They say that the happy moments in life don’t last long. And yet, the Nerazzurri fans were expecting to celebrate their first Scudetto triumph for at least few more weeks, before things turn sour. Three days after lifting the long-awaited trophy, Inter announced the departure of Antonio Conte – the architect behind their latest exploits.
Apparently, the former Juventus and Chelsea coach wasn’t willing to continue at Appiano Gentile amidst the growing financial difficulties that threatened to destabilize his squad – with wage-cuts and sales looming in the horizon.
Therefore, we might just say that the Lecce native took the easy way out, and not for the first time.
Whilst José Mourinho is regarded as one of the most egotistical characters in the sports, the Italian would give him a run for his money.
Football fans would remember when the Portuguese tactician honored the Chelsea supporters by throwing his EPL winning medal to the crowd (Twice!).
On the other hand, when Conte was asked to whom he’d like to dedicate his latest Scudetto triumph, the former Inter manager had only one person in his mind: Antonio Conte.
As a good friend of my mine from New Zealand – Liam – rightfully pointed out, this narcistic behavior is even more intolerable considering the fact that Milano, the region of Lombardy, and Italy in general has been ravaged by Covid-19. So perhaps a little gesture towards the victims of the pandemic would have been nice, here are his exact words:
“Milan has had a tough time due to Covid, and he has the audacity to think only of himself. But when has that not been the case…”
Contrary to what this might seem like, berating Antonio’s character is not the objective of the article. But the point is that Inter should have seen it coming.
The 51-year-old is a Juventus legend through and through, spending the vast majority of his playing days at the club – 13 years to be exact – before managing the team between 2011 and 2014.
Despite being adored by the Bianconeri fans at the time, the former captain didn’t hesitate to walk through the door once he felt that the management aren’t meeting all of his demands on the transfer market, leaving the supporters heartbroken and confused in the middle of the pre-season.
Since we’re talking about a man who’s willing to leave his ‘home’ without looking behind, then how can we expect anything less from him at a club that was long being considered to he his arch-nemesis?
So should Inter regret their decision to hire Conte in the first place?
To answer this question, we must first understand what they had in mind during the summer of 2019.
If the objective was to create a fast impact and shake-up the scene at the top of Serie A table as quickly as possible, then congratulations, target achieved.
However, if they were hoping to bring in a manager who would patiently help them in building long-term success whilst slowly renovating the squad, then they definitely called the wrong man.
At the end of the day, this isn’t the time to mourn for the Beneamata, as their squad remains arguably the strongest in Italy, and they must act quickly to find the right man to steer it in the right direction. Perhaps someone who would be willing to stick around, even through thick and thin.