Respectable, even though I still see idiots saying he was “lucky” to inherit Inzaghi’s team, as if that’s automatically a good thing… yes, he inherited some players, but if he didn’t have the emotional intelligence to lift them after last season’s failures, we’d probably be in Juventus’ position now.Or I hear excuses like: “Well, he was lucky to have capable substitutes besides Inzaghi.” Wrong. He has capable substitutes **because HE wanted them**: Inzaghi brought in Arnautovic, Correa, and Taremi… Chivu, on the other hand, asked for Bonny, rejected Hojlund, and gave confidence to Pio. So these “substitute” players performed **because of him**.Zielinski is playing so well this season **because of Chivu, not Inzaghi**. Especially since people make the mistake of comparing “Inzaghi’s best season” (last year) with Chivu’s first season—people should compare Inzaghi’s **first season** with Chivu’s.Some will probably say, “But Inzaghi had a weaker squad back then.” Yes, but it depends on the perspective:
* Inzaghi’s attackers: Sanchez, Dzeko, Lautaro, Correa, Caicedo. Sure, Caicedo was terrible, but I’d argue Sanchez, Dzeko, Lautaro, and Correa made for a stronger offensive unit than today’s. And when I say “stronger,” I mean in terms of **what they meant in Europe**—if you compare Sanchez with Bonny ;)) or young Pio with Correa, who already had multiple Serie A seasons under his belt.
* Midfield: Perisic, Vidal, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Vecino, Gagliardini — overall, there were more quality players than today. Looking at today’s midfield, maybe four players are truly Inter-level; Luis Henrique, with all due respect, isn’t Inter quality. (Even back then, Vecino and Gagliardini weren’t either.)
* Defenders: I’d say roughly the same.
* Goalkeepers: Same — Handanovic then and Sommer now are equally modest.
And if we look at the European games that everyone keeps bringing up—where Chivu has so far lost to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Atletico—we should also remember that Inzaghi in that season: lost 2 games to Real Madrid, won 2 games against Sheriff, won 1 game against Shakhtar, drew 1 game, then lost 1 game to Liverpool and in the second one held on to the score and narrowly won—which didn’t help him because he still didn’t qualify.
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Respectable, even though I still see idiots saying he was “lucky” to inherit Inzaghi’s team, as if that’s automatically a good thing… yes, he inherited some players, but if he didn’t have the emotional intelligence to lift them after last season’s failures, we’d probably be in Juventus’ position now.Or I hear excuses like: “Well, he was lucky to have capable substitutes besides Inzaghi.” Wrong. He has capable substitutes **because HE wanted them**: Inzaghi brought in Arnautovic, Correa, and Taremi… Chivu, on the other hand, asked for Bonny, rejected Hojlund, and gave confidence to Pio. So these “substitute” players performed **because of him**.Zielinski is playing so well this season **because of Chivu, not Inzaghi**. Especially since people make the mistake of comparing “Inzaghi’s best season” (last year) with Chivu’s first season—people should compare Inzaghi’s **first season** with Chivu’s.Some will probably say, “But Inzaghi had a weaker squad back then.” Yes, but it depends on the perspective:
* Inzaghi’s attackers: Sanchez, Dzeko, Lautaro, Correa, Caicedo. Sure, Caicedo was terrible, but I’d argue Sanchez, Dzeko, Lautaro, and Correa made for a stronger offensive unit than today’s. And when I say “stronger,” I mean in terms of **what they meant in Europe**—if you compare Sanchez with Bonny ;)) or young Pio with Correa, who already had multiple Serie A seasons under his belt.
* Midfield: Perisic, Vidal, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Vecino, Gagliardini — overall, there were more quality players than today. Looking at today’s midfield, maybe four players are truly Inter-level; Luis Henrique, with all due respect, isn’t Inter quality. (Even back then, Vecino and Gagliardini weren’t either.)
* Defenders: I’d say roughly the same.
* Goalkeepers: Same — Handanovic then and Sommer now are equally modest.
And if we look at the European games that everyone keeps bringing up—where Chivu has so far lost to Liverpool, Arsenal, and Atletico—we should also remember that Inzaghi in that season: lost 2 games to Real Madrid, won 2 games against Sheriff, won 1 game against Shakhtar, drew 1 game, then lost 1 game to Liverpool and in the second one held on to the score and narrowly won—which didn’t help him because he still didn’t qualify.