MILAN – Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has insisted he still has faith in coach Leonardo despite Tuesday’s Champions League debacle against Schalke 04.
“It was a defeat due to tiredness. I was surprised by the size of the defeat but you could already see the tiredness on Saturday (against Milan) and it’s impossible to rediscover freshness in so few days,” he said.
“Now we’re feeling down but this can help to push us on even more, however my opinion of Leonardo hasn’t changed. I know that something has maybe changed for him because he feels bad about what has happened twice in quick succession.”
“But for me, no, because I know how cruel football can be and you have to keep going with the same enthusiasm. We’ll keep going in this way and we’ll see what happens, we have had success before behaving this way and we will again.”
Such support may be admirable in a president, particularly from a country known for its football club owners’ whose knee-jerk reactions make coaching a precarious profession.
But the statistics make uncomfortable reading for Leonardo. And it mustn’t be forgotten that at the end of last season, having been essentially relieved of his duties as Milan coach after an unspectacular campaign that saw them finish third in Serie A and eliminated from Europe at the last 16 stage, Leonardo seemed to admit that he wasn’t prepared for coaching at this level.
Six months later he was back in full-time employment at Inter apparently refreshed and enthusiastic to drag the team out of the Rafael Benitez-induced doldrums in which they had floundered before Christmas. His net stats are highly impressive, he began with 11 wins in his first 13 league games at Inter and pulled the club back from a 13-point deficit to Milan to a mere two-point one ahead of the derby. However, it is in the biggest matches that Leonardo has been found wanting.
As coach of Milan and Inter he has played three derbies, losing all three, scoring none and conceding nine goals. He has played six Champions League matches at home, winning none and losing four times. His overall Champions League record is three wins, three draws and five defeats from 11 games. And when things have counted the most — such as last season’s second round against Manchester United and the last two games this season — his teams haven’t just lost, they’ve been embarrassed.
