After a summer that seems to have lasted forever, calico is finally back. As the anticipation builds ahead of Sunday’s opening game with Genoa, we’ve sat down and deliberated over what could take place over the next nine months. Taking part are myself (Ben Boucher), Siavoush Fallahi, Nima Tavallaey, Danny Hansen, Hampus Karki and Hussein Marhoon. Let the carnage begin…
1. Inter’s final league position 2013/14? (9th 2012/13)
Sia: I think Inter will finish 3rd. Just hoping for the mercato to go right.
Nima: Inter will finish 5th. The team is completely new, from defence to attack and so is the manager. Also teams like Fiorentina, Juventus, Napoli and Milan are stronger than us on paper
Danny: 4th. If Inter can prevent only half of the injuries compared to last year they will do much better. If Walter Mazzarri were to get the confidence, calm and support that no coach at Inter has been given since Mourinho Inter will do better. I also hope that many of our opponents will underestimate Inter because of the positions from the last two seasons.
Hampus: 4th
Hussein: 7th
Ben: 2nd. After an indifferent start, the team will start playing how Mazzarri wants by January. A couple of signings and we will take advantage of the fatigue sides playing three games a week suffer.
2. Number of points Inter will collect in 2013/14? (54, 2012/13)
Sia: 72
Nima: Around 55-60 points
Danny: 67
Hampus: 73
Hussein: 60+
Ben: 77
3. Inter’s top Serie A goalscorer 2013/14? (Palacio 12, 2012/13)
Sia: Rodrigo Palacio
Nima: Mauro Icardi. A goal poacher who if given the time and space will become one of the world’s deadliest strikers in a few years time.
Danny: Rodrigo Palacio. I would have loved to answer Mauro Icardi or Ishak Belfodil, but I think their time will come. I would also love to answer Diego Milito, but I think he’ll need some time. Instead, I think Rodrigo Palacio will be Inter’s top goalscorer in 2013/14. He scored 22 goals in his 39 appearances last season. You have to remember that it was his first season at Inter, a team that was in really bad shape for most of the season. Palacio still delivered and I’m certain he will do so even this coming season.
Hampus: Rodrigo Palacio on 16 goals.
Hussein: Rodrigo Palacio
Ben: Rodrigo Palacio
4. How many goals will Inter score this season? (55, 2012/13)
Sia: 70
Nima: 55. Belfodil and Icardi are brand new young players so they will need time to adapt to playing for a big club like Inter. Palacio can’t be expected to score 30 goals on his own.
Danny: 66. Inter didn’t manage to score more than 60 goals during any of the last two seasons. I think this will change even though we have two young attackers who will get playing time. The big difference will be Inter’s defense, which I hope will be much better than during the last two seasons. This will affect the offense in a positive way.
Hampus: 52
Hussein: 50+
Ben: 69. Was good enough for a second place finish in 2010/11
5. How many goals will Inter concede this season? (57, 2012/13)
Sia: 40
Nima: 30. Mazzarri’s teams always operate tightly in defence, Inter will be no exception. Handanovic is the best goalkeeper in the world and Campagnaro is Mazzarri’s player who knows how the coach expects the defence to behave.
Danny: 46. Inter conceded 57 in 2012/13 and 55 in 2011/12. This has been one of Inter’s biggest problems. I think Walter Mazzarri will improve our defense and Hugo Armando Campagnaro will play an extremely important part in this. I’m sure that Inter will play a much better defensive game and this season Handanovic, one of the three best goalkeepers in the world in my opinion, will get more help.
Hampus: 34
Hussein: 40+
Ben: 45
6. Inter’s player of the year?
Sia: Samir Handanovic
Nima: Mateo Kovacic. No explanations needed really. If he can stay fit he will show why he is widely regarded as being the greatest talent to come out of the Balkans.
Danny: Rodrigo Palacio. He will be Inter’s top scorer and I think he will take on the role of a leader on the team. I think this will be positive for our two young attackers. He’s extremely underrated and I hope this season will be the season that his greatness will be made obvious to everyone.
Hampus: Samir Handanovic
Hussein: Mateo Kovacic
Ben: Hugo Campagnaro. If the defence doesn’t hold up Inter will have zero chance of a top three finish. The Argentinian’s contribution will be key.
7. Inter’s young player of the year?
Sia: Mateo Kovacic, or maybe he doesn’t fit here so lets say Ishak Belfodil.
Nima: Mateo Kovacic. It’s difficult to digest that this little magician is only 19 years old.
Danny: Mateo Kovacic. He hasn’t turned 20 yet, but still has more experience than some of his older teammates. We saw glimpses of his greatness during the second half of 2012/13. If he could play well under those circumstances I think there’s nothing to stop him from being great for an Inter team that is doing better.
