This is my assessment of Inter's 2015-16 season as of 2015. At the start of the season, I have regularly voiced my displeasure at the style of football I was witnessing, on some of the signings made and on the choice of captain. My views have since changed but not completely.
First, let me speak on the strength of the team, the defence. At the start I have championed the cause of including Andrea Ranocchia as one of the centre backs as a rare Italian player in the team but I hold my hands up and say that the form and quality of Miranda and Jeison Murillo has merited their inclusion. They have formed a great partnership and after so many years, Inter have finally got a solid, stable and sound centre back pairing. Ranocchia's time is likely to be up because Gary Medel has been preferred to play as a centre back whenever Miranda and Murillo been missing through suspension or injury. Miranda, Murillo and Samir Handanovic behind them aside, the team has done very well to defend as an organised unit, making them tough to break down.
I feel Roberto Mancini has done very well to make Inter a tactically flexible side displaying traits of a chameleon. I really admire what Mancini has done tactically and in doing so, he has kept the players available to him on their toes as he has rotated the team from one match to the other to suit the characteristics of their opponents and to enable Inter gets a win. He has been clever in managing a squad of 25 players without any European commitments in midweek. His rotation has had a desired effect with players that were seemingly on their way out of the club performing as well as anyone in the squad when given the chance.
Inter is not playing the most fluent and beautiful football in Italy but have improved in their style of play since the start of the season. It's particularly delightful to see Adem Ljajic, Ivan Perisic, Stevan Jovetic, Rodrigo Palacio and Jonathan Biabiany combining up front because they are all mobile and can interchange positions easily and fluidly. Inter lacks a playmaker in centre midfield which is why the football has not been the most beautiful to watch. It is a deliberate ploy of Mancini to have a gritty, workmanlike and physical midfield. I would still have preferred it if Inter kept Mateo Kovacic and cashed in on Mauro Icardi but I am not Mancini so my opinion on this matter doesn't count. Marcelo Brozovic is the most attack-minded centre midfielder in the squad but he doesn't possess the most creative brain in midfield and has traits that are different to Kovacic.
On Felipe Melo, my opinion on him was changing until he reminded me in the last game of the year why I was upset and apprehensive when he was signed. For a player that is established and experienced at the age of 31, he should have known better on keeping his wits and keeping calm. The foul he gave away for the penalty was needless and really silly. You would expect such an error from an inexperienced player not someone with his experience. He then made things worst by losing his cool and going into a ridiculously high challenge to get himself sent off. To give him credit, he immediately realised his error and apologised but this was the kind of shenanigans we have already witnessed of him during his time at Juventus, Fiorentina and the Brazil national team. He remains a liability. I can understand why Mancini was so desperate to sign him. It is certainly not for his quality as a footballer but for his leadership skills and winning mentality however it's of no use if he is a liability and always capable of getting sent off when he plays. The sending off against Lazio was his second of the season. My opinions on Mauro Icardi has not changed. To his credit, he did well against Udinese and deserved to be dropped in the matches he was dropped. I just hope Inter cashes in on him and sell him. The sooner, the better.
Inter are the winter champions but it means little at this point of the time as winning the Scudetto in May is what matters the most. The expectations in the club are still modest and that is of Champions League qualification. We shall see where Inter are when they reach March. In the last few seasons, Inter have struggled the most and not done too well in the second half of the season so this season's second half of the season will be a good indication of the team's progress under Mancini.
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