Inter played Carpi at home and should have got three points with themselves before the derby and the cup game against Juve mid-week. Instead it was like watching a replay of the last few seasons where 95 minutes of sloppy mistakes, bad passes and bad accuracy in front of goal ended up with Carpi getting a goal in the dying minutes. I forgot to mention that Carpi was playing with ten men and got Inter on a counter attack, something that should be absolutely impossible. First of all when leading 1-0 in the 93rd minute, Inter shouldn’t be attacking. It would be good to go for a 2-0 goal in the 50th, 60th, 70th and maybe up til 85th minute, but when it comes to the dying minutes it’s to big of a risk against a team that caused trouble even in the first half. Instead Inter did just that and was punished. Juan Jesus let the shot through his legs which made it impossible for Handanovic to save the ball.
I’ve lost count of how many times Juan has let goals in like this when going one against one against a striker. I’ve lost count of how many times Inter has let late goals in after missing 5 good opportunities. I’ve lost count of how many unnecessary points Inter has dropped at home against bottom teams. I’ve seen all of this before and it’s becoming worrying that it isn’t changing. In order for Inter to become great again, and to be a serious contender for the league title and even the CL-places, San Siro needs to become our fortress again. In the last three games at home, Inter has one point, and that’s against Lazio, Carpi and Sassuolo.
Today Mancini’s coaching and the players on the field weren’t good enough and in the end it was well deserved. Miranda came on at halftime to help the central defense and it seemed a good idea, but why did Telles leave the field instead of Montoya? Telles had a good start and was active on his wing. In the end Nagatomo came on and also there one would want to know why the more stable D’Ambrosio didn’t come on instead. And to be honest, even if it’s sad, it seems our most confident midfielder on the ball is Gary Medel. He could’ve helped the midfield today when Inter was suffering. Instead it all ended up with suffering a goal from Carpi, who were playing with ten men, and were losing. I expect all of the players that didn’t play today, that should’ve been on the field to play against Juve midweek, and maybe in the derby as well, but Inter can’t afford to lose points like this.
On top, Palacio, who has been 50% of what he used to be for over a year, was our best player. He fought, scored, created chances and nearly got another goal at two occasions. Perisic was generous in his running, but once again failed to contribute offensively. Ljajic tried to to something, but didn’t manage to get things done. Icardi was down in defense and on the wing running around and when the chance fell to him he didn’t score. Jovetic came on in the end but didn’t see the ball much. It’s clear that Inter’s offensive play needs to improve a lot, but it’s also clear that the midfielders at Mancini’s disposal aren’t good enough to help the strikers. Which means if the strikers can’t resolve the games by themselves, Inter will suffer and Inter is now suffering.
The 1-0 victories have done a lot for the team, and it’s given us 27 points. But maybe, and I say maybe because I wouldn’t know, if the team is to confident at 1-0 and doesn’t get 2-0 because they rely on the 1-0 result to stand. This is what could happen. Because the 1-1 result today was very well deserved for Carpi and Inter now needs to improve, a lot.