Inter's Slow Start: Does Walter Mazzarri Deserve to Be Sacked?
Walter Mazzarri has found himself in the hot seat after a series of disappointing results thrashed his job security.
Inter owner Erick Thohir was coy when asked about Mazzarri's future and decided against giving the former Napoli boss a vote of confidence.
"Erick Thohir will “see what happens over the next two games” before deciding on Walter Mazzarri http://t.co/VMTHKgPRB5 #InterNapoli #FCIM
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) October 19, 2014"
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In this article, we'll examine three tenets of football management—transfer activity, team selections and substitutions—to determine if Inter should begin their search for a new coach.
We’ve examined Inter’s recent transfer activity during the Thohir-Mazzarri regime, but to recap, last offseason’s notable acquisitions included Nemanja Vidic, Chilean international Gary Medel, a loan deal for Roma-owned Dodo and two more loans for a duo of polarizing footballers: Yann M’Vila and Pablo Osvaldo.
During the previous summer, per Transfermarkt.com, the Nerazzurri signed Rolando on loan, as well as a number of players on permanent deals, most notably Ishak Belfodil, Hugo Campagnaro, Hernanes, Mauro Icardi and Saphir Taider.
Belfodil, Icardi and Taider were three of Serie A’s most promising players at the time they signed for the Nerazzurri. Icardi has been fantastic, but his former strike partner Belfodil was sold at a 50 percent loss, after an up-and-down first—and only—season with Inter.
After a strong World Cup in Brazil, Taider was sent to Sassuolo on loan. Inter did have a glut of central midfielders, but considering they re-signed another central midfielder in Rene Krhin—an inferior player as compared to the Algerian starlet—Taider’s loan doesn’t totally make sense.
Campagnaro was excellent during Mazzarri’s tenure at Napoli, so signing the Argentinean on a Bosman and bringing him to the San Siro was an astute move.
Hernanes, a proven Serie A star, is the best player Mazzarri has signed while in charge.
All things considered, the Italian tactician has displayed an insightful and varied transfer strategy, pursuing renowned veterans on the cheap and negotiating potentially high-reward deals for up-and-coming youngsters.
Given his success at Napoli, it should come as no surprise that Mazzarri has tried to bring with him a similar system to that he employed with the Naples outfit.
This season with Inter, WhoScored.com positional data shows that Mazzarri has predominantly opted for the 3-5-2, an effectively similar formation to the 3-4-1-2 that predominated Napoli’s 2012-13 campaign, but with an extra central midfielder at the expense of an attacking one.
In his Napoli midfield, Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili and Gokhan Inler were rotated in the center of the park, with the former being the resident destroyer and the latter two filling the box-to-box role.
Marek Hamsik was masterful as the creative hub behind the strikers, while Christian Maggio and Juan Zuniga provided the width.
That 2012-13 Napoli team actually parallels quite nicely with Inter's current squad, so it makes sense that Mazzarri would persist with a similar system.
As the best out-and-out defensive midfielder in the team, Medel has been started in the Behrami position all seven matches this season.
The prodigious Mateo Kovacic has occupied a central midfield spot in all seven 2014-15 matches, providing a withdrawn creative outlet.
While Kovacic and Medel have been every-week starters, Mazzarri has rotated Fredy Guarin, Hernanes and Yann M'Vila as the third member of that central midfield triumvirate.
Guarin initially earned his reputation as a box-to-box dynamo at Porto and has been stellar in limited appearances this season, scoring twice and adding two assists in five matches, two of which came as starts.
Hernanes is arguably Inter's best player and, when available, has to be on the pitch. He too has thrived in his four starts and three substitute appearances, netting two goals and assisting on another, while averaging a team-best 2.9 shots per contest.
If Mazzarri wishes to retain the same dynamic he established at Napoli, Medel, Kovacic and Guarin should be the starting trio. With no place there for Hernanes, the Brazilian could be fielded behind either Icardi, Osvaldo or Rodrigo Palacio.
Palacio may be best suited to an instant-offense role off the bench because his positional flexibility would allow Mazzarri to make in-game alterations accordingly. For example, if Inter needs offense, Hernanes could be pushed back to his more natural central midfield position, with Medel going to the bench and Palacio coming on.
