The Frenchman seems like a completely different player from the Marcus we’ve seen in recent years. And Nicolò is largely to blame for Fiorentina’s equalizer
“We’re not at our best right now; there’s fatigue.” Aleksandar Kolarov’s candid and stark analysis, in his debut as head coach on Inter’s bench, paints a picture of a worrying situation. It’s more than just fatigue. The engine is idling, as if it were malfunctioning, and the team must hope for an emergency landing to avoid compromising flight safety. It’s the numbers that have put a Scudetto—which seemed all but won—back up for grabs: two points in the last three matchdays for a team accustomed to dominating nearly all opponents is a red flag; four games without a win, including the Coppa Italia, are like a handbrake slammed on future ambitions.
Chivu, who watched the match from a skybox at the Franchi Stadium while serving a suspension, had already sensed trouble brewing. He perceived the danger, beyond the results of Milan and Napoli, who had suddenly re-entered the race. Over the past two weeks, taking advantage of the painful absence of European matches, the coaching staff had organized a focus on physical conditioning. But the results aren’t visible yet. Many players who were key figures in the winter run are fading in the spring, when the fates of the top teams are decided: Zielinski and Dimarco, for example, could use some rest. But above all, the leaders are missing in action—the very players Chivu asked just last Saturday to “step up and take responsibility to contribute to the team.” Nicolò Barella was decisive for better or worse, recording his seventh assist of the season and his 50th in Serie A, and setting up Fagioli for the goal that tied the game.
down— But the most serious case remains Marcus Thuram. Over the past month, instead of taking over the role of playmaker from Lautaro, he has been dozing in the shadow of Pio Esposito. It’s not so much the three goals he’s scored in 2026 that place him on the list of players who are hard to find—and, looking ahead, those who could be sold. It’s above all the level of his performances—almost always below par—that’s fueling concerns within the club. It’s true that Thuram came on when Inter led 1-0. But it’s also true that his contribution against Fiorentina was very poor. Here we go again. He’d deserve a few games on the bench if it weren’t for the fact that Bonny, once again, has shown that he’s out of sync as well.
Solutions— How can the team intervene now to avoid a collapse? The break doesn’t help because the national teams are taking a large portion of the squad away from Chivu. Inter’s hope is that Lautaro’s return—scheduled for Easter Sunday against Roma—can reverse the negative trend: in the last six games, Inter has scored more than one goal only once (against Genoa, with the second coming on a penalty) . And, as it happens, the captain wasn’t there. This is another reason why the team is trying to manage the results, as they did against Atalanta, fending off the pressure. Without energy and without Lautaro Martinez, they simply can’t produce any more.
