After defeat in the Derby d’Italia, the Nerazzurri were back to winning ways putting Sampdoria to the sword. The victory showcased a solid defensive display but even more so Rodrigo Palacio’s performance caught the eye. His brace gave the Inter faithful something to cheer about that had been sadly missing in the last weeks.

Palacio said of the victory that “It was important to get back to winning ways. We played well and the result was the most important thing,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “This victory helps us and now we have more confidence going forward, focusing already on Sunday’s difficult game against Atalanta.”

This was something his coach Andrea Strammacioni also echoed when he explained his value to the side ”His was the first name I said to the President in pre-season, the first man we decided to focus on. His season is worth double, he has matured so much and become a leader for this team.”

The level of Palacio’s of importance to Inter may have been bordering on over reliance and it was for this reason that when this morning he was ruled out with a thigh problem, the despair was evident. Diego Milito, Inter’s other main goal threat, has been out with a knee injury and now this fresh injury to Rodrigo will hamper Inter’s European ambitions.

The deep routed concern has obviously rocked the team as was evident in an interview with Alvaro Pereira “It is bad news for us,” he told Sportmediaset. “Things are going to get ever more difficult for us.“But we have to try and take things game-by-game.”  The argument may stand as to why the Milanese outfit are so dependent on two veteran forwards and that it is a sign of their continued decline but there is still no doubt Inter will be worse of for their remaining games.

Next up this weekend is a trip to Atalanta and maybe the fans can hope that the enthusiasm of an ex player from Bergamo could help them through. Ezequiel Schelotto said that “I want to play so much against Atalanta. Many things have been said against me, but in football, sometimes you have to seize your dreams.”

Inter therefore face some tough games between now and the end of the season, Napoli, Lazio a cup semi-final (3-1 down after the first leg) against Roma are but some of the games. The hope will be that this loss will focus the rest of the players and perhaps more leaders will emerge in this difficult time. There is no doubting for instance the recent form of Mateo Kovacic but is he a match winner as yet?

If all fails there will be questions asked again this summer about why once again the Nerazzurri rely too heavily on aged players, especially when they have a superbly talented bunch of youth players well drilled by their former youth coach. Inter it seems will have to put faith in their ‘Dads army’ until the end of the season  but according to various press sources this is nothing new, for they signed Taribo West at 35 didn’t they?

Article by Richard Hall

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Two of the best to grace the field of the Giuseppe Meazza.

Is anyone else missing the Serie A season?

Whether or not the Nerazzurri qualify for the Europa League or not, Inter’s season has been a poor one from the start. Rushed decisions appointing coaches and little movement to regenerate the aging squad in the summer, meant the campaign was doomed before it began. Early signs this year however, show Massimo Moratti has learnt from his mistakes.

This summer, business needs to be concluded quickly. The European Championships will be upon all clubs almost as soon as the season has finished. The teams that wait until after the Euros’s to start their business, face inflated prices (due to the player’s success in the tournament) followed by less time to integrate their acquisitions in the pre-season.

Before all of this however, the Nerazzurri need to settle on who will lead the squad next season. 36 year old interim Coach Andrea Stramaccioni has performed admirably and Massimo Moratti, keen not to make the mistake of last year (the Gian Piero Gasperini debacle), looks to have moved quickly to gain his services full time.  After the maverick coaches success in the Milan Derby, Moratti was asked if he believed the Coach had earned a contract. He replied “Yes I believe so. In any case when we signed him in a gesture which he considered to be mad, in reality, in my opinion, it was an intelligent solution and hence, I believe we can continue like this. He is a young guy that nevertheless seems to have an experience that allows him to do things well.”

The next area that needs to be concluded quickly is the contracts. Inter have Luca Castellazzi, Walter Samuel, Cristain Chivu and Ivan Cordoba at the end of their contracts. Despite their age Moratti will want Luca Castellazzi and Walter Samuel to sign new short term deals whilst Cordoba is leaving and wages could be freed up if Chivu departs.  Moratti has again acted quickly (the Corriere dello Sport, reports) and offered Castellazzi a 12 month contract whilst also extending the contract of Yuto Nagatomo, who was already on a long term deal. The fact that contracts are being tied up with a game still to go can only be a positive.

The next area that the Nerazzurri fell down on last year was not getting rid of the players who wanted to or should leave the club. The late sale of Samuel Eto’o after the prolonged initial preparations for loosing Sneijder came at a terrible time and at a big cost. This year it is Diego Forlan who looks the main person to be heading out and already movement has been made to allow this to go ahead. Talks are going ahead with Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro and his agent Edgar Goulart has said: “There has already been a meeting. Forlan is unhappy, he wants to play more and recover his career. Inter can make his exit easy. We are at an advanced stage in talks and I think he could end up at Atletico.” It is thought that Moratti will not stand in his way.

