This has been a miserable preseason for Inter on and off the pitch. On the pitch they have been horrific, conceding 10 goals in their last two preseason matches to Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur.
Off the pitch, there have been constant rumors about the future of manage manager Roberto Mancini and captain Mauro Icardi.
With the new Serie A season away only two weeks away, media reports suggest that Inter president Erick Thohir and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bolingbroke are preparing to solve one of those off-field “distractions” by firing manager Roberto Mancini and replacing him with former Ajax Coach Frank De Boer. This is not a decision made by Suning as fas as I am hearing. They gave final approval, but the decision was made by Thohir and Bolingbroke.
Why Thohir and Bolingbroke have decided that after five weeks of preseason now is the time to replace the manager is unknown ad it completely makes no sense, especially when Inter have just spent €23m on Antonio Candreva from Lazio, a player that Mancini wanted.
Yes the 6-1 mauling by Spurs on Friday was not good, but Barcelona lost 4-0 to Liverpool on Saturday, who in turn lost 4-0 to Menz on Sunday. It’s preseason with teams at different levels of fitness. Results happen.
Mancini is in the final year of his contract and this situation has been untenable for months. In addition to the contract situation, Thohir and Bolingbroke have charged Mancini with a top three finish this season. Fair enough, but Mancini wants to add experience to the squad to help achieve that goal while the Inter board is focused on signing younger players with potential and resell value. Another case where the managers goals and the goals of the club are not aligned.
According to Mediaset, Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has already met with former Ajax Coach De Boer in the Netherlands, with reports that he has been offered a three year contract,
De Boer won four Eredivisie titles while in charge of Ajax, and it is no surprise that Inter have turned to him to replace Mancini as De Boer’s agent is Kia Joorabchian, who is an adviser to the Suning Group.
Do you think Inter should fire Roberto Mancini and replace him with Frank De Boer?
