For Frank de Boer, Tuesday’s edition of the Gazzetta dello Sport would not have made comfortable reading. Fresh from the home defeat against Cagliari on Sunday that left Internazionale marooned in mid-table, the famous pink paper reported that the Dutchman’s future at San Siro is already under major scrutiny from the club’s new Chinese owners just over two months after he was appointed.
“Many of the Suning society cannot wait any longer,” read the editorial. “De Boer is under examination and it is time to show that he deserves to be on the Nerazzurri bench.”
The Suning Group is used to getting results. The founder, Zhang Jindong, opened his first shop selling air‑conditioning in Nanjing – the capital of Jiangsu province – in 1990 and within 15 years the business had become one of China’s largest retailers.
Zhang’s son Steven is now one of the directors at Inter after they agreed a deal worth around €270m (£240m) in June to purchase a majority 68.5% stake in the three-time European champions from the Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir. He was not present at a hastily arranged summit between De Boer, the vice-president, Javier Zanetti, the sporting director, Piero Ausilio, and the director general, Giovanni Gardini, at the club’s training ground on Monday but the man who won 112 caps for Holland will know he will not get too many more chances.
Sandwiched between two matches against Southampton in the Europa League – the first of which takes place on Thursday night – Inter face trips to Atalanta and Sampdoria and host Torino in a sequence of fixtures that could determine De Boer’s future.
Five defeats in his first 11 matches, including successive losses in the Europa League against Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Sparta Prague, and rumbles of discontent over his handling of an expensively assembled squad who appeared out on their feet as they conceded twice in the final 20 minutes on Sunday, have raised the possibility of a third manager being appointed by Inter before the end of the year.
Having dominated the Eredivisie for four seasons up to 2014, De Boer saw his Ajax side beaten to the title once again in May by PSV Eindhoven. At that stage, it appeared Roberto Mancini would be given an opportunity to build on last season’s fourth-placed finish with Inter before a 6-1 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur in a pre-season friendly led to the former Manchester City manager losing his job less than two weeks before the start of the season amid rumours of a major fallout with Suning.
De Boer was immediately parachuted in, with Inter insisting it had all been part of the plan. But an opening-day defeat at Chievo was an indication of the challenge the new man faced and, despite some encouraging away wins against Pescara and Empoli either side of beating the champions Juventus 2-1 at San Siro, the gloom has now set in.
De Boer’s struggles have certainly not been helped by comments made by the captain and top scorer, Mauro Icardi, in his recent book – the Argentina international is involved in an ongoing war of words with Inter’s Ultras – yet the decision to freeze out the talented midfielders Geoffrey Kondogbia and Marcelo Brozovic for disciplinary reasons were of his own making. The latter could make a return against Southampton.
With a top-three finish and qualification for the Champions League firmly established as Suning’s major priority for this season, Southampton will fancy their chances against a squad which does not include either Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa or João Mário – signed for a combined €70m this summer but excluded from the Europa League due to Financial Fair Play regulations. Yet De Boer will surely be feeling the pressure given that the Suning Group sacked Dan Petrescu as Jiangsu Suning manager in June despite him winning the Chinese Cup the previous season.
The rumour mill in Italy suggests that the Dutchman could just be keeping the seat warm until Diego Simeone is ready to leave Atlético Madrid and return to the club he helped win the Uefa Cup in 1998. However, having missed out on the posts at Everton and Southampton in the summer, De Boer will be desperate to prove he is the man to revive one of Italy’s most famous clubs. A win on Thursday night against Southampton would be an important step towards keeping his job.
