Samir Handanovic is currently in his 14th Serie A season and, after
many years of defensive mishaps and midfield mistakes, he looks to be
part of a team that’s worthy of
his talent.
In 2012, Handanovic moved to the Nerazzurri from Udinese for a reported
fee of €11m. However, the Inter he joined looked a lot different from
the one he’s playing in right now. He was more used to seeing the shirts
in front of him read ‘Ranocchia’ and ‘Silvestre’ than ‘Miranda’ and
‘Skriniar’. Javier Zanetti was also on his last legs and Yuto Nagatomo
didn’t seem to know how to actually defend.
In his debut season, Inter and Handanovic conceded an eye-watering 57
goals, the joint second worst in the league. The only club to concede
more was Pescara with 84. However, Handanovic did take home ‘Serie A
goalkeeper of the season’ in 2013, perhaps earning some sympathy points
from voters.
Whilst Handanovic’s form has fluctuated throughout the years, as is
natural for most goalkeepers, you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of
guilt for some of the defences he’s played behind. At times, it seemed
as though he was having to do all the defensive organisation himself,
like a teacher trying to corral a chaotic classroom.
His spectacular acrobatic displays in goal always catch the eye,
especially an inexplicable reaction save against Atalanta last term.
Goalkeepers are hard to analyse as it is, but when a defence in front of
you is allowing strikers to get into good scoring positions so
regularly, it’s hard to look good. Somehow though, he’s still managed to
look calm and collected, which in the last decade at Inter has been a
true rarity.
It’s astounding that Handanovic has for over a decade been one of the
most consistently excellent goalkeepers in Europe, yet has never played
in the Champions League. His loyalty to Inter might finally be rewarded
this season with a side worthy of him.
Spalletti’s men have conceded a mere 10 goals in 16 games. The
shot-stopper has been a big part of this, but you also have to give
credit to Spalletti for revamping the sixth-best defence into a top
unit. He also worked on improving the players that had been letting down
Inter and Handanovic in recent years, such as Davide Santon and Danilo
D’Ambrosio.
So, what’s the limit on Handanovic’s legacy? He’s 33 years old, he’s
never kept the net for an elite or even top defence, but he’s evidently
been a terrific goalkeeper. It’s a hard case to pin down. So far
Handanovic has been selected for Serie A Team of The Year twice and has
two Goalkeeper of The Year awards.
For hypothetical reasons, let’s imagine he makes another appearance in
TOTY and picks up GOTY (more than possible). Then let’s say Inter have
the best defensive record in Serie A for the next two years. This is
where Handanovic’s resume begins to build up to where we talk about him
as one of the great Serie A goalkeepers of all-time.
Unless he finds the fountain of youth or Inter go on a run of Scudetti,
Handanovic will never hit the legacies of Gigi Buffon or Angelo
Peruzzi. However, the Nerazzurri man can certainly have a legacy that
matches with Nelson Dida and Francesco Toldo, most likely better if his
career goes as projected above.
Considering he’s spent most of his Inter career hoping that those in
front of him don’t mess up, it’s refreshing to see Handanovic be part of
a resolute defence. Italy has a funny way of extending the careers of
players, so even at 33 it’s feasible that Handanovic spends another few
seasons as a top goalkeeper, manned by a top defence. He’s finally
getting what he deserves.
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