Inter and Simone Inzaghi’s tendency to drop points in the second part of the campaign continues, while Antonio Conte was able to win crucial games between January and February last term.
The Nerazzurri have collected just nine points since the start of the year. They won against Lazio and Venezia, but lost against Sassuolo and Milan, drawing with Napoli, Genoa and Atalanta.
They also lost against Liverpool in February but qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals by beating Roma at the Stadio Meazza.
The Milan derby was the turning point of last season. Antonio Conte’s side beat the Rossoneri 3-0, moving four points clear of their city rivals on top of the table. On the other hand, Simone Inzaghi suffered a 2-1 loss against the Diavoli less than a month ago, allowing Milan to remain in the race for the title.
Conte had won against Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan and Genoa one year ago at this stage of the season, earning crucial points in Inter’s first title-winning campaign in 11 years.
Incredible Serie A Scudetto race: Napoli, Milan, Inter, Juventus, Atalanta
Both the Nerazzurri and Inter tend to drop points in the second part of the campaign. Back in 2017-18, Inter collected six draws and two defeats from December 9 until the start of February with Luciano Spalletti in charge.
Likewise, Roberto Mancini’s side slipped from the top of the table in 2015-16 losing five games (against Lazio, Sassuolo, Milan, Juventus and Fiorentina) from December 20 until February. They only won three games in the same period (against Empoli, Chievo and Sampdoria), drawing against Verona, Carpi and Atalanta.
Simone Inzaghi’s average point in the second part of the campaign also tends to decrease. In 2106-17 he went from 1.95 points per game in the Girone d’Andata to 1.74 in the second part of the season. The same happened the following campaign (from 2.11 to 1.68) and in 2018-19 (1.68 to 1.42). In 2019-20 his Lazio side went from 2.26 points per game in the first part of the campaign to 1.84 after the lockdown. Inzaghi’s point-per-game average remained the same last term.
The Nerazzurri are now two points behind leaders Milan and Napoli, although with a game in hand. They’ll face Milan in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals tomorrow before hosting last-placed Salernitana at the Stadio Meazza next Friday.
Not really. It was only a month ago people were saying he was doing better than Conte.
Inzaghi has a weaker and now older squad than Conte, and the subs at Inter are pretty hopeless.
The likes of Sanchez, Vidal, Gagliardini, Darmian, D’Ambrosio, Ranocchia, Vecino and Caicedo aren’t going to scare many in Serie A, let alone Europe.
Conte had Lukaku while Inzaghi has Dzeko. Case Closed!
The honeymoon period for inzaghi is over. It lasted longer than expected though.
The harsh realities and limitations of inters squad is showing now.
Conte had better players in Lukaku and Hakimi and he finally managed to make good use of Eriksen in the second half of last season. But Conte clearly had the ability to instill a different mentality and discipline compared to the more lenient inzaghi.
Inzaghi is great when things are going well, not so much when things aren’t working and needs to be turned around. He clearly has no real answer to the current crisis at inter, he just hopes it will resolve on its own. I hope he gets lucky in that regard, but a few more chokes and it’s bye bye scudetto.
Conte is a serial winner while Inzaghi is a serial choker. Case closed.
The squads are not comparable when you realize who left in the summer.
Also the competition from other top teams in Serie A is stronger this season as all have strengthened more compared to last season either through players, coaches or both.
Conte had Lukaku and Hakimi