Inter backup goalkeeper Andrei Radu’s costly error in yesterday evening’s 2-1 Serie A loss to Bologna will have have gone some way towards quieting the critics of first-choice Samir Handanovic.
This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, who argue that the dramatic howler has all but silenced the doubters of the captain.
Handanovic’s form earlier in the season, in which the 37-year-old made some costly errors of his own, had led to significant criticism from some fans and pundits, and even to calls to drop him in favour of Radu.
However, the team always stuck with the Slovenian with then exception of a start for Radu in the Coppa Italia against Empoli.
Handanovic’s influence proved to be key to the team throughout the second half of the season, and its absence was keenly felt in their clash with Bologna yesterday.
Radu found himself thrust into a must-win match for the title race, and the Romanian faltered under the pressure in a way that it is difficult to imagine Handanovic doing.
The captain has not been perfect for the Nerazzurri, but in the first match without him the team witnessed clearly what life is like without him.
