As a new and young Inter fan, I didn't get to watch too many Inter matches because Inter were struggling and the Indonesian channels (Singapore didn't broadcast any "live" Serie A matches at that time) which were the only ones broadcasting "live" Serie A matches at that time in the region, hardly broadcasted any Inter matches. I would constantly check for their results on the Teletext and watch highlights of the matches on the weekly highlights show and would get sad looking at the poor results. In those days, I was in awe looking at AC Milan and Juventus' supremacy. I was particularly impressed and shocked to hear of AC Milan's trashing of Barcelona in the Champions League. That just created an air on invincibility around Milan in my mind. I was glad too as Milan were representing Italy and Italian football. Barcelona were a pompous bunch too under Johan Cryuff. Juventus had Roberto Baggio who had became another of my favourite players so that is reason enough to watch them closely and got delighted watching Baggio. At that time, the rivalry between Inter & Milan or Juventus hadn't kicked in yet. Moreover in Singapore, it is easier to feel the intensity and rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool due to the popularity and exposure towards the English League here. I don't remember knowing any other person who supported an Italian club.
I started disliking Juventus when Baggio's time came to an end there rather acrimoniously and as for Milan, I got bored of watching them constantly winning and was quite delighted to hear of Ajax beating them in the 1995 Champions League final. That is how my dislike for both of our rivals grew. As an Inter fan, I experienced a lot of anger, frustration and heartbreak. The first of which was a disappointment felt at losing the UEFA Cup final against a supposed inferior opponent, Schalke 04 on penalties in 1996-97. Next was the dismay and fury felt from the injustice of having a legitimate penalty turned down amongst other decisions that went against us in a crucial title decider against Juventus which began the hatred towards Juventus.
Juventus 1 - Inter 0 1997-98
Next was the most embarrassing defeat suffered as an Inter fan, the 0-6 defeat to AC Milan in the 2000-01 season and the following season, 2001-02, I experienced my first real heartbreak as an Inter fan. Inter were in the driving seat to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1989, they had a few stumbles near the end of the season but went into the final day of the season still top. All Inter needed to do was win against a Lazio side that had nothing to play for and had fans supporting Inter because an Inter defeat could open up the door for their hated rivals, Roma to win the Scudetto. Inter collapsed and lost in that match to cause trauma and heartbreak for all Inter fans. 5th May 2002 will forever be a dark day in Inter's history.
Now let's recount the happy moments. The 1993-94 UEFA Cup triumph was the first success I experienced as an Inter fan followed by the 1997-98 UEFA Cup triumph which was memorable for the comprehensive and resounding manner with which we won it culminating a great season we had.
The Coppa Italia triumph of 2003-04 was a huge relief and lifted some pressure off us after the traumatic collapse of 2001-02 Serie A season. That brought great joy after 6 years of a trophy drought.
The Supercoppa Italiana of 2004-05 was sweet as we beat Juventus to win it and the Coppa Italia of 2004-05 provided us continuity of winning silverware after long absences between our previous trophies.
Then it would undoubtedly be the historic and unforgettable Treble that is unmatched by any Italian side till date and finally, the World Club Cup which culminated the good work of Jose Mourinho the previous season and our final trophy triumph till date, Coppa Italia triumph of 2010-11.
I have consciously left out the Scudetto awarded to us in the courtroom in 2005-06 and the ones won on the pitch in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Why? Because firstly, I rather win the Scudetto on the pitch rather than get it handed to us in a courtroom. We were third in that season and the top two were implicated in Calciopoli which meant that we were the next best team that was not implicated. There is no joy in that because I believe titles are won on the pitch and even if the top two, Juventus and Milan were guilty of trying to influence the appointment of referees to influence the matches in their favour, I would prefered it if we had finished top on the pitch after 38 matches. As for the other Scudetto wins, I was happy to have won it but truthfully it was always a matter of formality because we won it without any strong rivals that ran us close. We had taken advantage of Juventus' relegation very well by signing a talismanic player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic who could win games on his own in Italy but the lack of a serious rival was telling when Inter played in Europe and we struggled to impose our superiority there. Roma were our only rivals but they finished miles apart. If anything, us taking our foot off the pedal and losing focus allowed them back in a bit and gave them more of a chance like in 2007-08. I would have got more joy if we had won the Scudetto in 1997-98 and/or 2001-02 because then we would have come up against strong rivals and won it on the pitch for football reasons not in the courtroom or with severely weakened rivals.
