Inter Watch

[Pauly]

Well, what a game. My stream got cut after Sneijder's 88th minute 30 yard free kick equaliser, Inter went on to win a home game last place Siena really deserved to win, 4-3 with a W.Samuel injury time goal. JM made some odd choices with the team, he changed formation and started Pandev on the right and Quaresma on the left neither of whom have had any football recently. Unbelievable that a player with no left foot can get a game at this level, less unbelievable that JM subbed Quaresma at HT.

.........................Julio Cesar.............................

Maicon..........Lucio..........Cordoba........J. Zanetti

......................................................................

........................Thiago Motta............................

..............Stankovic...........................................

....................................Sneijder.......................

Pandev..............................................Quaresma

...............................Milito................................

Injured: Chivu, Materazzi, Santon, Cambiasso

Suspended: Balotelli

ANC: Eto'o, Muntari

The game started in the way it would thematically continue, with Thiago Motta and Inter's defensive midfield totally missing as Maccarone waltzes up to 25 yards and puts a shot into the roof of the net. 1-0 Siena. Inter equalise a few minutes later with a decent diagonal 40 yard pass to Milito, who brings it down on the left of the area, cuts in on his right and thanks to average defending puts it in on the back post. 1-1. Next, the second theme of the match: Wesley Sneijder. Admitted by Jose to be Inter's most important player, one they 'cannot' do without as an individual and due to the fact that he gives more attacking options in the midfield to help out Stankovic etc. puts in an excellent free kick from 20 yards. His first of two. Then an immediate equaliser. Maicon dragged inside to mark a striker, a Siena player breaks through unmarked from the midfield to the back post and scores an easy goal. After HT and 2 JM subs made to "make a point" rather than really improve the 11 out there (Quaresma for Samuel and Stankovic for a 19 year old) Maccarone makes a late run and scores a third... again.. probably the fault of the midfield although I was just coming back into the room from coffee when it happened so i may be wrong!

It was a game Siena deserved to win but a 30 yard Sneijder FK equalised and then my tream cut out. Final score, 4-3 Inter. Jose's Magical coat does it again.

A few days earlier Balotelli (who is still very much part of the plan) gave them a hard fought win away to Chievo. It is not a formaiton we are likely to see against us, JM's "attacking 442" which he's decided to play in a season where the San Siro is going to be Stamford Beach by the time we play them, is more probable!!

Juve Milan tomorrow, Beckham will start with Seedorf/Pato/Zambrotta all out injured, his debut was decent in right wing of a 433 where he dropped back a bit tactically to help out the midfield apparently on Gattuso's suggestion. Ranieri's Roma back into fourth after playing 80 minutes with 10 men tonight for a 1-0 win, Luca Toni's full debut very impressive... Less so than his sub debut on Wednesday when he came on at 80 minutes with the score at 0-2 away to Cagliari, 2 stoppage time goals must have left him feeling average!

Edited January 9, 2010 by Pauly

[Phillip]

If Jose continues to play Quaresma, then I know for certain that Alzheimer's disease has set in for him. I think that his love of Portuguese players who are sh*te will continue to haunt him until the day he goes four paws up, and it should have cost him today.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Phillip

[Pauly]

If Jose continues to play Quaresma, then I know for certain that Alzheimer's disease has set in for him. I think that his love of Portuguese players who are sh*te will continue to haunt him until the day he goes four paws up, and it should have cost him today.

It's funny, he doesn't love Quaresma (and he can't really "continue" to play someone he hasn't played this season) but earlier in the year he said something like "he's a player so good in Portugal he deserves another chance here". He even drew the praise of Lippi who said he could be one of the next big things in football. I really... cannot understand... how a player who gets to the edge of the box on the left, and, EVERY SINGLE TIME, does that behind the leg cross trick because he can't use his left foot, could have drawn the praise of Lippi. Truth is he hasn't really had a real second chance and he doesn't deserve one anyway.

Edited January 9, 2010 by Pauly

[forbzy]

A fantastic game and Siena can consider themselves very unlucky to come away empty handed. Maccarone looked like the player I remember when he first came over to Boro. Inter looked all over the shop at the back for much of the game. Sneyder scored 2 great free kicks though and we should take note of his ability from set pieces. Also there was evidence of the 'never say die' spirit that Jose seems to install in his teams. The way they won at the death reminded me of some of the dramatic finishes we had in games while he was in charge at Chelsea. Certainly plenty to encourage me with the way they defended but we will not be able to feel comfortable against a Jose team until the game is officially won.