At the back, Juan Jesus continues to build on his standout campaign from the year before. Andrea Ranocchia has been decent, yet it remains to be seen if he'll ever realize his potential.
Selecting a third centre-back has been Mazzarri's biggest issue.
Hugo Campagnaro played significant minutes last season, but an injury is currently keeping him sidelined.
Porto loanee Rolando also saw lots of pitch time, but following the Portuguese international's return to his parent club, Inter's central defensive depth further dwindled. According to Football Italia, Rolando's return to the San Siro could still be in the cards.
With both players unavailable, Mazzarri has favored Nemanja Vidic in that tertiary role. The Serbian has been disappointing in his Serie A debut and has recently drawn considerable ire for a botched clearance that gifted Jose Callejon a goal.
His team selection is clearly limited by an imbalanced squad, leaving Mazzarri with a major conundrum. Because of Inter's dearth of natural wingers, he must retain his wing-backs, which are an inherent feature of a three central-defender formation. A switch to a four-man back line would send the struggling Vidic to the bench.
The final managerial area we'll examine is Mazzarri's in-game personnel adjustments.
In Inter's first match of the 2014-15 season—a scoreless draw away at Torino—Mazzarri brought on Pablo Osvaldo in place of Yann M'Vila, a positive and beneficial switch. Wing-backs Danilo D'Ambrosio and Yuto Nagatomo replaced Dodo and Jonathan, respectively. Both were like-for-like switches that barely impacted the following proceedings.
The second fixture of the season saw Inter demolish Sassuolo by a score of 7-0, with Ibrahima Mbaye spelling Nagatomo, Guarin replacing Kovacic and Palacio replacing Dodo. With the match already in hand, Mazzarri's substitutions were made to preserve fitness and rotate the squad. It should be noted that Guarin scored a goal and assisted on another in just 25 minutes of action.
The Nerazzurri traveled to newly promoted Palermo the following week. Though the match ended 1-1, Mazzarri made three positive substitutions, bringing on the three most attacking options left on his bench: Dodo, Palacio and Hernanes. However, Dodo came on over 20 minutes before Palacio, the most probable man to deliver the game-winner, and 10 minutes before the maestro known as Hernanes, alluding to some poor game management.
Atalanta traveled to the San Siro for the season's fourth match. In the 2-0 win, Mazzarri used his substitutes perfectly with both Inter goals coming from substitutes—he made the obvious change to Pablo Osvaldo after Icardi picked up a knock and replaced Guarin with Hernanes.
Cagliari dispatched a 10-man Inter by a score of 4-1 in the season's fifth match, with all five goals and the red card coming in the first half. D'Ambrosio, Icardi and Guarin were all introduced and helped the Beneamata look much better in the second 45 minutes.
A second consecutive loss at Fiorentina in Week 6 saw Palacio, Joel Obi and Hernanes come off the bench. Again Mazzarri brought on his three most offensive players named to the bench, but the Viola kept a clean sheet and won 3-0.
Finally, in their 2-2 draw against Napoli, Joel Obi made way for Ibrahima Mbaye, the more defensive Gary Medel was benched for Guarin minutes after Jose Callejon's opener and Yann M'Vila spelled Rodrigo Palacio with minutes left in the contest. Guarin made good on his substitution and scored less than a minute after being introduced, though M'Vila wasn't enough to keep Callejon from netting his second in stoppage time.
Overall, Mazzarri is making the proper substitutions, bringing on offense where it's needed, and defense to stop the bleeding.
Taking everything into account, one cannot place all the blame on the manager.
Was Inter's conservative summer a result of Mazzarri thinking his squad was ready for the coming season? Not likely.
He does need to realize that Vidic is having trouble grasping the system and act accordingly, but his squad doesn't really lend itself to anything but a three-man defense. Without Campagnaro or Rolando, Mazzarri is basically forced to hope Vidic is better than he was the previous week.
Although it's another inauspicious start for the Nerazzurri, betting on proven ability will eventually pay off.
It's a long season and given Mazzarri's previous Serie A success, allowing him more time to work out the squad's kinks is warranted.
Statistics and match data courtesy of WhoScored unless otherwise noted. Transfer information courtesy of Transfermarkt unless otherwise noted.
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