Massimo Moratti made us dream with the signings he made every season since he took over. He showed us what he was capable of when he first signed Ronaldo for a record transfer fee and would then break that record to sign Christian Vieri.
It was exciting to have a fantasy football style approach, signing the best players in the world and trying to make them fit in as a team. However, Moratti didn't get the balance right in his signings and was guilty of not being patient enough with his managers. Luigi Simoni should never have been sacked so soon into 1998-99.
Hector Cuper suffered from the trauma of 2001-02 like the rest of us. He was never quite able to replicate the success of 2001-02.
Marcello Lippi had seemed liked the right choice as a manager having been a serial winner at our arch-rivals, Juventus but sticking with him after barely scrapping into the Champions League was the wrong decision to take. Signing lots of players over one summer to replace an outgoing bulk was also not the right decision to make because it disrupts the stability of the team as is the lack of stability in the manager's position. The blame of that would have to be shared by the technical director and Moratti himself (as much as I love the man, he has to take the blame for it). Probably our biggest mistakes would be not getting the best out of Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Fabio Cannavaro while they were at Inter. All three would go on to enjoy much success at our arch-rivals AC Milan and Juventus. The folly of our transfer policy can be exemplified by the swap deal of Pirlo and Seedorf for Coco and Guly. Evidently, we got the worse of the deal.
Until today, the transfer policy and dealings continue to frustrate and annoy me. The best we did on the transfer market was to take advantage of Juventus' relegation and signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Prior to that, we had already been building up a decent squad with the signing of Dejan Stankovic, Adriano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Walter Samuel.
Lesser known players like Julio Cesar and Maicon were also signed as was the signing of Esteban Cambiasso, a bargain buy who turned out to be an integral and valuable signing.
In the summer of 2009-10, Jose Mourinho made signings to allow us to take the next step up in Europe with the signing of Lucio, Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder.
The signings of Thiago Motta and Diego Milito were shrewd.
What was particularly important was the swap between Eto'o and Ibrahimovic. If Ibrahimovic had stayed, Inter would never have won the Treble and would never have been able to rise above the underachievement in Europe.
I know the club has its origins in giving foreign players a chance to play. The club is built on that. I am well aware of that. However, in the last few years, the number of Italian players in the Inter team has decreased. As an Italy fan as well, this fact irks me. I would like a nice mix of Italian and foreign players in the team. Besides, being an Italy fan, Inter is an Italian club and it needs Italian representation in the team outside of the coaching staff. The club needs local identity and flavour. I know people will argue that the Treble and all the success before that was achieved largely by a squad filled with foreign players and that Inter is a big enough club internationally for players to understand what it means to play for the club. We have had foreign players who knew what it meant to play for Inter but the club should never lose its identity and representation of Italian players and I would want to see more Italian players playing for Inter.
The next thing I would like to see Inter do more of is to give more space for the youngsters from the youth team to play in the first team. In my time as a fan, I remember Giovanni Pasquale, Obafemi Martins, Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon who made the progress from the youth team into the first team but for one reason or another none of these players have stayed long enough at the club. Santon is back for his second innings at the club but could be sold in the transfer market as the team looks to reduce the squad size. Marco Andreolli and Andrea Ranocchia returned to Inter after some time out elsewhere and the former has been transfer listed. At a time when the club is in debt and have the Financial Fair Play to comply with, it makes greater sense to be self-dependent on players created in the club, players that have been brought up by the club, have the club's colours in their heart and know very well what it means to play for the club. Generally, there is little patience and space for youngsters from the youth rank in Italian clubs but Inter can be revolutionary in this aspect by giving youngsters space and path into the first team. The club has done well in recent years in the youth sector so there is definitely talent in the club's youth sector. I understand that the youngsters lack exposure of playing against adult teams and would need to be loaned out to gain experience but there's no use doing that if they are only sold because the space in the team has been taken by a young South American or a more established player.
I still remain an Inter fan and regardless of what the club does in the transfer market, I will keep supporting them. Am I an unconventional and unique Inter fan? I think I am but maybe I am not. You be the judge on that :-)
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