All of this leads to the inevitable transfer predictions of who will arrive. Speculation is exactly that and until there are firm talks nothing is definite, even then things can fall apart. La Gazzetta dello Sport has already started the ball rolling with this today claiming that Ezequiel Lavezzi will hold talks with Inter after the Coppa Italia Final, Inter, however have confirmed nothing.

Fans of the Nerazzurri may not have to wait long to see who is coming to the club if Moratti continues in this way. He certainly seems to want to give his side the best chance to prepare for the next Serie A season and business has to be done early. There may not be many signings and more may go than come in. Inter can expect Primavera promotions also and there may not be huge amounts of money spent. However, even if they only had their Coach in place with a clear idea of what he wants, then that is a step up from last year.

Matthäus, Klinsmann and Brehme v Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit

That was a Milan Derby at its very best

A few more from my time on the Curva. This time in Jan 2012. Inter 5-0 Parma. 

              THE MILAN DERBY - Derby Della Madonnina

Picture of the day: Who is this young goalkeeper at Inter? Look familiar?

Well done to all of those who noticed that it is a very young (and thin) Sebastien Frey

“Do I believe in third place? Yes, with all my heart. I think our second half was like a manifesto of what this Inter can do, putting in grit, heart and finishing off the game in the best way.”(Andrea Stramaccioni)

Diego Milito scored twice to help the Nerazzurri snatch all three points against Siena. The Tuscan side had taken an early lead through Gaetano D’Agostino but Milito’s goal just before the break gave the home side some breathing space. In a hard fought game Inter finally settled matters as Milito calmly scored from the penalty spot nine minutes before time. The penalty may have been disputable but this did not matter for the Nerazzurri as they walked away with the victory.

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni was in buoyant mood after the game, confidently predicting that his side could not just gain a place in Europe but that he strongly believed that his side could take third place of Lazio. This rather zealous statement was backed up after the game by his claim that, as well as heart and grit, he also sees technical improvement: “After three games I hold on tight to this growth from Inter in terms of possession and mentality. By attacking with so many players we do concede something at the back, but I have seen progress.”

It is true that Inter have collected seven points out of three games under the 36 year old coach and now only lie two points away from a Europa League place and six points off a Champions League spot. Surely if Milan were six points off Juventus with six games to go, the title would not be considered over? Especially if they had each other to play as do Inter and Lazio?

In his post match interview Stramaccioni said that he likes to see the glass half full when asked about his defensive record and this although admirable could be somewhat naive if he is to truly challenge for a Champions League place. Four goals against Genoa in his first match followed by another two against Cagliari and finally another against Siena, gives the chilling statistic that Inter have conceded seven goals in three games. It is true that they scored nine but with six of these coming from Milito, it could be almost seen that they are over reliant on the 32 year old.

The fixture list also does not give fans of the Nerazzurri much encouragement for dreaming of Europe; in fact it may give them nightmares. The next game is crucial as it is away at fellow Champions League pretenders Udinese. Should they navigate this and they face Fiorentina away, Cesena at home and Parma away all of which seem winnable but all of whom are fighting for survival. The final two are nothing less than epic because even if they are in a position to gain third place they have the Derby della Madonnia to tackle and finally Lazio away. 

Stramaccioni wants to take one game at a time and he also wants Inter to perform as they did in the second half against Siena. This is not surprising as they kept a clean sheet and this is key. The 36 year old (when talking about defensive play) talks about glasses being half full and of the importance of attacking football. It is worth noting that at the back of his mind the defensive side is eating away at him. Why is the second half against Siena so important to be replicated? It’s because it’s the only 45 minutes since he took over where Inter have kept a clean sheet.

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Photo of the day: Just love this photo. I was going to ask who Baggio is playing for but its to easy……..oh go on then, who is it?

Both Lazio and Inter have seen exciting strikers grace their fields in their time, but Ruben Sosa has to be one of the most exciting and possibly one of the most underated.

The Uruguayan first came to the Peninsula in 1988 from Real Zaragoza and played for four years at Lazio where he scored 40 goals in 124 appearances. It was in this time that he caught the eye of the Nerazzurri and was promptly signed in 1992 to spearhead their attack.

Sosa’s time at Inter was explosive as the South Amercian hit-man scored 20 league goals in his first season and another 16 in his second. He notched an impressive 44 goals in 76 games in all competitions winning the UEFA Cup on the way. After probelms emerged in the Inter camp after Dennis Bergkamps arrival, Sosa was surprisingly sold to Dortmund in 1995

Sosa was an all round Latin striker, he has skill, he performed scissor kicks, he could score breath taking free kicks, round the goalkeeper and has the most delicate of touches. This was mixed with the dirty side of untidy goals, scrappy headers, tap ins, last ditch lunges and quite often a miss timed challenge. All in all he was the vision of how a South American striker should be. 

When Calcio ruled the world Ruben Sosa was scoring goals for fun.