Inter went to Bologna with the objective to win. After a poor first half against Palermo all the fans could expect was a better first half against Bologna. Instead, the first half against Bologna was if possible even worse than the one against Palermo. Inter failed to create chances and struggled to create anything that could endanger Bologna. It was sad to see that even though Inter failed to attack Bologna, Bologna managed to hit Inter on the break.
The first half was worrying itself but more worrying was the performance of Geoffrey Kondogbia in this half. The French midfielder should have the energy to dominate the midfield in a game like this but probably played his worst half in the Inter shirt. As if Kondogbia’s doubters weren’t many already, this half didn’t help to change the opinions of those critisizing him and Kondogbia still has a lot to show. Perisic also struggled in the first half and didn’t get his crosses in. In defense, Ranocchia suffered a nutmeg so big from some player called Ferrari. To be honest I don’t even know who this Ferrari guy is but that nutmeg was so enormous I would’ve considered subbing myself out if I was Ranocchia. Santon saved his co-national this time and as the second half was about to start it felt like things surely couldn’t get worse.
The start of the second half was similar to the first half. Felipe Melo was shown a yellow card early on and already there it was sure that the Brazilian would miss the game against Roma. One could wonder why Mancini left Melo on the bench against Palermo instead of starting him in Sicily, in order to avoid the suspension against a big team like Roma where Melo surely would’ve been needed. Sloppy play from Brozovic and Ranocchia put Melo in a situation where he received his second yellow and Inter was playing ten men once again this season. Mancini said after the game that football isn’t basketball and that players have to be able to touch other players without receiving yellow cards. And this is true in my opinion. Melo can’t just disappear and the second yellow card seemed exaggerated. Mancini was furious and even though the coach is needed on the sideline, I can’t help but loving to see the coach blast everyone and everything. It sent a signal to the players as well and just as you all know, when Inter wants to succeed in the Serie A they have to be better than the referees as well.
The red card, the anger against the referee and Mancini’s sending off seemed to be just what Inter needed to wake up. Suddenly the players started to run more and to play the ball with a higher tempo which put Bologna into problems. Icardi who has proven to be Inter’s best crosser doesn’t miss out on the opportunity when it’s given to him and when Ljajic slipped through after Brozovic’s great pass, Icardi was there to finish it off.
In these days Icardi is being very critisized and I’m always keen on defending him. As I’ve written before Icardi is a player who needs to be activated by his teammates. He needs to be fed with passes and crosses to make the difference and when he’s feeded he will score or open space for his teammates. When Icardi is not feeded with passes and crosses he fades away from the games and who can blame him. Many people claim that Icardi isn’t moving enough to get the ball or isn’t moving right and I want to deny this as well. I don’t know if the TV-camera’s fail to show Icardi’s movement off the ball but if it’s one thing that makes Icardi a great striker more than his ability to score it’s his movement. He is always on the move and is always taking a run to either create an opportunity for himself or to open space for a teammate. When the passes don’t arrive, Icardi might look lazy and selfish but he is everything else than that and it’s really up to Inter to start activating Icardi. Today he got a goal and I’m sure he will score more if the passes arrive to him.
It was great to see Ljajic get an assist as well. The Serbian has been doing great the last few matches and in difference from others, he hasn’t been crying over being put on the bench. He has been quiet, he has worked hard and he has proven on the field that he deserves to play. When he has entered the last games he has always created chances and today he took the opportunity to do well from start. Ljajic has incredible talent and together with Jovetic and Icardi, Inter could have an interesting trio if they need to mix things up or if Perisic needs a rest.
I’d like to praise Jonathan Biabiany who came on from the bench and did perfectly in his short substitution. He is playing with great confidence and is doing exactly what he’s good at. Considering that Biabiany was very close to have to stop playing football due to his heart problem it is great to see him back on the pitch and Mancini is really having great use of the French striker. Another former Inter-primavera player was close to make it a draw in the end. Mattia Destro could’ve and should’ve made it 1-1 at the Dall’Ara but failed to convert his great chance in the end of the game. For Handanovic, who almost caused the loss against Fiorentina by himself this match winning save was of great importance and this win shouldn’t be underestimated. Getting three points here with one man less was exactly what Inter needed.
Three points needed, three points taken.
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Some thoughts:
1. Inter’s played way too slow and rigid, unlike their opponent, who pass the ball quickly and lots of running, simple passing, and neat dribbling.
2. Inter was built for attack, yet it seems their play is more suitable for counter-attack.
3. The midfield was again disappointed. Inter need box-to-box midfield, who will chase opponent all over the Inter’s half.
4. 10 men Inter’s play decent was wrong. Football is consist of 11 players, not 10. There must be something wrong if you play like sh*t when there are 11 on the field, and play normally when down to 10 men.
5. Again, and again, and again, it’s 10 round of Serie A, yet, like Mancini said, Inter’s haven’t gel as a team after 8 round.
