The New La Grande Inter?

The most successful period in the history on FC Internazionale was the 1960’s, where the team won three Scudettos, two consecutive European Cups (also finished runner up in 1967), and two Intercontinental Cups. This team is known as La Grande Inter (the Great Inter).

The Grande Inter were managed by the authoritarian man manger and footballing genius Helenio Herrera. A dominant personality who could not abide dissent, especially from his players, and created a unit that played with unheard of unity. Psychological preparation was fundamental to get the best out of his players. To aid this he engaged in intense one to one sessions with his players to build their confidence, and used slogans, the two most famous printed in the Inter Milan dressing room:

“Class + Preparation. Athleticism + Intelligence = The championship”

“Defence, no more than 30 goals. Attack, more than 100 goals.”

“Attack the ball” was the motto that epitomized Herrera’s ideas about pressing and the use of space on the field. His players did not wait for their opponents to come to them, but tried to anticipate their movements. Being one of the founders of the catenaccio system his team was built on strong solid defenders, but was also the first to utilize defenders who could attack. This foundation was complemented by fast, skilful wingers and attacking midfielders. It was a winning formula.

Although Herrera was vital to the success of La Grande Inter, others were just as vital. The passionate and dedicated president and owner Angelo Moratti, and of course the team of high quality players (although top class players are only half as effective then when they are united and instructed correctly, which Herrera managed to do sensationally). There was the athletic and inspirational Facchetti who revolutionised the role of attacking full back. Picchi, the first real sweeper who was the rock of the team that made the defence solid. Burgnich, the piller and hard man defender who man marked opposing strikers into oblivion. The technical atuned and gifted Suárez who with the lightening quick Jair dictated Herrera’s explosive counter attacks, and of course the talented and extremely dangerous attacking Corso who was famously nicknamed "God's Left Foot" for his beautiful free kicks and crosses.

Post Calciopoli Inter, Inter have been the most dominant Italian team, being awarded the 2005/2006 Scudetto and winning every Scudetto since. Furthermore, Inter have also won one Coppa Italia and two Italian Super Cups in that time. The mid to late 2000’s and the 1960’s are the two most successful periods in the history of Inter, and coincidently the owner and president during this two respected periods has been a Moratti; Angelo during the 1960’s and his son Moratti in recent seasons. Domestically, the current generation Inter side has won more than La Grande Inter, and look on course to add another Scudetto and possible Coppa Italia to the trophy cabinet by the end of the current season. With that said, if the run of success of the current generation Inter team stopped at the end of the end season (even with another Scudetto and Coppa Italia), would it go down in history as more successful than the Inter team of the 1960’s and replace them as La Grande Inter? No.

Why?

Firstly, many people feel the main, and in the case of some people, the only reason Inter have been successful in recent years is because of Calciopoli and the punishment and subsequent demise of Juventus. Not only do I feel this is not the case (see my previous article for an explanation as to why), but I also do not feel this is the reason why the current Inter team will not go down in history as La Grande Inter in place of Inter team of the 1960’s.Unforutantely, I believe the success of the current generation Inter side will be tainted in history and down played because of Calciopoli. Nevertheless, the main reason why the current generation Inter team will not go down in history as La Grande Inter in place of the Inter team of the 1960’s is due to the lack of European success.

In football European triumph is the pinnacle of success. Teams only prove their greatness when they achieve success in Europe, with the Champions League (formerly the European Cup pre 1993) being the richest prize in the game. Whilst other big and even great European teams have achieved success in Europe’s premier competition, Inter have failed, and failed miserably for a long time. Not just in terms of failure to win the Champions League, but failing to progress to the latter stages or even be serious contenders. In fact, the last time Inter won the European Cup was when La Grande Inter won it all the way back in 1965. That is even longer than the last time England won the World Cup, so being an England and Inter fan, a lack of success in the premier competitions of the national and club teams I support has been a long road of pain and suffering, which is long overdue to end.