[just]

JM made some odd choices with the team, he changed formation and started Pandev on the right and Quaresma on the left neither of whom have had any football recently. Unbelievable that a player with no left foot can get a game at this level, less unbelievable that JM subbed Quaresma at HT.

So essentially, pretty much the sort of thing Carlo did the other week against Foolham?

[Pauly]

Hello Just, good to see you've kept your chirpiness! I take it you think i'm defending Carlo and attacking JM? I couldn't really care less about either of them and am just offering an objective viewpoint.

JM was a little more forced due to injury/suspension today, in hindsight now that i've seen the bench it might have been difficult to keep a 442 with the squad he had available. Would have probably meant Motta supporting Stankovic/Sneijder/Quaresma with 2 strikers. Quaresma being an absolute passenger offensively and a liability defensively it mightn't have worked.

ps.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Pauly

[TheWestwayWonder]

Good summary Pauly. I missed a big chunk in the middle of the match, but had the privilege of seeing 6 of the goals, including the incredible finish. On a day when our rivals dropped points, this fantastic match was the icing on the cake

Jose's home record now stands at 127 games unbeaten. An incredible mark, and his team seems to have been stamped firmly with his swagger and his sense of belief. With five minutes left they were all looking determined and you kinda had a sense they were going to get something out of the game. When Sneijder scored, getting the winner seemed like fait acompli. Its worrying because I feel like this is more "Jose's team" than the Inter of last year, and therefore might be a much tougher nut to crack in Feb than the one Man Utd was faced with a year ago.

I also dont want to beat a dead horse from transfer rumor threads of old, but Sneijder once again confirmed his absolutely class. His brilliant pass set up Milito's goal and the FKs were breathtaking. It beggars belief that anyone thought this guy was old news or overrated because Florentino Perez got bored with him.

[german-blue]

Well I´d take Quaresma over Malouda any day

[loz]

So there is still one person out there who thinks Quaresma is good! Malouda's career with us has been undeniably patchy but this season alone he has put in more decent performances in top flight league than Quaresma has in his whole career!

That brief spell Quaresma had with us was comical. He would play for 45 minutes, do nothing for 44 of them thin for one minute he would have one run and put in a decent cross and for some reason that was enough for some people to be demanding he start the next game.

No matter how poor Joe has been since returning form injury (and I have been one of his critics) he has still being doing a lot more when he is on the park than Quaresma ever did.

[wicksy]

Well I´d take Quaresma over Malouda any day

That is a ridiculous comment. Have you ever watched a Chelsea match when Malouda played? To compare him with Quaresma is just plain daft.

Malouda has done well for Chelsea over the last 2 months or so...

[midlandblue]

i watched the game and thought the standard overall was poor, Inter were very very luck to come away with any points.

Oh and that Sniejder is a moaning, stroppy and dirty player.

[dkw]

has arnautovic played much for them so far?

[Pauly]

i watched the game and thought the standard overall was poor, Inter were very very luck to come away with any points.

Oh and that Sniejder is a moaning, stroppy and dirty player.

heh heh.. was waiting for this.. Can we just get a rubber stamp and whenever Serie A is mentioned someone can say "I THOUGHT THE OVERALL STANDARD WAS POOR!" As quick as they can. We could even have a prize for who says it quickest. I thought Siena were fantastic, if a last placed side in England scored 3 goals like that (a couple of fantastic goals from maccarone) people would be waffling on. I think a fact that people often miss about Italy is that the quality is a lot more spread out. You would never hear of the English equivalents of De Rossi & Totti staying with one club their entire career who haven't been title contenders for a long time- can you imagine Rooney and Gerrard playing their entire career outside of the top 3? Players like Jovetic, Montolivo, Vargas etc etc would instantly be swept into top 4 sides in England, in Italy in terms of coaches and players there is simply a greater spread of talent so 20th placed Siena can come to Inter and challenge. It's true Inter were without Cambiasso, Eto'o, Balotelli, Chivu, Muntari etc etc and that the defensive midfield was poor, but with 7 or 8 players out many sides would suffer.

Leonardo's Milan were great last night and dismantled Juve's 4411 away, Ronaldinho is slowly and genuinely working his way back into top form and I think Milan can beat Utd. As for Inter, that side was not a side to judge who/how will play against Chelsea, really just a start to look at our opponents for the CL!

