Beautiful and fragile like the Titanic, Inter Milan continue to lose points and slide in the Serie A standings, despite a strong start to the season that had them seemingly heading towards a second-straight Scudetto.
However, that hasn't happened and Monday night's 1-1 draw at Torino leaves them in third - four points behind league leaders and bitter rivals AC Milan, although they have a game in hand.
The team seems to have suffered too much since the turn of the year and these problems have only been exacerbated by their bleak February.
During last month's fixtures Inter appeared lazy and without physical strength - losing three of their six matches, drawing two and winning once. The three defeats came in a dreadful 15-day span.
If the month of February had not been so catastrophic, Inter would have greater conviction that they could win the Serie A title this season.
INZAGHI'S INEPT TACTICS
Manager Simone Inzaghi is the prime culprit for their current malaise. He continues to do his job with great determination but is aware that Inter's little title balloon is deflating and today it seems impossible to predict where it will land.
The distance from the top can be bridged but it is the physical and mental condition of the team that worries the coach.
Inter continue to lose ground due to some mistakes made by their coach. Simone Inzaghi is not used to the pressures of a title race and some of his wrong choices seem to be the result of his inexperience.
The feeling is that Inzaghi took advantage of the bonuses inherited from Antonio Conte's technical management for a few months and then began to create many doubts in the beliefs of the players.
He always uses many players on the bench and upsets the team with his embarrassing tactical decisions.
Statistically, the coach's changes take place between the 60th and 70th minute, as if the Nerazzurri players couldn't last longer than hour.
Once the hour mark hits, the team tends to lose it's spark as his tactical tweaks invoke sensational failures, with the team losing it's point of reference.
His constant complaints about refereeing errors too seem to have created too many justifications for the team when the going gets tough.
HANDANOVIC ON THE DECLINE
Many points were also lost due to the mistakes of veteran goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, who seems to be experiencing the decline of his career.
Inter have already chosen Andre Onana as the heir to their Slovenian captain but in the remainder of this season Handanovic will have to try to keep his concentration high to help the team overcome this moment of great difficulty.
The Inter captain has no physical and mental reaction skills but seems to be a victim of the negative moment of the team without being able to convey serenity to the defence.
Inzaghi's fault was not aiding the development of back-up goalkeeper Ionut Radu even in Handanovic's worst moments, clinging to the Slovenian goalkeeper like a talisman in the most delicate situations.
DZEKO IS TIRED, CAICEDO IS A GHOST
Inzaghi also has problems in attack where an overreliance on Edin Dzeko has led the 36-year-old to run out of gas.
The striker has been a charismatic leader for five months but has suffered more than he should have lately from the many close matches.
In January, Inzaghi asked for and obtained the purchase of Felipe Caicedo from Genoa but the Ecuador striker has become an expensive ghost for the club as he fails to make a dent into the first-team.
Since joining Inter he had only played once and he has been useless so far at the San Siro outfit.
