Roberto Mancini's first full season back in charge at Inter Milan ultimately proved to be a disappointing one as the club failed to reach their objective of qualifying for the Champions League again. It was a campaign that promised much in the early weeks of the season. Inter were far from setting the world alight with their miserly brand of football but they were grinding out victories, often by the odd goal, and were sitting atop the Serie A table at Christmas time. Mancini seemed to have instilled a winning mentality in the squad whereby they could attain three points even if they weren't playing well but it was unrealistic to think they could go through the entire season that way. Sooner or later their luck would run out and that proved to be the case in what was a pretty poor second half of the campaign. A terrible run of results in the early months of 2016 turned them from title contenders to struggling to make the top 3. Ultimately they failed to finish in those coveted places as Roma overhauled them with a well timed run at the end of the season. Nevertheless, 4th place is an improvement on recent years and there were some positives for the Nerazzurri. Mancini has brought some defensive solidity into the side as only the top two conceded fewer goals than Inter whilst Samir Handanovic remains one of the best goalkeepers in the league. Ivan Perisic proved to be a fine summer buy from Wolfsburg as he contributed greatly in terms of goals and assists. His compatriot Marcelo Brozovic is becoming a growing influence in the Inter midfield. However, it is Mauro Icardi who remains the talisman for the club with another 16 goals in Serie A this season. It's hard to see where Inter would be without his contribution. Mancini now has his second summer transfer window to work with and this will perhaps define his second term at the club.
