Can Antonio Conte Help Inter Milan Win Serie A?

As teams enter the 12th round of Serie A, a quick look at the standings reveals Juventus and Inter have already gained a nice gap ahead of the rest of the league. While seeing Juventus sitting well ahead of the pack is not anything unusual, it’s interesting to see Inter Milan are not only keeping up the pace but also come off as a team that could potentially oust Juventus from Serie A throne. But can Inter achieve that, or will we see yet another Scudetto fall in hands of “The Old Lady”?

Romelu Lukaku FC Internazionale
BOLOGNA, ITALY – NOVEMBER 02: Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli of FC Internazionale scores the second goal during the Serie A match between Bologna FC and FC Internazionale at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on November 2, 2019 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa – Inter/Inter via Getty Images)

Ever since Juventus win their 28th Serie A title in 2011/12 season, the Italian league changed forever in a way that 2011/12 season started an era of Juventus’ dominance, who went on to win eight Serie A titles in a row and are looking to make it nine this season. But will Juventus achieve that feat or will they be outmatched by Inter Milan, who have shown they are not to be underestimated?

Inter Milan’s performances so far

Looking at Inter Milan’s performances so far it’s hard not to praise I Nerazzurri, who are holding onto an impressive 9-1-1 record ahead of round 12 of Serie A and a quick look at inter’s team reveals how they managed to start the season so well. During summer, Inter made a few very impactful signings, the biggest of which were the arrival of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez (loan) and Diego Godin among others. But the biggest arrival and the most impactful one was without a doubt Antonio Conte, former Juventus, Chelsea and Italian national team coach. While players make results, coaches make the team and Conte is one of the best man for the job to help Inter re-claim the Scudetto.

Ahead of the 2019/20 season, Cassano talked about how big of an impact Conte will have on Inter and he summed it up nicely.

“Many new coaches have arrived, the market has yet to come to life. However, I will already expose myself now and I’ll say that if the Inter players manage to assimilate and to understand Conte’s ideas immediately, they will be able to fight for the Scudetto,” said the former Inter player.

“Conte is the only coach who makes you make the most out of the beginning to the end. If the others make a mistake, he wins the Scudetto. It happened like that when I played at Milan. We were the strongest and most organized team, we drew at home against Bologna and Fiorentina and Conte took advantage to win the title for Juventus.”

It might seem like Cassano is a bit too optimistic about Inter’s chances to pass Juventus, however, it’s hard to argue with his logic. Conte is a very respected football manager and he did not get his recognition with mediocre results. In his career as a manager, Conte won eight Serie A titles, three Italian cups and UEFA Champions League with Juventus in 1995/1996, which is the last time Juventus claimed the prestigious title.

But it’s not only Conte that boosts Inter’s chances to claim the Serie A title and it’s not only the new arriving players. Inter Milan had a solid platform to begin with. The players who were at the club for years and remained in it for this season are all very solid players. Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Samir Handanovic are just a few out of the Inter’s core of players, who are also the key three factors that make Inter Milan defence extremely strong. As they say, offence wins matches, while defence wins the championship, and if there is any truth in that, Inter are well on their way to win their title.

Head coach Antonio Conte of Internazionale Milan
DORTMUND, GERMANY – NOVEMBER 05: Head coach Antonio Conte of Internazionale Milan gestures during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Borussia Dortmund and Inter at Signal Iduna Park on November 5, 2019 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by TF-Images/Getty Images)

Another thing worth checking out is Juventus themselves. The Old Lady parted ways with Allegri during summer and brought Sarri as his replacement. That alone was a very questionable move in our eyes, as it only added some more turmoil in the squad who just recently got denied their UCL title. Again. Sarri, while the respected coach will have a very tough task of making something happen with Juventus. The aging squad is not nearly as strong as they used to be and the old age of their players does eventually take a toll on the team’s results.  Juventus might not be weak enough for Inter to run them over just yet, but with a weaker squad and change of coach, this might be Inter’s best chance to break the spell and take the Serie A title from Juventus.

Last but not least, the final thing why we believe Inter just might dethrone Juventus is simply because no other team will. While Serie A has a handful of very strong teams, there are only a few that can rival Juventus. And even then, Napoli came the closest to winning the league last season when they still finished 11 points behind Juventus. AC Milan, once a feared squad are set for mediocrity for one more season, while Roma, Lazio and Atalanta remain being seen as a class below Juventus. Where does Inter stand in that is anyone’s guess, but from what they have shown so far, it would be fair to say Nerazzurri are right up there with Juventus.

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