Inter are in a league of their own in Italy

Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory over Livorno was Inter’s first in five league games and yet somehow they are still four points clear at the top of Serie A. This is due to the inconsistency of their title rivals AC Milan and Roma.

Opportunity

Despite Inter’s recent poor form in the Serie A their rivals AC Milan and Roma missed a big opportunity to go top of league.

Inter like most seasons in recent Serie A history were cruising to yet another title and were well ahead on points when they hit their poor run of form.

Just when we thought Roma and AC Milan would make this season’s title interesting they have imploded, although Roma have won their last two league games. The Rossoneri have won just once in the last four games and also suffered a humiliating Champions League defeat by Manchester United.

When Inter were dropping point’s people were saying Milan will take advantage and catch up with their rivals. However with every game they disappointed their fans. They managed to throw away any advantage they had.

Trouble

Inter have done well this season considering that their boss Jose Mourinho is apparently unhappy in Italy. The Portuguese boss seems to be permanently in conflict with someone. He has argued with officials, supporters, opposition and even his own players in Mario Balotelli’s case.

This trouble has lead to speculation that the former-Chelsea boss could be headed back to the Premier League. His love for the English game is renowned and he has admitted that he sees himself returning to England’s top flight in the future.

He has guided Inter to the top of the table and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League while allegedly unhappy. Imagine what he could have achieved this season if he was happy in his current surroundings.

Expectations

If Roma finish in the Champions League this season it will be seen as a major success as they have struggled in recent years. Claudio Ranieri has done a superb job to get the Romans so high up in the Serie A table. Despite their high placing in the league the fans will be disappointed that they haven’t managed to capitalise on Inter’s slip ups.

In stark contrast every season Milan start the campaign with the intention of challenging Inter for the Serie A title. However they flatter to deceive every season. This season their squad have looked stale and lethargic. They simply don’t have the team to live up to their fans expectations at the moment.

Signings

Last summer Inter were very clever in the transfer market. They got the deal of the century picking up the excellent Samuel Eto’o and £40 million for Swedish enigma Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I bet Mourinho couldn’t believe his luck when Barca made that offer.

They also picked up classy centre-back Lucio from Bayern Munich and superb playmaker Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid. Those three signings have proved crucial this season with Lucio exuding calmness at the back, Sneijder creating chances in the midfield Eto’o and another new signing Diego Milito firing home the all important goals.

AC Milan struggled to sign anybody last summer despite the fact they had money to burn as they sold Brazilian superstar Kaka to mega-rich Real Madrid. The only big signing Milan made was of striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid.

The striker has struggled to hold down a regular first team place with the Rossoneri and there were rumours that he could leave in the last transfer window. Last summer’s transfer activity for Inter has proved the difference between success and failure this season, especially in the Champions League.

Difference

Milan failed to strengthen their squad at all during the summer and because of that they are still worlds behind their neighbours. This summer will be a crucial one for the Rossoneri. If they don’t strengthen their squad significantly they will spend another season looking up at their neighbours with envious eyes.