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Everyone take a deep breath and exhale a sigh of relief. It’s over, finally.
Inter Milan’s 2016/17 campaign had to be one of the most turbulent, frustrating seasons in recent memory. From cycling through three managers in the span of 10 months, to palpable tension between the club’s star captain and its passionate “ultra” supporters (it seems like ages ago, but yes, that happened this year too), very little went right for Inter this season.
There are simply no excuses for the poor form the team showed, and picking-up just two points in a stretch of eight matches from mid-March to mid-May is indefensible.
For a club that entered the season with expectations of qualifying for the Champions League, Inter’s seventh-place finish in Serie A can only be viewed as a complete failure. It surely feels like rock bottom.
While fans, and certainly the club, must contemplate what went wrong (the first step in solving a problem is recognizing what caused it), this season from hell is finally over. Inter now have the chance to take a step back, regroup, and rebuild.
As painful as three months without football can be, I’m very relieved that the offseason is here. This club desperately needed a clean slate, and a new season, with a new manager and new signings, certainly offers that. There’s no telling what Inter will look like when Serie A kicks-off again on August 19th. But regardless of who’s on the team sheet, it will represent a fresh start for everyone involved.
At the risk of writing clichés, they say once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way is up. In 2016/17, Inter were tested and failed miserably. The club’s management and players did not rise to the occasion, resulting in significant negativity.
But now it’s over.
Soon, we can return to debating the merits of key signings, analyzing what tactics to expect from a new manager, and looking forward to next season instead of allocating blame and voicing our deserved frustration.
A year in which we’ve hit rock bottom is finally over, Inter fans. The good news is that the only way is up.