Internazionale 2010-2011

Inter begins the Benitez era tomorrow when they face Roma for the Supercoppa. I was a big fan of Mourinho and was sad to see him go, but there is a lot of hope for this season. There are six potential trophies on the line and Inter could join Barcelona as the only team to lay claim to a Hexachampionship.

Over the last few days I have been thinking about how things have changed, as a fan of the club, during recent years. My first memories are of the late 80s/early 90s teams. Most of the Italian football I watched at the time was on the RAI Italian channel in northern New Jersey. It was something in those dark days for football in the USA but in a good season you got maybe 12 games. Now every game is available and you can follow the team as much or as little as you like and be very much in the loop.

I have vague memories of that league title when Serie A was unarguably the elite league in Europe. But for more than a decade and a half after that Inter was a solid and respectable team but not a powerhouse like AC Milan, Real Madrid, or Juventus. The 2006 title felt strange and not altogether real as it was awarded in the courts. There was a sense of the inevitable when they won it again the next year with a depleted league due to the match fixing scandal. By the time they claimed legitimate titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010 it somehow felt old hat. And looking back that is a very strange dynamic. Being title starved for most of the years I supported the team, missing the true euphoria of getting there, and then having it feel old and worn.

Winning the Champions League in May was special and the way in which the team did it (beating Chelsea and Barcelona then having announce to the world they were going to win and never having the outcome of the final in doubt) was a great moment. I remember thinking the treble might be the apex of my time as an Inter supporter, and I am okay with that. What feels a little bizarre is that Inter has become a legitimate European superpower but have done so seemingly through a warp zone. To make a premiership comparison it might be like Spurs being where United in five years. I am glad they are winning enough where it is not treated as a rarity, it is just strange.