Since the turn of the new millennium, and the domestic success of the current generation Inter team mid way through the decade, performances in European competitions have been nothing short of dire:

2000/2001 = UEFA Cup fourth round, eliminated by Deportivo Alavés.
2001/2002 = UEFA Cup semi finals, eliminated by Feyenoord.
2002/2003 = Champions League semi final, eliminated by Milan.
2003/2004 = Champions League, eliminated in the group stage.
2004/2005 = Champions League quarter finals, eliminated by Milan.
2005/2006 = Champions League quarter finals, eliminated by Villarreal.
2006/2007 = Champions League first knockout round, eliminated by Valencia.
2007/2008 = Champions League first knockout round, eliminated by Liverpool.
2008/2009 = Champions League first knockout round, eliminated by Manchester United.

Again, the question is why? Why has a team which has dominated Italian football from 2006 till the present day failed to replicate that form in the Champions League?

I do not have a clear answer which I can sum up in a word, a couple of words, or a even sentence partly because I there is no clear answer for me and partly because I do not really know the answer, and I do not think that I am only as an Inter fan admitting that. All I can offer as an explanation is my interpretation of what the problem is.

Players?
The lack of success in Europe for Inter has to an extent been the fault of the players in terms of quality, but not psychologically. The Inter team in recent years had had a number of players who are experienced in big games. Players who had played against some of Europe’s biggest teams in high pressure games numerous times during their careers. Therefore, I do not feel the Inter players have lacked experience to negatively affect them psychologically, which many have claimed is the reason for the team’s failure in the Champions League.

Inter has also had a number of quality players, but have lacked key and important players than can make a difference, especially in midfield. The only difference maker Inter did have was Ibrahimovic. Although an experienced player with undoubted quality who performed well domestically against big teams, when it came to the Champions League he never seemed to deliver for Inter, nor for Juventus (the team he played for prior to Inter), and has also struggled for the current European champions Barcelona in the Champions League this season since his move last summer. Ibrahimovic was the focal point and the key man of Inter under Roberto Mancini, and even Jose Mourinho during his first season in charge, so his failure to perform in the Champions, is one of the contributors to Inter’s Champions League failure in recent years.

Mentality and/or Pressure?
Part of the problem. After all the domestic success in recent years Inter must have had a winning mentality to go into important Champions League games and know how to deal with pressure in a positive way to try and fulfil expectations. However, Inter’s winning mentality domestically grows off the back of a row of wins and good performances. Yet, in the Champions League they have performed badly season after season without building a back log of wins (not even in the group stage) so cannot develop a winning mentality and go into Champions League games as confidently as Serie A games, despite their success in Italy.

‘Weakened Serie A’?
Italian and non Italian football fans say a reason for Inter’s failure in the Champions League in recent years is because the supposed lack of quality in Serie A post Calciopoli. I simply do not buy this for two reasons. Firstly, how exactly did Calciopoli reduce the quality of Serie A? Were teams stripped of players or forced to sell them? No? Were half the Serie A teams relegated and replaced by Serie B teams? No. Other than Juventus, who were the only team relegated and pretty much forced to sell some of their players (a punishment which I still feel was too light to fit the crime), all other teams in Serie A remained as they were and were not weakened. Secondly, in the season directly after Calciopoli (2006/2007), Milan, one of five teams punished by a point deduction and forced to enter the Champions League qualifying round, actually won the Champions League.

Managers?
Can the managers be blamed? Yes. The current successful Inter side has been mainly managed by Mancini, who despite his credentials, was rather light weight and too inexperienced in Champions League games to deliver European success. In Serie A he successfully played a 4-3-1-2 formation, but in the Champions League a formation without wingers or wide midfielders/forwards tends to put a team at a disadvantage as they only have one channel of attack (through the centre) rather than two (through the centre and on the wings). Occasionally, teams have succeeded in the Champpions League playing with no wingers, such as Milan, but only when the centre midfield is packed with quality, something Mancini’s Inter team were not. Furthermore, unlike managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti, Mancini was not too good a man manager to motivate his players to rise on the big occasions, again presumably because of his lack of experience managing in big European games. Finally, Ibrahimovic was a key player of Mancini’s team. A player who the team depended on a lot, but as mentioned previously Ibrahimovic had a tendency to fail to deliver on the European stage for all the teams he played for.

