After a January that ended in euphoria with the arrival of Hernanes Inter were abruptly thrown back to reality after the 3-1-loss to Juventus in Turin. It took a comeback from Walter Samuel in defense and in the score sheet, and a debut from the long awaited Prophet to get Inter’s first three pointer in 2014.
Sassuolo is not a scary opponent on paper, they are new in serie A and came from a streak of eight games with bad results. The problem is that so was Inter. The nerazzurri have not been impressive in the new year and I think few interisti were calm about the game. But the three points are in and a clean sheet as well. Good for the team and good for Mazzarri, now they’ll be able to work with a little less pressure preparing for the coming games.
Hernanes the long awaited Prophet was not in his best form, it showed that he was in a new and anxious environment but his class shone through from the deep midfield position he played in. For the first time in ages there was someone who dared hold the ball, someone who was able to pass the ball deep or turn the pace of the play up. Too bad though that neither Nagatomo nor Jonathan had a decent cross between them in the game, but that is a different story. The Prophet is pure class and he’ll just get better as soon as he adjusts to his new teammates and surroundings. With him on the pitch the team created more chances than in the last two games put together.
Guarin made a comeback in the Inter jersey after the Juventus debacle in the January transfer window and he did well. He seemed relaxed and happy to be back on the pitch, and as trigger happy as ever. His aim seems to have gotten better during his absence off the pitch and there were tendencies to good understanding between him and Hernanes on the midfield. That bodes well for the coming games were Inter will face tougher opposition (Fiorentina next) and the midfield will be put under much more pressure.
Something that does not bode well on the other hand though is the fact that the team despite the many chances created they are still not able to close the games. Even versus Sassuolo there is the feeling that one wrong pass can cost Inter the victory in the last minutes. Palacio is still running for three player’s game after game (one of the best on the pitch today) but there is nobody there to score the easy goals up front. Luckily Inter has Walter Samuel who steps up as the leader he is, the last time he scored on the Sassuolo goalie Pegolo was in the classic match versus Siena (4-3 2010). He headed in Hernanes’ corner with force tonight behind Pegolo and aside from giving Inter the win with his goal he also gave his teammates stability in defense.
It was definitely a positive game and a step forward for this year’s Inter. Ruben Botta got almost 30 minutes playing time and he is impressive every time he is on. He challenges his opponent, gets past easily and is not afraid to take the shot. Once again he was close to scoring and had some nice plays for his teammates. The main problems tonight besides Milito who is obviously struggling after his injury and can’t seem to get the ball in were the crosses from the two wingers. They are fundamental for Mazzarri’s scheme but at the moment they aren’t delivering anything of what they should on the pitch. They aren’t pressuring enough defensively and offensively it is like passing the ball out to two black holes every time the ball goes out on the wing.
D’Ambrosio should be very close to a place in the starting eleven in the next game and it would be nice if somebody could get Icardi out of the freezer and thaw him up. Milito is understandably not his old self after the injury so Icardi is needed.
Best: 3 points, first win in 2014
Worst: The fact that Berardi will be a Juventus player in the future. It’s a shame to see an interista in those colours.
