Gazzetta – Inter predicted XI for Bayern friendly

Ok so I missed the game but have just caught up on the full match thanks to good ol’ youtube.

I must say I was very impressed with the team as a whole. Our defending was solid, and considering it contained Nagatomo that is saying a lot. The way we built up play from defence to attack, through the midfield rather than completely skipping it was excellent. It actually felt like I was watching a team with an identity, and with attacking intent, something we have sorely missed for many many years.

First half:
Excellent, fucking excellent. We were pegged back for the first 6min, and then after 1 superb counter attacking play we were ahead. Candreva managed to pick out the crosses he was bought for, and Eder did well to finish the first effort.
Bayern for me seemed very frustrated and kept wasting their attacking plays by blindly shooting. Probably a huge testament to our CB pairing, as well as our midfield duo.
The second goal for me was even better. More of a team build up play with an inch perfect cross by Perisic.

Second Half:
Damage was done in the first, as seems we decided to contain Bayern and frustrate them out of the game. A few attempts to secure a 3rd, but nothing concrete.

Positives:
Ok so for me a huge shout out has to go to Miranda and Skrinir. What a pairing. If they play like that for the rest of the season, then I can see opponents finding little joy from set pieces, and through the middle. They were excellent. (Perhaps I am putting too much praise on them, but compared to what we have been used to this is a god send. Feel like watching the good old days of Lucio and Samuel) Every time a ball was played into our box, I had confidence in our defence to deal with it.

Midfield – KDog and Valero pairing is what we have been missing. KDog was calm under pressure, and commanded the midfield. Valero added that experience he was bought in for, and added both calmness, and intelligence. I can’t believe this is the same Kondogbia we have seen previously. Pioli managed to get this level of play out of him from time to time, so lets hope Spalletti can do it consistently.

Attackers – Candreva… I will admit that I am usually a harsh critic of him, but today he showed what he can really do (perhaps putting on a show for Mr. Conte). His crosses were actually good, with all of them (yes all) reaching an Inter player, and not hitting the first man (shock) and his defensive contribution was great too. You can see why he is a starter when he plays like that, just a shame it is not consistent.
Perisic… Great game by Perisic and I have only 1 minor complaint about his game. I may get some stick for saying this, but there were times he was too greedy and refused to pass to Nagatomo. I know he is not a good player, but at times Perisic really should have given him the ball to keep the play going, rather then try and go it alone. Not a huge issue, but you can see his lack of desire to play with Nagatomo which could be an issue if he doesn’t leave, and we don’t fix our FB problem. I have to comment on his battle with Rafinha. It was nice to see some spice in the game based on player rivalry.
Eder… Excellent attacking runs, and his goals were well taken. Can’t really say much else.

Negatives:
N A G A T O M O… It is him again, although not as bad as we have experienced before. He put in a decent defensive and attacking shift, but was the only player that needed bailing out vs Coman by Miranda time and time again.

D A M B R O S I O… Provided nothing this game for me. Did a few good overlapping runs, but end product was disappointing, and he also needed bailing out vs Ribery from Skrinir.

Perhaps I am being too harsh on them considering the teams performance, but out of all those who played, I would put them down as the worst.

A side note on Gabi… Came on as ST and I was not fully convinced. Dropped too far to get the ball which meant we were essentially playing a 4-2-4-0 formation. This may have been more effective with a number 10 more focused on getting forward and shooting, then ball distribution (Jovetic rather then J.Mario), as it would have allowed Gabi and JoJo to interchange, causing confusion.

Overall a fantastic performance that has fired up the fans. Our defence was impressive, midfield dictated the play, and the attack was dangerous. We were well organised, with 7/8 men always behind the ball when Bayern were on the attack.

MOTM for me is out of Miranda, Skrinir, and KDog.

Miranda probably gets it for me though. He put in a bigger shift due to having to cover for Nagatomo at times.

-Long comment over-

btw, thank you sempreinter for the match’s thread.. i was asking it in the last friendly. you guys are the best..^^

Really impressed with skriniar today. Looked like a younger miranda. So calm on the ball and precise on his tackles. Love the quick interchanging passes too. Look like a completely different team. Like a team with an identity.

finally nagatomo out

Skriniar motm imo, solid as fuck. Borja Valero is 2nd cuz he played less.

yogatomo still playing amazing, he is indispensble

I dk why but I still have the feeling Renato Sanches will be a good player despite flopping last season…