Hampus: Mateo Kovacic will prove that he is worthy of the number 10 on his back
Hussein: Mateo Kovacic
Ben: Mateo Kovacic
8. Serie A top 6 for 2013/14?
Sia: 1. Juve 2. Milan 3. Inter 4. Napoli 5. Fiorentina 6. Roma
Nima: 1. Juve 2. Napoli 3. Milan 4. Fiorentina 5. Inter 6. Roma
Danny: 1. Juve 2. Napoli 3. Milan 4. Inter 5. Fiorentina 6. Roma
Hampus: 1. Juve 2. Fiorentina 3. Napoli 4. Inter 5. Milan 6. Roma
Hussein: 1. Juve 2. Milan 3. Napoli 4. Fiorentina 5. Lazio 6. Roma
Ben: 1. Juve. 2. Inter. 3. Milan. 4. Napoli. 5. Fiorentina. 6. Udinese
9. Who will be relegated this season?
Sia: Hellas Verona, Sassuolo, and Livorno
Nima: Hellas Verona, Sassuolo and Livorno
Danny: Hellas Verona, Sassuolo and Chievo Verona
Hampus: Genoa, Sassuolo and Chievo Verona
Hussein: Hellas Verona, Livorno and Chievo
Ben: Hellas Verona, Livorno and Chievo
10. Capocannonieri for 2013/14?
Sia: Mario Balotelli
Nima: Mario Balotelli
Danny: Mario Balotelli
Hampus: Mario Balotelli
Hussein: Gonzalo Higuain
Ben: Mario Gomez (Based on chances created and wasted by the Viola last year)
11. First Serie A coach to be sacked 2013/14?
Sia: Fabio Liverani, Genoa
Nima: Sassuolo’s Eusebio Di Francesco.
Danny: Fabio Liverani, Genoa
Hampus: Vladimir Petkovic, Lazio
Hussein: Fabio Liverani, Genoa
Ben: Rudi Garcia, Roma
12. How many points will Inter collect off Milan?
Sia: 4
Nima: 4
Danny: 3
Hampus: 6
Hussein: 1
Ben: 4
13. How many points will Inter collect off Juventus?
Sia: 4
Nima: 1
Danny: 3
Hampus: 3
Hussein: 1
Ben: 1
So there you have it in black and white (oh dear). I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun and embarrassment (for me probably!) revisiting this in May when the season has ended. Forza Inter per Sempre!
We’ll get a top three finish, we have a solid Serie A squad with good experience. One game a week will be the deciding factor for us, meaning less fatigue for us and more for our rivals. Milan still has no midfield, Juve still has a better than average(?) strike force(Tevez is a problem, Llorente is a support striker), so who will bang in their goals? Roma sold their strike force without replacements as of yet, Lazio will fade like usual, Fiorentina is good, but they’re not built for three competitions. This bodes well for us to get into the top three, if not possibly winning the scudetto. We should sign Isla and maybe one more defensive mid, then we’ll be set. The players we have gotten are without Thorir’s help, imagine with the cash influx what we could pull off. Forza Inter, per sempre!!!
wonderful “realistic” prediction by an “inter fan” site.. i’d rather go to juve fan page and do troll things there..
I’m done here.. This article is an insult.. All is negativity, and you call your site is “the leading englishspoken inter site”..
I won’t open this site anymore..
As one of the writers who answered these questions I feel like I have to respond. First of all, none of us are hoping for anything else than a Scudetto for Inter, but personallyI feel that a fourth place is a more realistic prediction. I also think that a 7th place is a bit negative, but who knows. If I had answered what I want to happen I would have said Inter would win the Scudetto and that Juve, Milan and Fiorentina would be relegated. I would like to see Zanetti tied with Milito for top goal scorer. That, however, wouldn’t seem serious, would it? These predictions won’t stop me from supporting Inter and hoping for a Scudetto at the end of the season the way I have been doing since 1988.
I agree, my reaction may have been a little too ‘sensitive’ but it is an accumilation of negativity I hear from so many Inter fans about the current strength of our squad. I think since 2010 any fan that expected success was living in the past it was pretty clear we were getting weaker & weaker every year with no progress or real change, but this year all that is over & we really are making huge changes & moving forward, now is the time to start expecting improvements & looking to a brighter future instead some of us seem to have given up not being able to take any more since 2010. Wr are not going to finish out of the top 5 especially with the investment Thohir will bring in for January which could push us in to the top 3. We have everything going for us, a fresh young squad, no European distractions/fatigue which will surly effect the others in the second half of the season, Thohirs money which will guarantee we can strengthen considerably in January if need be & the Mazzari ‘I always go one better’ factor.