Edited January 11, 2010 by Pauly

[TheWestwayWonder]

That brief spell Quaresma had with us was comical. He would play for 45 minutes, do nothing for 44 of them thin for one minute he would have one run and put in a decent cross and for some reason that was enough for some people to be demanding he start the next game.

No matter how poor Joe has been since returning form injury (and I have been one of his critics) he has still being doing a lot more when he is on the park than Quaresma ever did.

I cant disagree with the second statement at all.

But with the first I will say that, if you recall, that was a period during which we were absolutely dire, had zero invention, and it was the same Scolari-authored script every week of us going down a goal and chasing the game for an hour to get any points.

I remember a few matches when Quaresma was coming in, streaking down the left or right, and putting a well weighted ball into the 6 yard box that caused a scramble. I.e. he was doing more than nothing which, even if it didnt create a goal, was still more than Malouda at that time was managing.

I probably called for him to start, but only becuase I was sick of the same uninspired lineup from the manager every week. My frustration was the same when he used players like Stoch to good effect and then benched them the next game. I was just ready to see someone like Quaresma, who seemed to actually give a damn even if he wasnt all that effective, over a bunch of regulars whose body language suggested they had just given up.

just my two cents on that one.

[TheWestwayWonder]

Oh and that Sniejder is a moaning, stroppy and dirty player.

Really? I saw him take a stupid yellow and bitch a little bit at the ref, but what about the game gave you this impression, MB?

[midlandblue]

TWW, if you watch the 10/15 minutes proir to him equalizing and lookking as though he was to be on the losing team, he was acting like a spoilt brat, going in studs up, complaining to his team mates and walking, yes walking, around the pitch with his head down (a bit like Rooney when his team go behind or he feels he's been hard done by)

Pualy, there is a difference between a good game and a game with high standards of play.

Siena played well and did well to almost beat the leaders, yes Maccarone scored a couple of decent golas, but after that, he could have scored 2 or 3 more with decent chances..........which ended up in row Z.

[Pauly]

Decent? I thought they were both great goals. He should have scored more? How many more do you want him to score away at Inter before it's a great performance?! Don't really think your expectation of Sneijder/the game in general is fair. Inter got killed through midfield but they played without Cambiasso Muntari Vieira from the beginning and then Stankovic was injured after 45 minutes.

I do totally agree with what you're saying about the difference between a high quality game and a good game to watch, I think it's something lost on many premier league only fans. In that sense you're right, Inter defended poorly, as I said I believe it was entirely the fault of the midfield, but Thiago Motta is not a pure defensive midfielder and I believe he was at fault for all 3 of the goals. We certainly won't see him playing that role against Chelsea. Motta was not great but what a capitalisation from Siena...

Edited January 11, 2010 by Pauly

[midlandblue]

It's not a case of how many I expect him, or any other forward, to score. But what I do expect is the player at least hits the target with 99% of shots infront of goal, regardles if he has scored 2 or 10. Just because you have scored all ready is no excuse for not scoring again.

[ethicalstrategy]

I do expect is the player at least hits the target with 99% of shots infront of goal.....

That might fall under the heading of "unrealistic"

I don't think any striker, anywhere, at anytime in history has a record of hitting the target with 99% of shots - even if they were in front of goal.

[midlandblue]

I'm a fan not a statastician.

[SydneyChelsea]

That's still unrealistic. You might as well bet on games to be called off because of meteor showers.

[midlandblue]

How is it unrealistic? What is so difficult? your in front of goal, ball at your feet..........HIT THE TARGET!!!!!

I'm not saying you have to score I'm saying hit the target not blaze it into row Z (we are talking top flight fotball here not Sunday league)

[Barry Bridges]

It's easy to do that....if you put no power into the shot! However hitting the target is about as useful as hitting row Z if your not putting any power into the shot.

You put the power needed to beat a goal tender and its inevitable your going to have more than 1% of target.

But then again, I have ragged on Kalou this season in the match when he scored 2 (in the CL I believe) as he had the quality and quantity of chances to get atleast 5!

[Barry Bridges]

Inter just gave up a penalty to Bari, which they converted, for a handball in the box(samuel). 1-0

Hopefully Bari wins, and then hopefully AC Milan win(Inters next match). This would close the gap in the Series A significantly enough that Inter cant rest people for our CL matches.

OMG Lucio just gave up another penalty!

[Barry Bridges]

2-0...the way this game has been thats probably good enough for Bari to win!