Proving the Best "Chef" from the City of Milan

Happiness is not only on her face. Simone screams while jumping. Her fists punch the air. Her colleagues and coaches embrace her with emotion. One by one, the players also approached her. Together with the Interisti, Inter supporters, she danced on the field.

Happy is the perfect word to describe that expression. The title has allowed him to experience all the competitions in Italy, both as a player and a coach. This league championship is the first one Simone has achieved since he decided to become a coach.

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Moreover, this year, the title feels special. How could it not be, when The Italian League still had five matches remaining, Inter had already claimed the Italian highest caste trophy.

According to Opta's records, no other team in Italy has ever secured the title earlier than Inter. Inter Milan has done it not only once but twice. They achieved the same feat in the 2006-2007 season.

"This is truly an extraordinary feeling. There are many good figures (contributing to this achievement), and I am thinking of my players, club, and our president. And my thoughts are also directed towards my family. I often bring work home," he said after the match against AC Milan, as quoted by DAZN.

During a live interview with DAZN, a British sports streaming platform, Simone spoke with her brother, Filippo, who was in the studio. At that moment, Pippo, Filippo's nickname, recognized his younger brother's greatness.

"Technically, Simone is better than me. Simone (previously) had a problem with his back which prevented him from joining (AC) Milan (as a player). However, I believe that what he missed as a player, he now obtains as a coach," said Pippo. Both of them smiled with shining eyes.

Pippo has indeed achieved great success as a player, starting from his time at Piacenza, Atalanta, Parma, Juventus, and AC Milan. He has won many trophies as a player compared to his younger brother who ended his career at Lazio.

However, as a coach, Pippo has not yet won any cups. His greatest achievement was bringing Benevento to promote to Serie A from Serie B. Currently, he has not even returned to coaching since being fired by another Serie B promotion club, Salernitana. His position was replaced by Fabio Liverani on February 11, 2024.

Clear doubts

Simone started his career as a coach after retiring as a player from Lazio in 2010 at the age of 34. He, who did not want to part with Lazio, then became the coach of the Lazio junior team for about six years.

The management of Lazio then asked Simone to become the head coach of the senior team. He replaced Stefano Pioli, now the coach of AC Milan, who was fired in 2016.

Together with Lazio, he won a trophy. He won two Super Italy Cup championships in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons. He also led Lazio to play in the Champions League in the 2019-2020 season. This is the first time since 2007-2008 or 12 years later.

A variety of achievements enticed Inter three years ago. Coincidentally, Inter longed for a coach the caliber of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, who could bring many titles. Simone recalled that moment as players celebrated their league championship, early Tuesday morning.

Simone said that her heart still wants to stay in Lazio. Moreover, many people underestimate her move to Inter. Doubts grow even bigger because several important players, such as Romelu Lukaku, Achraf Hakimi, and Edin Dzeko, choose to leave.

However, he answered those doubts by winning the Italian Super Cup and Italian Cup in the first season of 2021/2022 as a manager. At that time, he also led Inter to the round of 16 in the Champions League and second place in the Italian League.

In his second season, he once again presented one Italian Super Cup and one Italian Cup in 2023. Inter, which was then saving money, even competed in the 2023 Champions League final against the wealthy team, Manchester City. Inter lost 0-1 against the English champions.

This year, in addition to the Italian League, he also defended the Italian Super Cup. He also became one of the five managers of Inter who achieved 100 victories or more. The other four are Helenio Herrera, Roberto Mancini, Giovanni Trapattoni, and Arpad Weisz.

Best gift

Due to his achievements, Simone is nicknamed "The Chef" or "The Cook". Not because he is skilled in the culinary field, but because he is known to be adept at devising football strategies.

In their hands, Inter dominates Italy. They collected 79 goals or 15 goals more than their closest competitor, AC Milan. They also only conceded 18 goals during 33 matches this season.

In fact, of those 33 matches, Inter only lost once to US Sassuolo Calcio in September 2023. The record is thatil Nerazurrican win 27 times and draw five times.

His three-back pattern, for example, was successful in making the defenders often score goals, but not loose when defending. It is not surprising that defenders like Allesandro Bastoni and Francesco Acerbi have scored goals this season. Wing-backs, such as Matteo Darmian, Frederico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries, are also very troublesome for opponents. Apart from goals, their passes often spoil the two strikers, Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram.

Inter Milan owner Steven Zhang acknowledged that Simone is able to shape the winning mentality in players, respect, and confidence. Not only that, Simone's cost-cutting efforts in bringing in Hakan Calhanoglu and Thuram helped Inter not lose its touch.

"She (Simone) is the best gift," said Zhang.

However, Simone doesn't want to fly too high. She is still trying to stay grounded with her tumultuous journey in the past three years with Inter.

"Six trophies and a Champions League final are extraordinary achievements. We have recorded good things throughout the season. However, this victory represents a long journey that we had to go through," he said. (AFP)

See also: Beat AC Milan, Inter Milan Players and Supporters Celebrate ”Scudetto”

Simone Inzaghi

Born: Piacenza, April 5, 1976