First off, damn you Metro. Chile raped Venezuela hard last week. And Uruguay is on a tear now, I fear our chances of making it might be over. Okay, now to Inter. I finally watched Inter today (although on BEINSport live stream, which is a bit lacking). One word, proud. Handanovic came through when he was needed the most, great keeper. I am thoroughly impressed by Campagnaro. What a pickup, the man is a beast. Tenacious, excellent tackler, and passes very well. Taider is also another good pickup, smart player and works hard. I have to agree, Guarin was our worst player today. Lazy defensively and lost the ball quite a bit. I think if we change our formation to a 3-4-2-1 like what Mazzari played in Napoli he should be moved up. I have to give credit where its due and Cambiasso has played very well compared to last year and the preseason. Keep it up Cuchu! Icardi is definitely a Juve Killer, loving it. Still pissed that Asamoah only did one thing of note all game and that was his work for their goal. I almost forgot, Ricky, wow, he is a totally different player. Seems faster, more disciplined and still has those creative talents. Our defense, structure, transitions, ball control have improved tremendously. Mazzarri was a necessity for this team. We had Juve today, ashame we fell asleep for a short bit after we scored. I'm liking our chances this year! Forza Inter
Yeah ricky since being healthy has been improving bit by bit I think cucho did a lot of work behind the scenes, he helped pressure players and was often seen marking players in the middle. I'm liking Taider-Nagatomo, they are both short tricky players with some speed. I think your comment about Mazzari being what was needed is spot on, right now his shaping to be the signing of the transfer market
Inter battled out through the 90 minutes, and they overcame Juve's superior technical ability, by their physical and great tactical plans, good job to them and Walter Mazzari to turn this Inter into a very solid side. The 3-man back line Mazzari mastered at Napoli is being served very well at Inter, and the likes of Juan, Ranocchia and Campagnaro are forming a solid back line. Cambiasso played one of his best matches in recent years, and if Inter is lucky enough with injuries, the motivation and the talent is there in the squad to challenge for top spots in Serie A. Mauro Icardi is a fantastic talent, and at the age of just 20, he looks every bit of an experienced player who has already scored 4 goals to Juve's mean back line since last season.
This was a full strength Juve (Pogba > Marchisio) and we had this game. I'm still reeling @ ESPN ranking our transfer summer as a C+, its bullshit. Juve's midfield is one of the best in the world and we held our own and even had more control of the ball in the first half. Remember when people bitched about Gasperini's 3 man back line? The guy ********ed up royally here but he had no support. Mazzarri is going to have this team ready every week, especially with no European commitments. That being said Serie A is looking tough this year, Napoli is on fire, Fiorentina could shock everyone and I'm not counting out Roma improving after selling three of their better players from last year.
Woke up early to catch the Suss..no it's Sasso...******** it you know who game. They really were terrible, decent atmosphere @ their stadium but I can't see them staying up. Schletto...yes that Schletto..was their best player offensively. Their high line was disastrous and the own goal was just sad. Good showing by the whole team and nice cameo from Wallace and my man Milito scoring 2!!
I heard Schelotto was crying at the end. 7-0, no one did anything wrong lets hope on thursday that fiorentina are half as easy
How the hell did Napoli only tie @home vs Sassuolo. Fiorentina is gonna be tough as hell tomorrow. Yea I heard Schletto was crying too. Why exactly?
Maybe they're tired? I was watching lazio-catania and didnt think too much of it, Im more amazed with milan coming back from 3-1 to tying it 3-3. Fiore will be missing the quite dangerous cuadrado, their midfield is still one to be worried about even with ambrosini in the line up. They will also miss pizarro. We're not missing any critical players: Goalkeepers: 1 Samir Handanovic, 12 Luca Castellazzi, 45 Luca Maniero; Defenders: 2 Jonathan, 5 Juan Jesus, 6 Marco Andreolli, 14 Hugo Campagnaro, 18 Wallace, 23 Andrea Ranocchia,25 Walter Samuel, 31Alvaro Pereira,35 Rolando, 55 Yuto Nagatomo; Midfielders: 10 Mateo Kovacic,11Ricky Alvarez, 13Fredy Guarin,17Zdravko Kuzmanovic,19 Esteban Cambiasso, 21 Saphir Taider; Forwards:7Ishak Belfodil, 8 Rodrigo Palacio, 22 Diego Milito, 9Mauro Icardi. We'll probably see the same starters and do some rotation vs cagliari on sunday who isnt doing so hot. Our first real test of the season and one I feel comfortable about, I think we can rightfully earn 3 points if we can take out rossi out of the game.
