Inter captain Samir Handanovic has had an eventful first half of the season, coming under criticism for some high-profile errors but also showing his best with important saves which have preserved results for the team.
This is highlighted in the online edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who note that the 37-year-old has been in up-and-down form so far in the campaign.
Handanovic made his first big error in the Nerazzurri’s second match of the season, away to Hellas Verona, by allowing Gialloblu midfielder Ivan Ilic to score the opener by very cheaply giving the ball away in possession.
A sequence of bad mistakes in Inter’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta further highlighted the issues creeping into the Solvenian’s game, although he was fortunate to be bailed out when VAR ruled out a late Atalanta winner which he didn’t do anywhere near enough to save.
However, the best of Handanovic has also been in view, with the keeper producing a handful of top-class saves in moments where his defense has let him down.
Both early in the season when the team as a whole looked shakier and relied on him to keep them from crumbling, and in the past few weeks where he’s been the last line of defense preserving a sequence of six clean sheets in the row, he has made some fine stops.
Handanovic will be replaced as first-choice goalkeeper by Ajax’s Andre Onana when the Cameroonian signs on a free next summer, but before then he still looks set for a few more months filled with drama.
