It’s all coming a bit too late in the day for Walter Mazzarri's men. It’s a pity the current run of good form which has seen them push all the way up to sitting just a point away from fourth-placed Fiorentina after a five match unbeaten run, didn’t come earlier in the season.
Let’s face it – it’s too late to try and call the current season any kind of ‘success’ and obviously no-one has a cat in hell’s chance of catching Juventus. So it’s all about next season and maybe, just maybe, Inter now present good value for next year’s Serie A if you fancy a bit of a gamble?
As things stand; you could more or less name your price on Inter doing the business sin Serie A next year. There are no formal markets as yet, however, so if you do fancy a punt on the possibility – then you may have to request a price from your chosen bookmaker – but it could well be a shrewd long-shot punt if you do.
Recently, Anderson Hernanes, who made the switch to Inter from Lazio in January, believes the club will finish strongly to the end of the current season and will push on even stronger next year. He puts this down partly to the historical strength and lure of the club. He also believes Inter are close to being on a par with runaway leaders Juventus and believes fourth place is a realistic possibility for the current season.
He may well be right; Fiorentina have the distraction of the Europa League to think about, whilst all Inter’s efforts can now be concentrated on the league.
And part of the reason the Brazilian Anderson Hernanes made the switch from Lazio was to have a realistic chance of Serie A success.
If Inter can take things up a gear next year and – maybe – even win Serie A then it will be five years since they last managed the feat. Back in 2009-10, Inter made it a remarkable five Serie A wins in a row – the same year the club completed the first ever treble by any Italian team - winning the Coppa Italia and Champions League as well under the stewardship of one Jose Mourinho, of course.
That may be a distant dream now, but Mazzarri has barely had chance to get his feet properly under the Inter table as yet – having only had nine months in the job. And look at what he achieved at Napoli; a sixth place finish in his debut season followed by third the next year (assisted by the arrival from Palermo of Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani) and a superb showing in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League when they managed to finish above Manchester City to qualify for the knockout stage. Give him time – and anything is possible.