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Inter Milan won the Supercoppa Italiana with a last kick of extra time.
The Supercoppa Italiana ended in a high drama, with Inter Milan beating Juventus after extra time, with the winning goal coming in the 120th minute from a veteran forward. After winning nine straight Serie A titles, the club is currently in fifth place in the league, 11 points behind leaders Inter.
While the Bianconeri will need time to get over the painful way in which they lost to their rivals on Wednesday night, Gab Marcotti points out some things the struggling superclub should do to regain their status as the top team in Italy.
1. You have to figure out who you are.
They've already answered this. They are willing to work and fight for Max Allegri. There have been six wins, two draws and a defeat since late November and this is a testament to this.
They've averaged 1.36 xG and conceded 0.62 xG over the past seven games. They were giving up 0.89 xG in their first 14 league matches, but have improved since. They found some sort of balance, tightened up defensively, and stuck to what they're good at. Right now, that means a side that protects the back four, that doesn't give up, and that punishes opposition errors.
You can't expect Max Allegri to build another superteam at the same time. That's fine for now. Don't let it get you down.
Who do you want to be?
It made sense to go all-in with expensive experienced free agents after committing hundreds of millions of dollars to a player. Not the ones they got, like Emre Can, Douglas Costa, and so on. You're not going to make him part of a rebuilding project if you bring in 33-year-oldRonaldo.
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Nine straight titles in the Serie A crown is over because of the departure ofRonaldo. The good news is that you have plenty of scope to move towards a new identity.
There are eight first-team players whose deals are about to expire. It's a chance to shape your footballing identity.
Who will take you there?
It may be Allegri. He spent two years on sabbatical waiting for calls that never came from Europe's big clubs. He came back because he knew the situation was what it was: massive losses, older players on big contracts, and one foot out the door.
He took over a "plug-and-play" team from Antonio Conte in 2014, and won five straight Serie A titles on the strength of his man-management more than his innovative footballing philosophy. We know that he can win with a big budget. He made his name in places like Cagliari and Sassuolo, with less resources.
Have an honest conversation with him. It's great if he's on board. "Ciao, Max!" if he's not.
4. Don't rub others the wrong way.
Perhaps the key new face to the group is chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene, who came over from Ferrari. The man is speaking directly. Dybala wants a new deal? Everyone needs to earn their place first. The season is over for Federico Chiesa. A group of very good players.
The past couple of years have been very good at Juve. From the European Super League debacle to Luis Suarez's bogus Italian test, to the false accounting raids to the Ultras ticketing scandal, to the fact that they have attracted more than their fair share of negative publicity. It has overshadowed the work the club has done in the fight against racism and homophobia as well as promoting women's football.
It doesn't need to be that way and the impression is that Arrivabene gets it. It's not a bad thing if he's the face of the club for a while.
Play.
Inter Milan won the Supercoppa Italiana against Juventus.
5. Call Dybala's bluff.
The Argentine has offered a glimpse of what he can do. That's great, but focus on what he does. He made 13.5m last season and wants a raise to 15m. This is a guy who has scored 41 goals in 133 games over the last three-and-a-half seasons. He has started less than half of the games.
According to reports in Argentina, his agents are ready to talk to other clubs after the contract talks were delayed. It's fine. Let them be. See how many people are interested in taking on a guy who is injured or unavailable as often as he is. Unless you build the team around him, he doesn't really have an obvious role on the pitch. There are no more than 10 clubs in Europe who can afford to pay that much and most of them have better options already in Dybala's role.
You want to offer a new deal based on what you think the player will achieve in the future, rather than what he has achieved. Paying Dybala for what he was supposed to achieve in the past is worse than what he is asking for.
It makes sense to extend him because of the price. It's great if he's willing to commit at that number. If not, he should look for new clubs around Europe and save himself a lot of money.
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6. Chiesa's absence is an opportunity.
Chiesa is the present and future of the club and his injury was a major blow. Arrivabene was a bit over-the-top when he said they already have plenty of great forwards, like Dybala, Moise Kean, and Dejan Kulusevski. A replacement should either be a short-term deal or a guy who can contribute three, four, five years down the line.
It's important to get back into the league, but it shouldn't mean giving up on another high-priced veteran. There are limited resources. If things don't work out, you can either take a loanee who won't weigh down your books over the summer or you can roll the dice on a kid who may still have some value. Stay put, because...
It's time to use the "loan army" and Under-23 team.
A few years ago, a song and dance was made about the importance of reserves getting a chance to play in the Italian football pyramid. The new regulations were so strict that only one side was allowed to launch a U23 side. They are sixth in the table and play in the third division.
Is it possible to figure out if some of these guys can play? Replacing Chiesa is not the only thing to do up and down the team.
Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to debate the biggest storylines. You can stream on the U.S. only.
The same applies to the dozen or so players currently out on loan. Some are young and not good enough the first time around, but they are all warm bodies. They've gotten very little out of their investment in the academy, other than some player trading. Why not use them instead of giving them more help?
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8. It's not the end of the world if you don't finish in the top four.
I think that they will finish in the top four of the league because they have a knack for doing such things. It would be an economic blow and a blow to your prestige if they don't. The boil will have been lanced.
The past two years have shown us how difficult it is to reload on the fly. You need to sink before you can rise. After finishing third and second in the next two seasons, they were promoted back to Serie A and went on to win nine consecutive scudetti.
The first of the nine titles was won by five players from the 2008 runner-up side. They got smart, learned from their mistakes, hired the right coach, and realized who they were and who they wanted to be. Which brings us back to the first two points.
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