The problem we have is the fact that the team lacks cohesion in attack, and our fullbacks lack the confidence and ability to dribble and cross. Whatever our team is creating is out of individual talent, and that’s alarming.
i think this will be unpopular opinion.
i think inter play much better after melo sent off,
when brozovic comes deep, the attacking flow and transition become better and kondo play much better after that.
i think melo is most suitable when we want to slow the tempo, not for building an attacking link.
therefore against roma the midfield should be medel – kondogbia with ljajic-jovetic-perisic behind icardi.
medel and kondo in the midfield just feel like cambiasso and motta back in the days
I think Melo should only be used against teams like, Juve, Milan, Napoli, etc.
i agree with you mate
but medel + kondogbia is too far from cambiasso + motta
I agree, but as a Melo critic I have to admit that he’s the best option to play as a deep lying playmaker, specially in the games that we could afford to attack with fewer players (against good teams that we counter attack) But as for the ability to run and neutralize the opposing team’s attack, Kondogbia, Medel, Brozo, and even Gnoukori are better options.
I like the article and agree for the most of it except the icardi part. He shouldn’t be the player activated by his teammates, instead he should activated his teammates. He is captain for godsakes! He need to work harder to be respected by others. All striker can score if they receive a good pass, no need to be worldclass to do so. But great striker don’t need to rely entirely of good pass. I think we are on this site were mostly live in the era of brazilian ronaldo, adriano, ibrahimovic, tevez, drogba, and eto’o. Do you think they are all entirely rely on good pass to score? If they are all plaand icardi play in same era, Would you prefer icardi over them should you have privilege to choose player for our beloved inter team. I am not Icardi hater, I love him as an Inter player. But I demand him to work harder and do better for this team. He should prove that he deserve the sacred armband he proudly wear on his arm.
So last season when Icardi did 22 goals and was 21-22 years old. Would you prefer that or a Adriano, Ibrahimovic, Tevez, Drogba, Eto’o at 21-22 years old?
Stop with the bullshit. You are comparing a 21-22 years old Icardi with a ronaldo, adriano, ibrahimovic, tevez,drogba, eto at their peak. WTF?
That for me is hating. When Icardi is 30 years old, then ask me who I would choose. Right now I would have chosen Icardi infront of the others when they were 21-22 years old.
All of striker I mention has already scored 13-25 goals at 22 y.o. Just watching them play and compare to icardi at the same age, it’s total different joy for me as old football fan watching them play than icardi. They are all have more work rate and can carrying their team alone. Yes I hate Icardi when he didn’t give enough work rate on the game. If he doesn’t change, he will mever become a world class striker, he will end up become kezman, tristan, or djibril cisse. Or still scoring for lesser team like Gilardino.
Man i don’t care if hes Ronaldo or Yakubu. hes off the ball movement is so exceptional that he will always score a good amount of goals. Thats enough for me
We are scoring 10 goals in 10 games. That’s definitely not enough
top of the league fam
To be honest I don’t think the comparison is neither fair nor relevant. The strikers you mention were all fed with good passes and at least got the ball played to them. Icardi is very young and is still working very hard to improve but whilst he is improving, his abilities should be used by his teammates. Noone is asking for world class passes, but just for the ball to arrive at his feet. He is our best crosser and our best striker, it’s impossible for him to cross the ball to him self. Saying that Icardi should work harder and do better is unfair, he works very hard, both on the pitch and on the training ground. He will start doing better when his teammates start delivering passes and crosses into his path.
I don’t want this team to rely to much on gilardino type of player
The game was disaster. 3 points are great, but this should have ended tied. In attacking phase they were playing like they never seen each other before. Bologna gave us more space after red card, and started playing incredibly sloppy – that’s why we won.
Anyway, Ljajic did good job. I would like to see him in attacking trio with Jovetic and Icardi, with 3 midfielders behind providing defensive support.
If we had better wingbacks I’d love to see Mancini try this:
Ljajic-Jovetic
—-Icardi—
But since Perisic I guess we won’t see it.
I was just thinking about this formation, no shame in resting peresic and trying something new
Brozovic could be that balancing factor since he could provide support up front and allow attackers to go wide. His work rate is great recently.
Both Jovetic and Ljajic are much more dangerous then Perisic.
But if Mancini goes for 4-2-3-1 then Perisic should definitely be the first choice. We will just need to wait for him and Biabiany to find the right form and understanding with others.
yep thats right, but its up to mancini,
if he wants to play narrow should be ljajic and jovetic start, if he need width perisic and biabiany instead.
i think that composition match well.
This article is always fun to read, keep it up!
I agree on Icardi needing players to ‘activate’ him but I don’t agree that mancini’s behaviour was motivation – like the previous match and this one, out team doesn’t give their best except when they are in a very tough situation (being down to 10 in the last two games) a very bad mentality by our players
I hated when mazzari used to shout and I hated when mancini did it, it’s just chidish especially when you haven’t used a sub yet. Anyway I have faith in mancini, I just hope he’s more level headed next time
I’m glad you like the article!
I’ve been meaning to ask something, can studio inter take questions from sempreinter? you can make an article that takes questions. I think that would be nice