NextGen series produces its first star

The final of the inaugural NextGen football series ended last week and the first star has already been identified from the competition.

He's not one of the under-19 year old players who have been sweating it out for the crown but the 36 year old manager who guided Internazionale's kids to glory last Sunday.

Andrea Stramaccioni, in the space of a week, went from leading the Inter youth team at the NextGen final to taking charge of his first ever game in Serie A. Although his promotion to head coach is only on an interim basis, until the end of the season, a thrilling 5-4 victory in his first game will lead many to speculate that the young Italian can stake a claim for the job permanently.

For Inter they lurch to their third manager of the season. After replacing Gian Peiro Gasperini with Claudio Ranieri, after just three months, Massimo Moratti then finally ran out of patience with the 'tinkerman', who was moved on on Monday.

Whilst results failed to really pick up under Ranieri, there was a sense that it was too late to mount a challenge this season and the stop-gap manager would be quietly moved aside in the summer for a big name candidate.

However, the juxtaposing form of Inter's NextGen squad and their full-team, came full circle last Sunday when Stramaccioni's young charges beat favourites Ajax in London and the youth team manager was put in charge of the first-team the very next day.

That Moratti chose to attend the NextGen final, played at the Leyton Orient's Matchroom Stadium, rather than watch his expensively assembled squad take on, and lose, against Juventus is indicative of how badly Inter's season has gone. Inter may decide to look to youth in the future and young Lorenzo Crisiteg has already vindicated the creators of the NextGen tournament, going on to make his full debut for Inter in the Champions League after appearing in the youth series.

Stramaccioni's appointment is relatively low risk: the young manager can surely only improve Inter's eight place in the league and it makes more sense in developing a young managerial talent, then letting Ranieri preside over a stuttering end of season.

If he does badly then the names of Villas Boas and the dream candidate, Marcelo Bielsa (who turned Inter down last summer) will be discussed again as Inter look to make a full-time appointment. But if the 36 year old impresses, with what is an ageing squad, then he throws his own name into contention for the permanent role and the rebuilding job that Internazionale must surely undertake.

Though few inside Inter will admit it, there must be a hope that Stramaccioni will emulate his most prominent predecessor, Jose Mourinho. Both had virtually no professional playing career, are university trained and started managerial work at a young age. Inter, and to a lesser extent Chelsea, both seem to be suffering from a Mourinho vacuum. Whether he overachieved at the clubs or simply enjoyed the squads when they were in their prime is a pertinent question but since his departure from both clubs they have struggled to re-capture that same form and success.

It will be several years before we know whether Stramaccioni bears comparison to Mourinho, but Inter fans will hope that his explosive debut win marks the start of another special one.