after, Antonio Conte left by mutual consent. There was plenty of news report as well that our owners, the Suning Group was broke and had to balance their books which meant selling key players. The first painful sale the club made was of Achraf Hakimi. We thought that would be the only one. Later during pre-season, another bombshell was dropped when Romelu Lukaku was sold. This time it was because the player wanted to challenge himself again in the Premier League for a club that is dear to his heart. During Euro 2020, Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest and would not be able to play in Serie A with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.

With this as the backdrop and the management playing down our chances of a title challenge, I entered the season cautious and disappointed. Disappointed that it took so long for us to win the Scudetto and within one summer, we had to downgrade our ambitions with a squad that was at the right age to push on and dominate Italian football. The appointment of Simone Inzaghi was a risk. We knew about him at Lazio where he did well with a limited budget but could he produce with the weight of expectations at the reigning Italian league champions? This was a step up for him. The answers as always were on the pitch. We got off to a great start but then had to grind out results after that. We were playing catch-up to Milan and Napoli who both had a faultless start. We caught up and overtook both teams in style before getting reeled back in and then overtaken by Milan and the rest is history.

After the pre-season we had, I would say it would have been an achievement to have finished in Top 4 which was projected by the club. But after seeing how the season has unfolded and the football we have played, it is disappointing to have not retained the Scudetto. We had the Scudetto in our hands, we were in the driving seat but yet we let it slip. We lost 4 times this season in the league but in all of the defeats, the only one I felt we had an off-day was to Sassuolo at home. For the rest, I felt there were moments in the game that led to the defeats. We weren’t out-played or beaten by the better team. The games that I felt turned out pivotal were both derbies against Milan, the draw at home to Atalanta, the draw away to Genoa and the defeat to Bologna. Federico Dimarco and Lautaro Martinez broke down in tears at full-time yesterday because they probably felt the weight of their penalty misses against Atalanta and Milan. It was a difference of 4 points. More than enough to leapfrog Milan. In the second game against Milan, Mike Maignan was the difference as he kept out a barrage of our attacks as we dominated them. On the other end, Samir Handanovic could have done better to stop Oliver Giroud’s winner.

It was also a difference in episodes as it looked like Alexis Sanchez was fouled in the build-up to Milan’s equalizer in the second derby and the same for Ivan Perisic in the build-up to Bologna’s equalizer. Neither decision went for us. Another difference was that when Milan lost Maignan through injury, Ciprian Tatarasanu stepped in well for the Frenchman. When Inter lost Samir Handanovic for one match, Ionat Radu dropped a clanger to gift a win to Bologna. We should have done more to beat Genoa away which was a fair result but in the larger scheme of things, it was two points dropped. Regularly, during the season, we showed the strength of our squad with the difference made by the substitutes but one player that had no substitute was Marcelo Brozovic and we suffered in his absence, losing 4 points against Torino and Fiorentina.

The difference between Milan and us was not big but details made the difference. Penalty misses and goalkeeping mistakes came back to haunt us. Milan coped better with the loss of Simon Kjaer, the prolonged absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the absence of a regular goalscorer; Oliver Giroud popped up to score crucial goals for them. We suffered when Samir Handanovic and Marcelo Brozovic were absent. The other difference was in big matches. Milan did better in the head-to-head matches against teams in the top half of the table than we did.

Outside of Serie A, we navigated a tough run in the Coppa Italia that started with a fortunate win over Empoli and wins over Roma and Milan before beating Juventus in a dramatic final. It was our first Coppa Italia triumph in 11 years. We qualified out of the group stage for the Champions League for the first time since the 2012-13 season and were drawn against Liverpool in the Round of 16 due to our bad luck. We held our own against Liverpool in both legs but paid the price for the lack of a finishing touch in the final third. There was also another dramatic triumph to savour over Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana.

I can be pleased with the two Cups we won but I feel it should have been more. If we had won the Scudetto, no-one can dispute it but instead, we are sitting here talking about ifs and buts. I really hope there are no more painful sales made and if there is to be one, let it be not as painful. Let this experience sting and use this as fuel for the next season. Let it be a lesson that tiny details make a difference in the larger scheme of things.