Simone Inzaghi named coach of the season in Serie A
48-year-old Simone Inzaghi, who guided Inter Milan to their Italian title, was named Serie A's coach of the season by the Italian League on Friday. He follows in the footsteps of Luciano Spalletti, who received the honor while leading Napoli last year.
- Sports
- AFP
- Published Date: 07:24 | 24 May 2024
- Modified Date: 07:24 | 24 May 2024
Simone Inzaghi, who led Inter Milan to the Italian title, has been voted Serie A coach of the season, the Italian League announced on Friday.
Inzaghi, 48, succeeded Luciano Spalletti, who took the honour at the helm of Napoli last season.
Inzaghi was chosen by a panel of sports publication directors, said the league, which did not detail voting tallies.
"It could only be Simone Inzaghi," Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo said in a statement.
"Inter have both the best attack and best defence and also went on a 28-game unbeaten run," said the statement, adding that Inzhagi "has had his players continuously play an exciting brand of football while maintaining compactness and solidity".
The award will be presented ahead of Inter's last match of the season at Verona.
Two Inter players also picked up individual awards on Friday, as Serie A named five players of the season. Hakan Calhanoglu was selected midfielder of the season and Alessandro Bastoni was the best defender.
Michele Di Gregorio of Monza picked up the goalkeeper award and Dusan Vlahovic of Juventus was the best striker.
Joshua Zirkzee, a 23-year-old Dutch striker with Bologna, who are in a surprising third place, was named best player under 23.
Those awards, Serie A said, are decided by "performance data and advanced analysis" of statistics.
Going into Sunday's final round, Inter hold a 19-point lead over second-placed AC Milan.
Since Inzaghi took over at Inter in 2021 he has led the club to three Italian Supercups, two Italian Cups and, last season, the final of the Champions League.
While they went out in the round of 16 in both the Champions League and Italian Cup this season, they dominated Serie A with 29 wins, six draws and just two defeats.
Inter changed ownership on Wednesday, with US fund Oaktree taking over from Chinese group Suning, which was unable to repay a debt worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Oaktree said on Friday that it had taken control of 99.6 per cent of the club's capital.
Inter's fans also discovered on Friday that season ticket prices for matches at the San Siro next season would rise between 12 per cent and 23 per cent - a decision made before Oaktree's takeover.