How Frank de Boer went from Inter Milan’s savior to unemployment in 3 months

Frank de Boer is out at Inter Milan after just three months in charge at the San Siro, and the club have far more questions than answers left after his tumultuous tenure. More than just dealing with the nearly disastrous start to their season, with just four league wins and a last-place standing in their Europa League group, Inter need to figure out just how they got here and what went wrong, so that the next time they hire what they hope to be a long-term manager it’s not just another ill-fated disaster.

To get to the bottom of exactly how de Boer’s tenure went so wrong, so quickly, we need to start with the bizarre circumstances that led to him being hired in the first place. Inter entered the summer with Roberto Mancini in charge of the club, though it was patently obvious that not everything was well between Inter’s ownership group and manager, even as the club was getting through a major shift in ownership in the form of the arrival of the Suning group that took over a majority of the club. Previous majority owner Erik Thohir remained in a major role, however, and as Mancini feuded with those above him in the pecking order, it was obvious that Thohir wouldn’t wait forever to move on.

But wait he did, all the way until Aug. 8 until firing Mancini. It was little surprise the next day when de Boer was announced as the manager, however, because the Italian media had spent the last two weeks all but handing the former Ajax manager Mancini’s job. Always eager to get involved in club matters and stir up drama, the Italian media had been feasting on the strife wracking Inter all summer long and were, initially, thrilled to see their chosen one taking the reins for the nerazzurri.

But the red flags were already starting to rise before de Boer even led his first training session. He didn’t speak Italian, which would ultimately become a major problem between himself in the media. He didn’t have much, if any, input in player transfers. And most concerning of all, de Boer had only two weeks to get his team playing to his style and vision before the season began. When Inter came out of the gates looking listless and uncertain of what they were supposed to be doing on the pitch, it was patently obvious that giving them so little preparation time was a major, major mistake.

Their issues went much deeper than that, as did de Boer’s problems dealing with them. After a summer that saw significant turmoil between striker and club captain Mauro Icardi and the fans, a long and at times deeply personal spat that nearly saw the Argentine international leave the club. De Boer’s response to the issue was to try to hand wave it away, an approach that went over predictably poorly -- and then somehow it seemed that de Boer hadn’t learned his lesson when, during a recent flare-up of that strain between Icardi and the fans after Inter’s match against Cagliari in October, he essentially told everyone off, calling the problems a “distraction” and that everyone’s angst was bad for the club. While not exactly untrue, telling a volatile fanbase and your club’s captain that they’re all acting like children is not a way to engender respect.

He had another feud with Marcelo Brozovic that flared up after the Croatian international, who was a huge force for Inter last season, was benched in Inter’s second match, then left out of the squad entirely two weeks later in a massively important rivalry match against Juventus in September. Brozovic was incredibly upset by the decision, and was downright infuriated when de Boer announced publicly that his decision was to prove a point, saying that he didn’t think Brozovic was “committed” to Inter. As the benching dragged on, de Boer started referring to it as a “disciplinary” absence from the squad as Brozovic and his agent railed against the decision in the media, before finally relenting and bringing the midfielder back into the squad in October by saying he had been “punished enough.”

Think that’s enough for de Boer to lose his job on top of his poor results? We’re just warming up.

Inter’s new ownership group arrived by splashing some major cash this summer, though many players were signed before de Boer’s arrival, and many of those signed afterwards seemed to have been done without much in the way of feedback from their new hire. Their highest profile signing, Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa, had an excellent summer for Brazil was touted as “the next Neymar” as a teenager after replacing the Barcelona star when he departed for Santos. He’s wonderfully talented, and fans drooled over the dimension and sheer skill he could bring to their attack, but de Boer has played Gabriel a whopping 16 minutes all season long. Gabriel has made just one substitute appearance this year, much to the frustration of fans and, according the the media, to the frustration of ownership as well. They wanted to see their big shiny investment doing good things, after all, not watch him rot away on the bench.

De Boer has defended his lack of use of Gabriel by saying that he’s not ready and not committed to the club yet and any of half a dozen other reasons, but it’s hard to take that too seriously after the way he’s talked the same about Icardi and Brozovic, who proved their commitment long before De Boer arrived. Add in other issues with new players like Joao Mario often being played in roles ill-suited to his skills, Ever Banega being left out of some important matches despite being Inter’s best-performing midfielder so far this year, and players from last year like Stevan Jovetic and Geoffrey Kondogbia hardly playing despite having skills the squad is crying out for, and it just looks more and more like Inter and de Boer just don’t fit each other.

And perhaps that lack of fit should have been obvious from the start. In a league with unique pressures that even longtime managers can struggle with, de Boer coming in from outside the Italian system with no experience with that powder keg of stress that Serie A and Inter Milan can be was probably never a good idea. He didn’t have the pedigree for success that Inter fans generally demand, either, with only a relatively unimpressive record to call on at a rapidly-declining Ajax side that doesn’t have the cachet or appeal it once did. While the history of someone like a Rafa Benitez can salve the concerns of Italian fans who aren’t convinced about someone coming in from abroad, De Boer’s record wouldn’t only make them more nervous.

Plus, De Boer coming in from outside of Italy was always going to be a problem for some, even within the leadership hierarchy of Inter Milan, a club founded on the principle of inclusiveness for non-Italians. While many in charge at Inter just wanted the biggest name available, especially their new owners, many executives like ex-Inter star Javier Zanetti, now a club Vice President, wanted to see someone hired who knew Serie A well and could guide the team more effectively through the various pitfalls of the Italian season. With that kind of discord just in the club leadership, what chance did de Boer stand once results started to falter?

And falter they did. De Boer’s tactics were too often uninventive and ineffective, and his personnel choices frequently mystifying. When you look at how Inter approached each match it should really be little surprise that they won so infrequently during the 84 days that de Boer was in charge, and less surprising that he be fired simply on those grounds, and then when you add all the chaos that went on during his time at Inter, it’s only surprising that he wasn’t shown the door sooner.

Whoever replaces de Boer -- the rumor is currently that former Lazio manager Stefano Pioli will be the man hired -- will need to be cognizant of the powder keg of a situation he’s inheriting. More awareness of the situation around him and better handling of the squad will be vital, and hopefully simply making better choices will go a long way towards leading Inter to a far better run than they’ve seen over the last three months.