For a season that promised so much, Inter Milan's 2012/13 can only be labelled as disastrous. There was quiet optimism among the Nerazzurri faithful after an encouraging end to the last campaign under young coach Andrea Stramaccioni. A few exciting signings were made as Samir Handanovic became the new number one whilst Antonio Cassano and Rodrigo Palacio bolstered the attack. After an initial shaky start in which Inter seemed much more suited to playing away than at the San Siro where they couldn't win early on, Stramaccioni managed to steady the ship and actually steer it full speed ahead. Inter went on an incredible ten match winning streak in all competitions. That included a monumental victory over champions Juventus, who they beat 3-1 in Turin to end the Bianconeri's 49 match unbeaten run in Serie A. It was a potentially pivotal result for Stramaccioni and his men with whispers going around that the coach was a young version of treble winning hero Jose Mourinho. However, things all seemed to come crashing down after that as Inter and Stramaccioni failed to cope with the weight of expectation. The Juventus win was immediately followed by a bizarre 3-2 defeat at Atalanta which completely sucked away all the momentum the side had. Their form began to dip and a plethora of injuries cruelly coincided with it. Top scorer Diego Milito was ruled out for the season with a serious injury but the club failed to purchase sufficient cover for him in the January transfer window. The acquisition of the ageing Tomasso Rocchi showed that the club believed that Cassano and Palacio were already enough to cover the loss of Milito. Indeed, Palacio looked like being able to carry the burden in what was a successful first season for him but he was struck down by the injury bug and Cassano followed him. Seventeen players in total were out injured throughout the season and the most fatal of them was Javier Zanetti's torn achilles tendon which may end the great man's career. Even before the injuries, Stramaccioni didn't seem to know his best starting eleven or formation. Inter started last season with Claudio Ranieri who was known as "the Tinker Man" but Stramaccioni certainly gave him a run for his money in that department as players were played out of position and in strange new systems on a weekly basis. It all imploded for Inter in the second half of the season as they ended the Serie A campaign out of the European places altogether with as many losses as they had wins and only bottom club Pescara conceded more goals. They were also ultimately unsuccessful in the cup competitions and the Stramaccioni experiment was ended with former Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri confirmed for next season. He'll have his work cut out to improve on this catastrophic campaign as well as attempting to keep key players - none more so than excellent goalkeeper, Handanovic, who was a rare consistent performer for the club. Young midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, was a promising purchase in January with some fine displays in the centre of the park and Inter also won the "Next-Gen" series with a crop of bright youngsters ready to be unleashed on the first team. It may not look that way now but the future could be bright for this sleeping giant of a club.
