2-0 at home over Werder, and 3-1, 5-1 over Anderlecht, Valencia, these are excellent, excellent results where Inter did not let up. Why then, is there such a problem finishing matches in Serie A? Out of the 7 draws in Serie A, Inter led by a goal at one point in 5 of them, and led by 2 goals in 2 of them. 3 of the draws came at home to teams in the bottom half of the tables. I can't seem to put a finger on it, there is so much talent up front and you would think 17 goals in 9 matches would lead to a higher spot in the standings. Obviously though, the problem lies in defense, where only 2 teams have yielded more goals than Inter. Our defense was very solid under Cuper 2 years ago, how have we slipped so far, so fast? Are Toldo, Zanetti, and Cordoba that much off their games? I think the focus has been on bringing in attacking players to the detriment of the defense. Our backline keeps getting older, without adding much quality new blood. Sadly, I think a Real Madrid type mindset is really hurting our club. Attacking soccer will work well in the UCL, but in Italy, defense is at a premium.
I think you put a finger on it in the last sentence. I mean, starting the likes of Sinisa Mihajlovic in the center of your defense is suicidal.
i think its because Serie A is harder and more difficult to win in. Inter will play better teams in Serie A than the champion league. Just proves again Serie A is the hardest and most talented league in europe
That is a little ridiculous. Are you saying Valencia, Werder, and Anderlecht are no better than Roma, Lazio and Siena? Hands down, the competition they are facing is stiffer in the CL (even if Valencia is off form at present).
I agree, the statement was a little ridiculous. Teams who qualify for the CL are the best in their respective leagues, if Serie A was so much better they should just declare the team that holds the Scudetto the Champs of Europe as well. Werder, Anderlecht, and Valencia are all better than most bottom of the tables Serie A teams.
Milan, Juve, Roma, Lazio, Lecce,Messina, and Chievo are all better teams than Valenica, Werder, and Anderlecht. If you dont think this is true then why does Inter suck when it comes to Serie A, it just proves Serie A is the toughest league.
Have you been hanging out with Adrian Mutu, b/c your mind is mush. Milan and Juve you can debate are better than Valencia. But Chievo and Lazio? Vicente and co would run circles around them all day.
Inter's home record isn't exactly spectacular, lets wait and see how they perform against an anxious Valencia side and then we can start making ridiculous comments.
there's some valid points all around here...valencia is a just a good team off-form, but werder and anderlecht would struggle big time in Serie A. But Sue is right, inter doesn't have a deep enough team to wage war on two fronts like Milan and Juve do...I dont think you can expect them to be successful both ways. Also, Mancini has had problems going back to his time at Lazio managing his club when he's up in a match, whether its tactics or lack of preparation I've seen many of his leads turn into draws late...
I think Inter's biggest problem domestically is the familiarity of Italian teams with Inter's weaknesses. That defense is going to come in for a hammering, and those teams have also faced Adriano for a few years now. They're more familiar with him. That has a lot to do with Inter's struggles at home. That being said, we all knew Inter's defense would be porous this year. They're essentially adopting the Real strategy of trying to batter their opponents with goals. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Also, they caught Valencia at a really bad time. Remember, last year Inter got thumped by Arsenal 5-1, at home. And we all know how well Arsenal does in the CL.
Inter faced weak team in Cl group stage. Since Serie-A is so tough league, and so competitive, it is really hard to win a scudetto. I guess winning a scudetto is rather harder than winning a CL. Inter Milan is great in short term, but in long term, Inter lacks in consistency. That would be the reason why Inter always failed to win a scudetto. In Inter, they got so many talents such as Cordoba, Martins, Julio Curz, Recoba, Emre ext... But there are so many disappointing players like Coco Helveg Sorondo and Pasquale ..etc Inter has weak bench members like Real Madrid. That's why they show poor performances occasionally
You have to batton down the hatches at times in Serie A and weather the storm. In Europe you can afford to keep attacking till the final whistle because the play is more open, but in Italy teams are just waiting for you to make a mistake to counter. Mancini doesn't believe in defence, he just wants his teams to win 3-0 every game, the problem being that in Italy teams might make it 3-3 before the game is up. . .(Lazio vs Inter last season, anyone? Guess who was coaching Lazio)
Adriano scores in almost every game, home and abroad. He's the clinch player; if your familiar with him or not I dont really think it makes a damn difference. Inter is a solid team, except for Materazzi I generally really like their defense. There problems are more to do with a few early virgin mistakes by Mancini. i.e. -Not playing Davids against Milan -Not keeping van der Meyde as a first team regular (earlier on he was playing brilliantly -Not giving Toldo a chance to resume his confidence -detering the defense by rotating it too much - playing Emre when he is still clearly not settled in this new team These are just a few mistakes that I think Mancini could have avoided in the past. other than these few mistakes Mancini has been great overall for Inter and is dramatically improving the clubs appearance, the only problem being his inability to give his team the killer strike.
There's certainly truth to that. But Mancio didn't have the defensive personnel at Lazio, and he certainly doesn't have it at Inter. With a better defense, we'll see how he adapts.