I agree with everything you wrote. I’m also tired of all the negativity and pessimism. Inter are such a big part of my life and it is difficult to hear people talking negative about something that’s so close to my heart. I’m actually pretty hopeful for the season, which I wrote about in an editorial a few weeks ago. We’ve gone through two difficult seasons and I think we’re on our way up again. I think the comung season will be positive and it will lay the foundation for a great future. We have promising youngsters and a great coach. Even though we might not win the Scudetto but I’m sure it will be a positive season.
The article itself titled “predictions” not “hope”.
I predict Inter will take the third place this year, but I hope Inter will win the league. That’s the difference.
And I believe all of interisti in the world hope that Inter will be the scudetto every year.
I really don’t understand all this argument regarding being pessimist or not. One thing is to be pessimist, and another thing is to be realistic. As an inter fan,I will always look forward to see my team in the first place, no matter what predictions might say… However, I’m realistic about the fact that our team is not a threat to the other five teams. We didn’t sign any good player, we still have shitty players, and the way we play is miserable. 7th place seems right to me.
If you think the players we signed are ‘crap’ & the ones we have are equally useless & we will finish 7th and all this because you are a real Inter fan instead of a troll, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Only way that will happen is if Mazzari loses half his squad to injury for a majority of the season.
Hahaha it seems that there are some people that never respect others people opinion. Troll? What the heck are you talking about boy? This team doesn’t have what is needed to be at least top five. This is not about being negative, its about being realistic. Its good for you to have faith on the team like everybody else, but don’t assume that this is the best team in the league cuz its not. Go and watch the other top five teams games, and you will see what I’m talking about boy. I like your enthusiasm, but your perspective goes beyond any logic and reason.
Whatever helps you sleep at night…boy.
Thanks dreamer…
Wow you call this realistic? You guys are an insult to the club, here I was thinking I was visiting a trusted website instead you give us less credit then AC & Juve fans…ridiculous.
I agree, if this is your pessimistic view at the start of the season as writers of “the leading englishspoken inter site” on the web, witch you are (if you disagree, please share a link to who is) I think you should keep these negative thoughts to yourselves.
I’m not saying we’re gonna win, but if the changes we’ve done (and might do) will only get us to 7th (as suggested bye one of you) than what’s the point. We’ve added the best Italian coach there is (at least in this league) and we have lowerd the average age of our squad by almost 35 years (at least 5-7) and we’re about to be “co-owend/bought up) by a billionaire Inter-fan (self-proclaimed) ….
as I said, we probably won’t win this year, and we probably won’t take 6 out of 6 against Juve and Milan (or Napoli) BUT we have every reason to be optimistic.
This is the start of something new, and it WILL be great !!!!
This Inter side is stronger then last seasons on so many fronts & that squad finished 9th after suffering a ridiculous amount of injuries & then losing 5 of their last 6 games. There is absolutely no way last seasons Inter deserved 9th spot but fitness issues along with Strama’s inexperience made it so, remember we were only a point off top spot 14 games in. So to now say after all the additions & bringing in a quality manager we deserve to finish near enough the same again (and that is without all the crazy injuries & managerial screw-ups) is not being realistic, it is not even being over cautious but instead ridiculing Inter. All of that along with the new investment should clearly show anybody with an ounce of knowledge about Serie A & Inter that we may not be odds on for top 3 but we definitely will be competing until the very end. Some Inter fans have absolutely no back bone whatsoever & are too afraid to have any hope at all, others are just pretending to be Inter fans. The real Interista’s know exactly what Inter are capable of. Rant over.
Give us your predictions then and we’ll come back at the end of the season. As you see, we predicted differently and I honestly don’t think Inter are stronger than Juve and Napoli for now I’m just hoping for the no-Europe season to help us reach Champions League and that would make me happy at least. Maybe you guys only settle for scudetti 🙂
Nice to see realistic predictions. I’d be happy with 5th place. We’re not strong enough for more. Our opponents bought super stars. Sempre Inter!
I agree . I like per sempre inter posts a lot . But some of you guys are way pessimistic not realisitic !! Mazzari is a great coach and we aren t te strongest but we are way better than the past year not to mention that there will be new additions to the team in january and also with due respect to strama s naiveness . We for once were super at the past winter !! So there is no way (hussein) we are not finishing or getting a CL spot this year .
Are this all Inter fans?
Is Hussein trolling or does he honestly believe we are that poor? Either way very frustrating to visit an ‘Inter’ fan site only to see one of it’s own think so lowly of our club, A LOT more lowly then even the nay sayers.
They don’t think low of Inter, but it’s called being realistic.
Don’t be soft.