Milan are one if the luckiest teams, it's ridiculous. Same goes for Barca. No offense but I think our first real test was Juve and we passed it with flying colors. Thankfully Fiorentina are missing 3 key players, they destroyed us last year. I wonder if Mazzarri will continue with the 3-5-1-1.
probably wanted to be on our side making that killing, he cries a lot too. I feel juve was more of a test regarding our progress, and yeah we certainly passed even if juve was tame. If we win vs Fiore I think we will solidify ourselves as a real threat for 2th-4th. Dfaw wouldn't be so bad I suppose...
I do feel bad for the guy but he is too damn sentimental. Get over it son. Yea today's performance will speak a lot about the chances this squad has in finishing in a CL position. Serie A is so stacked this year. I gotta watch the game later when it's on TV.
Little disappointed we're sitting this far back at home but on the other hand they've created and threatened quite a bit and thats with us defending with a back 5. Counter attacks have been our main source of opportunities and if taider chose to cross instead of shooting we could have seen a good early goal. Jonathan needs to step it up and taider needs to help out naga more. Their right hand side is where most of their chances have come from with juaquin & tomovic. if mazzarri would bring in kovacic or kuzmanovic we could see more offense but that would open up our midfield...then again we should be going for the 3 points.
how lucky can one team be...jonathan looking tired and probably should have been before fiore got a pk manages to score our 2nd goal and the one to cling it. First goal was a epic volley from cucho who deserved it after such a great performance so much drama and excitement in the last 15 mins it was insane
I still agree with that notion, but at least mazzarri more or less has his starting 11 with taider/kovacic giving him that defensive/offensive option. Still using bit too much long ball but defensively we are looking really good. Build up play needs work and we can't solely rely on ricky for that. Guarin perhaps is starting to become a question mark, second time he got subbed out for a rather unimpressive performance. Looking forward to the cagliari game and seeing some of the subs.
Inter didn't add anyone spectacular this summer but improved a lot. Good coaching makes a big difference!
Campagnaro isn't a big name but he has been spectacular. Probably our most consistent defender though ranocchia has improved. Mazzarri indeed has made the difference and it shows through: ricky, johny, frog, cucho
Watched the game late last night and I was pretty damn tired but it was worth it. Cambiasso is making me eat my words with every match. Jonathan was quiet all game and showed up right at the end to drill the winner! Campagnaro is a beast although I wish he had avoided that yellow. I don't know wtf Juan was thinking on that foul on Joaquin, dumb. Taider and Guarin were alright while Ricky continues to shine. It is hard to see this team defend so deep @home although with Fiorentina's threats it's understandable. Solid organization in the back and Handanovic bailed us out several times! I'm interested in seeing how Mazzarri moves forward with a more offensive tilt to the team. As of right now I can't complain but we do need to step it up. Cagliari will be a match he can give that a shot. Mazzarri & Campagnaro were huge for us this summer, thanks Napoli!
early game tomorrow vs cagliari but one were we might see how good our depth is Goalkeepers: 1 Samir Handanovic, 12 Luca Castellazzi, 45 Luca Maniero; Defenders: 2 Jonathan, 5 Juan Jesus, 6 Marco Andreolli, 14 Hugo Campagnaro, 18 Wallace, 23 Andrea Ranocchia, 25 Walter Samuel, 31 Alvaro Pereira, 35 Rolando, 55 Yuto Nagatomo; Midfielders: 10 Mateo Kovacic, 11 Ricky Alvarez, 13 Fredy Guarin, 17 Zdravko Kuzmanovic, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 21 Saphir Taider; Forwards: 7 Ishak Belfodil, 8 Rodrigo Palacio, 22 Diego Milito, 9 Mauro Icardi. perhaps we'll see: ---------------------Handanovic---------------------- ------Campg-------Frog----Rolando/Andreolli---- Wallace---Guarin---Cucho--Kuzman----Pereira ---------------Milito--------Icardi/Belfodil Our whole defense minus johny got yellow carded and we did have some tired bodies out there(johny) probably see kovacic at some point though it seems mazzarri likes to play it safe and only go for offense when we're forced to.
I don't think Mazzarri will have both wingbacks switched up. I do think Kovacic will play and even taider might make way for another offensive player. I would like for Icardi and belfodil to get game time. I like your idea of Rolando, wanna see what he has to offer
Odd first half. Dominated cagliari for quite a while but only managed 3-4 chances. The pitch does have something to do with it since sometimes a pass will hit a patch of water and really slow down other times it skids off fast. Kovacic is becoming more of himself in what appears to be a central AM role & ricky with a more free drifting role. Belfodil has been so-so but I think he needs help with a real CF. 0-0 first half.
Disappointing draw, we were the better team through out the majority of the game and had the most chances. We had a nice build up goal and cagliari scored through a deflection, thats football. Anyhow palacio coming in changed the team so much, 4-5 chances in only a couple minutes after coming in. Im happy our depth performed today, pereira played well, rolando played well, belfodil could have played better, kovacic had a great game. Deserved to win. Finished 1-1