Mourinho joined as Inter manager last season, and in his debut season in the Champions League Inter were again eliminated in the first knockout round. However, unlike in previous years Inter went out fighting against Manchester United. After a stalemate first leg in the San Siro, Inter created chances in the second leg at Old Trafford, hitting the woodwork twice and Ibrahimovic coming inches away from scoring on two other occasions. Inter were eliminated though 2-0, due to two marking errors. It was another disappointing Champions League exist, but it finally looked as if progress was slowly being made and Inter exited the competition with their heads held relatively high (if that was possible).

Mourinho, the new Herrera?
Mourinho is a more experienced manager than Mancini, who is more tactically atuned and a better man manager and motivator, attributes for why Moratti hired him in an attempt to finally recapture the Champions League which has alluded Inter for so long. In this respect I can draw some similarities between Angelo Moratti hiring Herrera and Massimo Moratti hiring Mourinho as both chairmen needed a change. Then there are the similarities between Herrera and Mourinho. Both experienced strong man managers, with dominant personalities who arrived with a proven track record of success and big game experience.

However, I feel the most significant, and important similarity, is Mourinho’s understanding of the need to have width in his team. This was most evident by Mourinho’s almost immediate attempt to change Inter’s formation to play wingers/wide forwards and change to a 4-3-3 formation. Unfortunately, in his first season the two wingers purchased to play the important roles of wingers (Mancini and Quaresma) failed to deliver, and Mourinho was forced to revert back to Mancini’s 4-3-1-2 formation in the second half of the season. It of course was successful in Serie A (winning Mourinho the Scudetto), but failed in the Champions League. During his second season he started playing a 4-3-1-2 formation, but realised relatively quickly (the turn point seemed to be the lacklustre performance away to Barcelona in the Nou Camp) that he needed to change the formation if this Inter team is to seriously compete at the highest level, which means in the Champions League. Since he has experimented with different players in a 4-3-3 formation and a 4-2-3-1 formation, and when reverting back to a 4-3-1-2 formation Inter have disappointed in terms of performance and results. As an Inter fan I am pleased he is reverting to a tactic with width, but my concern is he has not settled on a formation or fine tuned it with this season’s Champions League knockout stage fast approaching where Inter face a tough opponent in Chelsea.

I am not saying Mourinho is Herrera reincarnated, or that it is fate as both respected managers were hired by a Moratti president. Despite the similarities, differences between the two managers do exist. Herrera was more of a disciplinarian whereas Mourinho is more humane, and Herrera was a strong user of the catenaccio system. I am also not saying the current Inter team is as good as La Grande Inter because both individually and as a team La Grade Inter are/were superior. What I am saying though is that Mourinho is one of the first managers in a long time who I feel has the attributes to bring Champions League victory to Inter with the last manager being Herrera, who Mourinho has a lot similarities with, which I feel is a promising sign.

Nevertheless, Herrera did not win immediately when hired as Inter manager. He was at Inter for three years creating a great team before he won his first trophy. Yet, due to the impatience of the Inter fans born out of frustration of a lack of European success for so many years, and the demand for immediate results from the fans and to an extent the president, I am not sure Mourinho will be granted the same amount of time Herrera had to construct his team, which I feel any manager needs to have the best chance of developing greatness. Finally, in total Herrera’s reign as Inter manager lasted eight years. Even though I would like Mourinho to stay for a long time because I feel with time he could create something really special at Inter like Herrera did, with his desire to once again manage in England and to manage in Spain I do not feel he will his reign will be as long as Herrera’s.

In conclusion, the current Inter team, despite achieving more domestic success than La Grande Inter, will never replace Herrera’s 1960’s Inter side as La Grande Inter until they win two Champions League titles, which will be a very difficult challenge.

Luke Best.