In his regular weekly column Inter fanatic Sam Olsen dives deep into the stories that matter to Inter’s fans looking to keep the spirit of discussion and dispute alive and well on the pages of Sempreinter.com.
One of the unfortunate things about destroying a team 7-0 is that generally expectations of the fans are raised to a point far above where they perhaps deserve to be. No doubt some of these expectations would have been tempered by the decidedly average 0-1 win over Dnipro midweek, but nevertheless, I must admit I had high hopes of a good performance against Palermo. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the efforts in the Ukraine, as well as in the other competitive away game against Torino where Vidic was forced to liven up proceedings by getting himself sent off in the dying seconds in fear of leaving the fans with nothing better to talk about than the weather upon the final whistle.
In Palermo the former United captain decided to try a different ploy. Why wait till the end for a moment of madness when you can do it right in the beginning? If his attempted backpass while being heavily pressed by the Palermo striker was an attempt to set the game alight, his efforts were sadly and greatly misplaced. What followed Vidic’s howler was perhaps the most abysmal 45 minutes in the top division of Italian football as Palermo and Inter went head to head in a challenge to see who could find the lowest depths of ineffective, pointless play. Passes missing targets by wide margins; check. Statue like movement across the park; check. Complete breakdown in communication; check. It seemed as it as if neither team were really sure how to play after a goal had been scored and both teams plans for a 0-0 had disappeared out the window. It was painful.
Inter’s plan seemed to be to build from the back, very, very slowly, control the game through aimless passing and launch a few shots from deep. There appeared no urgency, no real speed at all in the play and there was a complete break down between both defence and midfield, and midfield and attack. The number of times Inter’s defenders found themselves with the ball, a light press being applied by the eager Palermo attackers, with no one to pass to. Inevitably the ball would be launched up field to no one in particular, leaving Palermo to copy and repeat. Up front Icardi and Osvaldo, faced with a deep backline, seemed incapable of realising that the ball was not going to be played into the two metres of space behind them but still persisted in playing off the last man instead of making an effort to move toward the ball and make something happen. That Icardi only had one shot in the entire game says a lot about how involved he was, that he had only seven passes in total, most of which were around halfway, says even more about his trip to Sicily.
The midfield was not much better. In attack there appeared no link or communication with the strikers who on countless occasions threw their hands up in the air as balls where played into space instead of to feet and vice versa. Conversely, when the defence was attempting to pass their way out from the back they usually found themselves with no one to pass to. Everyone in front of them were standing still waiting for the ball, there was no movement, no overlapping play, no urgency, nothing. Guarin and Kovacic seemed as if they had just met, while Medel preferred to go sideways rather than forwards which in fairness is his distribution style. Interestingly enough perennially defensive minded Medel managed to fire off two shots to Icardi’s one, further demonstrating the absolute disappearance of the Argentinian striker in Palermo.
After a while the team decided to do away with passing altogether and, driven on by Guarin, took the route one option of trying to run through the entire Palermo backline. The tactic never looked like coming off, although ironically it was one of there misguided charges that led to Inter’s equaliser. Osvaldo was comfortably tackled on the edge of the box, only for the ball to roll into the path of Kovacic, making perhaps the only forward run from the deep in the game. Given the opportunity the Professor dispatched it with some style.
Perhaps the best indication of the complete absence of a plan B when plan A, whatever that was, did not work, was the performance, or lack there of, of the wingers. It would seem obvious to think that the purpose of wingers would be to stretch the game, to offer width and help alleviate the congestion in the box by drawing defenders wide; it may even be to get to the gainline and whip in some devilish crosses, making the defence turn and think. Unfortunately no one seems to have told Nagatomo and D’Ambrosio. In total the two wingers attempted a paltry five crosses, none of which were successful and only three of which actually made it into the box. This meagre stat can only suggest that they were told not to cross the ball. The wingers also created no chances between them, managed just one off target shot, spent the bulk of the match between the Palermo box and halfway offering little more than a midfield passing option. While D’Ambrosio did provide some defensive cover Nagatomo allowed the opposition a virtual free reign down his wing leaving him as a winger who offered little in defense and less in attack. Even when the system changed to a 4-4-2 in an attempt to promote more attacking intent and maybe free things up a bit, Nagatomo appeared completely lost, a small ship being catapulted across the waves as the bigger ones plow through them. He would power forward needlessly then watch as the Palermo men charged down his wing after another needless turnover.
With the shambles that was open play leaving very little opportunity for goals, it was up to the favourite tactic of the smaller clubs, the set piece, to try to win the day for Inter. Even then though the chronic lack of communication or team co-ordination saw two goals disallowed for offside.
It was a game that deserved nothing more than a draw, fair reward for two sides that offered up little in the way of quality. Mazzarri, who must at least be commended for the attacking intent displayed in his substitutions, must continue to ponder the big question marks around the mentality when playing away from home. There was no doubt an element of fatigue as well as shock at the early concession that led to the insipid display but it was obvious from the go that the team’s approach was one of limiting Palermo’s counter attacking opportunity rather than over running them with superior skills. The players were ponderous, overly-cautious and indecisive throughout, and on this showing still have a long way to go. On a positive note however, the feeling is that, despite these hiccups, there is a genuine quality about this squad that, when everything falls into place, will see them push any other team in the division. It is now up to Mazzarri to make sure that day comes as often as possible.
