Another two points thrown away against a worse team and there are a few words to write a night like this. I’m just happy that I have a computer to write on and that it hasn’t been thrown from my balcony because such a thing would be possible a night like this. Beh, who am I kidding, everything is just as usual and after all the similar games this season I’ve learnt how to handle it to the point where my computer doesn’t risk being thrown out and my neighbours don’t risk getting computers thrown on them
Today’s performance was mediocre. Just like Inter is a mediocre team(not worse than Chievo, Catania, Livorno and so on) and Mazzarri is a mediocre coach. Be aware that mediocre doesn’t mean bad, Mazzarri has a CV talking for him and that he is a good coach can’t be discussed. The question is how good he is. At most, he is good. Not better, not worse, but the word mediocre suits him better and todays game shows why. Inter sends a starting eleven to the field where Ranocchia who was the best player last game is .. on the bench. In front of the defense, Kuzmanovic starts, no one knows what he has done to deserve his spot. The same goes for Ricky Alvarez who seems to be back in his normal conditions and not the player that we saw in the beginning of the season. Ricky was fresh in his last entrance against Udinese, but didn’t actually do anything, something that happened today as well before he was subbed against Ruben Botta. Why wasn’t he subbed before? Why was he subbed when Inter chased a goal?
Before asking more questions, Inter scored two easy goals were crosses towards Palacio and Icardi led to goals from Hernanes and Palacio. In the second half we miss some chance before Paulinho scores and we can start asking questions again.
Hernanes was subbed against Guarin when Inter was in the lead with one goal. First of all why weren’t Kuzmanovic or Alvarez subbed? Second of all, and I don’t care about the mistake that Guarin made, why was Guarin who was bad in the last game come on instead of Taider or Kovacic? Inter owned the ball and things went slow. Taider who always gives a 100% and dares to tackle(something that Kuzmanovic doesn’t) and also knows how to score and assist(look at him in the national team) could do well. Kovacic? You know his qualities, and I don’t even want to enter the discussion. What I want to say is that if Mazzarri had treaten every player like Kovacic, we would’ve been playing with our primavera today instead of those who were on the pitch today.
Mediocre choices by Mazzarri and his limits as coach are showing more and more. The game that has been read by every team in the league since last november was played in this match as well and in the end Inter were punished. Kovacic might not be finished defensively(of course not he is 19 years old). But his qualities would’ve fitted in on the field against Livorno today. A Livorno that mostly consists players who have been loaned out from Inter, and that somehow has to mean that Kovacic who was good enough to stay at Inter is better than his opponents or have I missed anything.
Zanetti coming on for Jonathan was another loss, not because Jonathan had a brilliant match and that Zanetti is a bad player. Not that, but the signal Mazzarri sends with the substitution is something like: “NOW LETS DEFEND!” And when we instead let a goal in it will be hard for the team to react and to attack. Botta comes on for Alvarez in the end, and here Milito could’ve came on for a central defender but that’s another question and to be fair Alvarez was shite.
These are questions that have to be asked for Mazzarri. To his defense, the players at his disposal are mediocre, but he was brought in to make the most out of them. He has a 3 million euro a season wage and has no solutions, the fact that Inter before this game had scored 13 goals in ten games 2014 proves it. Dropping a 0-2 lead against Livorno says it all. Mazzarri likes balance, but Inter doesn’t have balance. Mazzarri likes players who run, then I hope he is happy with Ricky and Kuzmanovic instead of Cassano. Mazzarri needs to find solutions, he needs to be that strong man that Inter have been missing and he needs to be more than mediocre. He needs to dare giving Kovacic the chance to fail, learn, and perform. He needs to dare to give Kovacic a chance to play KOVACIC’S game and not Mazzarri’s game. He needs to give Taider the chance to run, fight and hunt. He needs to dare to put others than the youngsters who don’t perform on the bench. He needs to dare to make offensive substitutions even if we are leading and without playing with a defensive midfielder like Kuzmanovic against Livorno.
Whatever we do, we are dropping points even though we aren’t using the offensive potential that this team has. Inter is a mediocre team, where the player with the most qualities is stuck on the bench and that my friends is thanks to a mediocre coach.
The good: It can’t be worse. Eh, sorry for a bad april fools joke.
The bad: Mazzarri is the best coach available, and Inter will only suffer if they kick him. IF a great coach doesn’t come and those are very few.