Let’s talk about puking a little bit. Puke, that we all know and love. It’s a funnier word the more times you say it. Not really what I meant to talk about. I rather discuss another word that has been floating around ever since Walter Mazzarri became head-coach of Inter: Grit

Mazzarri is the type of coach that can make a player run to his maximum and push a player to a level that the player himself, didn’t even know he had. With Mazzarri and potential new signings of Radja Nainggolan and Mauricio Isla, combined with players like Guarin, Kovacic, Obi, Nagatomo, Pereira, Juan, Samuel, Zanetti and Rodrigo Palacio, there is so much grit that it all comes bursting out of all the entry points to our players body. Get that image out of your head.

The worries of mine is that I don’t think it will last all the way. Or not even as far as we can hope, a Champions League-spot. Let me make a reference to my own life. I’ve never played football on any level, except for gym-class in school. Needless to say, I suck. But I have the mentality. It has never been a problem to run and struggle until I literally, throw up. Does this mean that I win? Of course not, I can collect the ball at my teams box and run like a thieving prostitute, with her pimp right behind her, to the other teams goal. Then I’ll take a shot that will fly off the pitch and kill a Jack Russel-terrier, there communes away. At top of this, I do have a rather good sense of play. I can see openings and the possibilities for a delicate pass, but I’m way to lousy with my feet to ever do something good with the possibilities. So, at the end of the day, it’s all just a big disappointment.

My worries are not uncalled for. Inter have sold Antonio Cassano, Wesley Sneijder and Philippe Coutinho within a period of six months and not really brought in any technical replacements. Mateo Kovacic being the closest to a playmaker. Then again, Walter Mazzarri’s way of playing football is not the most technical since bread came sliced. Yet, the uneasy feeling stays in my chest. I really thought Inter would draft a trequartista, such as Alessandro Diamanti or a proper regista, Francesco Lodi, for example. Now, we’re talking about Radja Nainggolan who is a dynamic player, a warrior. I have nothing negative to say, I adore Nainggolan and I wanted him last year. Our tactics at the moment, though, seems to be that Mazzarri hopes that we can run circles around our opponents until they die. Maybe there will be some sort of tactical idea that made Chelsea quite fearful under José Mourinho with strong and explosive midfielder breaking their way into the box with support of wellplaced and skilled strikers. Very effective with players like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. If Fredy Guarin and Mauro Icardi can carry the same weight on their shoulder, remains to be seen.
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So what’s the point I’m trying to make? The grit is essential and decisive. But it’s not a magic potion that breeds success. It takes some sort of balance. Look at the them that Mourinho could deploy during his days in Inter. There was grit in players like Zanetti, Cambiasso, Lucio and Maicon. There were tactical players like Samuel, Milito or Thiago Motta (quite a lot of grit in Motta as well). To mix with this there were technical playmakers like Wesley Sneijder or Dejan Stankovic who had the eye and the sensitivity in their feet to land the perfect pass. And the final part; Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito who contributed with speed, being well placed and a hazard in front of goal that I haven’t seen anywhere since. Does all that exist in Inter today? No.

Can you win the title by running and fighting until you puke and bleed out of your rectal opening? No, but it can take a team very far, but you can run all the way to the trophy. I know it and I believe that Moratti, Branca and Mazzarri knows it as well. I believe there is a plan.