24 Via Durini, Min

  When the referee blew the final whistle, silengulfed the feren.

  All the high-ranking officials of Inter Min were present, but a collective sense of helplessness weighed heavily on their faces.

  Though they had beeally prepared for this oute, the reality still struck them with bitter disappoi.

  Each of them sat in quiet refle, asking themselves the same question: Why?

  How could they have been nine points ahead, only to find themselves five points behind by te March?

  What happeo the 14-point swing?

  The colpse felt sudden, like Inter Min so dominant in the first half of the season had unraveled inexplicably after the winter break.

  Losing to Liverpool in the Champions League could be rationalized after all, Liverpool were one of the Premier League's stroeams in their prime.

  But Serie A? Serie A had always been Inter Min's domain. It was supposed to be untouchable.

  ---

  "What do you think?" Moratti's voice cut through the silence, sounding older and more fatigued than usual.

  At this moment, Inter Min's president appeared deeply disappointed, his onshakable faith in his team eroded.

  From a nine-poio a five-point deficit with o rounds left in the league, while there was still a mathematical ce of catg up, who among them felt fident anymore?

  "ge the coach, Dad!" Angelo Moratti, Moratti's son, proposed firmly.

  He had made the same suggestion after Inter's humiliating 5-0 defeat to Napoli.

  If Moratti had acted decisively back then, if Inter had repced Mani and maao Shen from Napoli, things might have turned out differently.

  Inter Min might still be leading the league by five points, not trailing.

  And who knows, with Gao Shen at the helm, perhaps Inter could have eveurhe Champions League tie against Liverpool.

  Doubtful?

  Think back to Gao Shen's legendary stint at Real Madrid!

  "I agree, it's time to ge the coach," CEO Ero Paolillo chimed in. "Mani clearly ot tuream's fortunes around. Repg him is the best course of a."

  Moratti remained silent, though his hesitatiorayed his internal struggle. He too was leaning toward a coag ge but wrestled with the question of timing.

  "Marco, you're the teical director. What's your opinion?" Moratti asked, turning to Marco Branca, Inter Min's teical director.

  All eyes in the room shifted to Branca, who paused to collect his thoughts. He uood the weight of his words and began to speak.

  "As the teical director, I have to say that the team's current predit is the result of several factors," Branca began, his tone calm and measured.

  "First, our squad is g in key areas. Gao Shen was n when he said that we ck creativity, passing ability, and youth. We have too many aging pyers, and this has made us susceptible to injuries and fatigue in the sed half of the season."

  The executives nodded in agreement, aowledging the validity of Branca's analysis.

  "Sed, Mani bears undeniable responsibility."

  Branca's words made Moratti sit up straighter.

  "Mani knows the limitations of the squad, he's been involved in building it. Yet, he has been overly fixated on the Champions League and uimated the physical and tactical challenges posed by Serie A. His pnning for the season has not been stifiough, and his ma of the pyers has been subpar."

  Branca tinued, "In the first half of the season, when the pyers were physically fresh, we were able to hide some of these fws. But in the sed half, every issue has e to the surface, and Mani has failed to address them. On top of that, his flicts with pyers like Ibrahimovi? and Vieira have further destabilized the team."

  This time, even Moratti nodded iant agreement.

  "Mani has had no solutions for the team's struggles, and as the head coach, he must take responsibility," Branca cluded.

  ---

  "But there's one final factor," Branca said, his tone sharpening. "And this is perhaps the biggest reason for our current predit: Gao Shen."

  The room fell silent.

  "Gao Shen?" Moratti repeated, his voice ced with disbelief.

  How could one man, someone who wasn't even part of Inter Min, have created such a crisis?

  "Yes, Gao Shen," Branca affirmed. "Look at the standings. We're five points behind Napoli. But Roma, who are behind us, trail by four points. If Napoli weren't in the picture, we'd still be in first pone of these issues Mani's tactics, the team's struggles would have escated to this degree."

  The executives exged gnces, slowly ing to terms with Branca's argument.

  "Inter Min is underperf, but so is the rest of Serie A. Even A, the reigning Champions League winners, are in sixth pd 't crack the top four," Branca tinued.

  "Now think back. When did our problems truly start spiraling out of trol? When did they bee unmanageable?"

  Everyone in the room began to reflect.

  "Our real colpse began after the winter break, when Napoli started narrowing the gap. The turning point came in San Paolo, when they pletely humiliated us 5-0," Branca said firmly.

  Heads nodded around the room. It was true.

  "But even after that loss, we won our wo matches and began to stabilize. Then, Gao Shen struck again. He criticized us through the media, highlighting our ck of creativity, passing, and defensive sistency. What he said was true, but the way he said it so publicly piled immense pressure on us.

  "The stability we'd begun to recover vanished, and we fell apart again. A draw and a loss in our st two matches, including a 1-2 defeat at home to Juventus, have left us in this situation."

  Branca's analysis was s, and the weight of his words settled heavily on the room.

  Gao Shen's remarks had ily destabilized Inter Min and amplified the team's struggles.

  Now the executives had to sider their steps.

  "ging the coach is iable," Branca admitted. "But the question is when?"

  Angelo Moratti and Paolillo pushed for an immediate ge, but Brand Oriali remained cautious, no definitive stance.

  Moratti, the elder, sighed heavily. "You all know how I feel. Mani has done so much for Inter Min."

  He looked around the room, his gaze settling on his son.

  "I've hired and fired so many coaches over the years. I've signed tless stars and spent unimaginable sums of money. But until Mani, none of it brought us sustained success. He made us champions of Serie A."

  Moratti's voice softeinged with emotion. "I ot dismiss a man who has given so much to this club without proper sideration. Yes, he has fallen short, but he deserves to finish the seasoold me himself he would leave after this campaign, even waiving his severance.

  "If I fire him now, how I justify it to him, or to myself?"

  The room fell silent, as the executives wrestled with Moratti's words.

  "Football isn't just about results," Moratti tinued. "It's about memories, loyalty, aion. I want to win, yes, but I want to wier Min way."

  The discussiouro Mani's potential successors.

  Inter's list of coag didates had been narrowed down to five names, with two standing out as the top tenders.

  "I choose Gao Shen!" Angelo Moratti decred. "He's one of the best coaches in Italy, perhaps even in Europe. I believe he bring transformative ge to Inter Min."

  "I agree," Paolillo added. "Gao Shen's ties to a also offer immense ercial potential, which would help us grow in the Asian market. And as Angelo said, he's one of the best managers out there right now."

  Branca, after some hesitation, spoke cautiously. "There's no doubt Gao Shen is exceptional. But if we bring him in, he will demand a plete overhaul of the squad. Many pyers won't fit his style. Mourinho, oher hand..."

  "But Mourinho is reportedly himself to Bara," Oriali interjected.

  "Yes," Branca firmed. "And Bara's top choice for their coach is Gao Shen."

  This revetion shifted the mood in the room.

  If Bara hired Gao Shen, Inter Min's hopes of seg him would vanish.

  The versation ended with a grim aowledgment: Gao Shen was the most sought-after manager in Europe.

  Real Madrid fans were campaigning t him back. Bara, Liverpool, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and even A were all eyeing him.

  This summer, Gao Shen would be the protagonist of European football.