Walter Mazzarri's Future at Inter Milan Could Be Determined over the Next Month

Manager Walter Mazzarri's Inter career has reached a crossroad. The decisions he makes over the next four weeks or so could determine whether he is entrusted to remain in charge of the Nerazzurri or given the axe.

Mazzarri must make some big calls regarding team selection, both in terms of which players he wants in his ideal starting XI and which competition should carry the most weight this season out of Serie A and the Europa League.

Inter currently sit ninth in the league.

Their last start, which followed two straight Serie A losses, saw them record a 2-2 draw at home with Napoli.

While this might not appear to be anything to crow about, the match at least showed the players still have plenty of fight left in them, as they came back from a goal down twice.

The spirit shown by the players in the Napoli game should have earned Mazzarri the slightest reprieve from the talk about his job security, though the next month could be do-or-die for the 53-year-old.

The Milan derby looms large on the horizon. 

Inter play Milan at the San Siro on November 23—a date that could represent D-Day for Mazzarri, depending on how results fall before then.

Before the Derby della Madonnina, the Nerazzurri have four Serie A fixtures and home and away ties against Saint-Etienne in the Europa League.

Mazzarri must come up with the best strategy for approaching those six matches, depending on whether he wants to prioritise domestic or European football in 2014-15.

The four league games are by no means easy but could represent an opportunity for Inter to reap a fair haul of points.

Mazzarri's men travel to Cesena on Sunday before taking on Sampdoria at home in what looks the toughest fixture on paper, then Parma away and Hellas Verona at home. 

A target of at least nine points from that set of fixtures should not be an unrealistic expectation. If Inter could achieve such a tally, their manager would likely be safe from the firing squad even if he was to lose against Milan.

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

Much less than that and a derby loss will hurt twice as much, though victory against crosstown rivals can heal many ills.

At the same time, continued positive results in the Europa League may keep club directors happy for the moment, even if Inter's league performance is stuttering.

After two wins to start the competition, Mazzarri's team is well-placed in Europe. Anything more than three points against Saint-Etienne should virtually guarantee progression to the knockout phases and may even keep the wolf from the door.

There are several key personnel issues for the coach to think about over this period.

Wing-back is probably the strongest position in the squad, with a number of excellent options available to Mazzarri on both the left and right flanks, while his preferred trio of central defenders, Nemanja Vidic, Juan Jesus and Andrea Ranocchia, appears to be established in his mind.

Elsewhere on the pitch, things are less certain. Mazzarri has regularly shuffled his midfield throughout the season and may still not have settled on his favourite middle three.

Up front, Mauro Icardi, Rodrigo Palacio, Dani Osvaldo and Fredy Guarin have all been utilised in different combinations. 

Mazzarri must keep issues such as form and continuity in mind as he mixes and matches his attacking setup.

It will be fascinating to see how the colourful coach handles the challenges in front of him over the next few weeks.