Lautaro takes Inter on his shoulders: he is the new leader

Something is changing at Inter. Not in the away results, which have remained disappointing since the beginning of the season, but in the locker room balance. Indeed, something has already changed for a few weeks and the confirmation has arrived in Bologna: the leader of this group, who lifted the Supercoppa Italia, won the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League and reached the semifinals of the Coppa Italia, but manages to have decent pace in the league, it’s Lautaro Martinez. Not the old Samir Handanovic, who over the years, from 2012 onwards, has often had to justify negative performances in front of the cameras. Not Danilo D’Ambrosio, who now plays too little to play a role more than guiding his teammates in the locker room (not on the pitch and in public). Not Marcelo Brozovic who would have the status (a World Cup final played in 2018, a semi-final in 2022 plus all the trophies with Inter) and appearances with the Nerazzurri shirt (only he has less than Handanovic), but obviously he doesn’t have the character and the predisposition to be listened to by peers. Lautaro, on the other hand, is a natural leader who stood in his place in the locker room as long as there was someone talking. Due to the education and respect he has inside, in recent months he has never made his voice heard, while now that the situation has changed, both inside and outside Inter, he speaks. Here I am.

DIFFERENCES

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Martinez in Qatar with Seleccion lifted the World Cup to the sky and he, despite never scoring, converted the penalty in the final series of the quarterfinals that eliminated the Netherlands, before actively participating in the 3-2 goal by Put in the final. When he returned to Pinetina, with a World Cup won, he had a conviction in his means that he didn’t have before. On the surface they may seem like details, but footballers feel and respect them. Anyone who has known Lauty since he arrived in Milan in the summer of 2018 now sees him as a completely different player and person. No longer a boy who could have become a champion (as happened 5 years ago), but a great striker who has already won and will still win a lot. As well as a leader.

CAPTAIN PRESENT AND FUTURE

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With Handanovic and D’Ambrosio out of the starting lineup, the team captain is Brozovic. He arrived before Lautaro at the Pinetina and also has a higher number of appearances to his credit. No mid-season revolutions on this aspect: the armband will be on the Croatian’s arm when he goes on the pitch. In front of the microphones, however, it will always be up to the Argentine to say certain things. Because he is better than the Croatian comrade at putting his face forward, at listening and being heard, at expressing certain concepts with the right tones. However, don’t expect the roles to be reversed even in the locker room: Lautaro will speak there too because people like his way of doing it. Maybe more than Brozovic’s. He is part of the character and the way of approaching others. It is not a criticism of Marcelo, but a simple observation. Some people make themselves understood better than others. Brozovic is more one who talks with facts, with racing for the team, with recovered balls. Closed in the locker room, during a situation in which, like now, a turning point needs to be made given the lack of performance away and the -18 in the standings over Napoli, however, calibrated and “right” words are needed. Those of Handanovic, D’Ambrosio and… Lautaro.

EXCUSES AND NOT ONLY

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Yesterday Martinez didn’t say anything epochal after the match in Bologna: “I’m here to apologize to all the fans who always support us and there are many of them. We played terrible, these performances are useless and I’m disappointed like everyone else: the bad weather there was also for the others, but Bologna played a great game and were superior to us. This must be an alarm, we must unite and change immediately, be more of a team, raise the level in training because that raises the level for the whole team and, above all, have more continuity. If we play like this we’re not going anywhere, we need to pedal. What I’m saying here I’ve already said to my teammates.” Raising the level in training is a strong expression: it means that the team isn’t working enough (hard to think given the data on the kilometers traveled during matches) or that not everyone is doing it in the right way. As if there were an Inter of the starters, of those who know they are always called into question, who push during the week, and another Inter, that of the reserves who are called into question infrequently, who travel with the brake on hand pulled. With a double negative effect: they are not ready when called upon and lower the intensity of the sessions. Is it just a misinterpretation of the Argentine’s words? Maybe yes or maybe not. And Inzaghi’s choices so far have confirmed that there is a group of elements that the coach has only thrown into the fray in particular circumstances, when he couldn’t do without them. Because he clearly trusts him more than others. Training, therefore, but not only. “We have to compact ourselves” are other words spoken by the boy from Bahia Blanca that make us think. Why should a team that beat Milan twice in one month, inflicted their only defeat in Serie A on Napoli and overcame Porto in the first knockout round of the Champions League “come together”? Perhaps because the Skriniar case left its aftermath inside the locker room. Perhaps because the market rumors, past and future, have distracted someone. Or perhaps because, as happens in almost all locker rooms, there are players who get along better with one and less with others. But this is the moment of the season in which the differences must be eliminated. Because Inter are playing, in addition to access to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, also the Italian Cup and qualification for the 2023-24 Champions League or at least over 70 million that will end up (or not) in the club’s coffers. Lautaro, who by now knows Inter well and who is linked to this club, made his voice heard. He is not “present-captain”, because the armband belongs to Brozovic, but he will certainly be “next-future-captain”. And he deserves it both for how he plays and for how he speaks.