Bologna vs Inter at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara always reminds me of the match on the second week of the 1997-98 season, an exciting thriller that ended 4-2 in Inter's favour. The match on Tuesday was anything but a thriller. Inter had possession, Bologna had possession but both teams hardly created much of note. Ivan Perisic was getting into good positions on the wing due to his pace but he was putting in bad crosses that created no danger at all for Bologna's defence. He had a great opportunity to give Inter the lead but he headed wide when it seem easier to score. It was evidently not his day. The closest Bologna came to scoring in the first half was through a mazy dribble from Alex Ferrari who beat a few players only to have his shot blocked.
In the first half, it had seemed that if he is not careful, Geoffrey Kondogbia would get sent off for collecting 2 yellow cards as a result of his repeated fouls but in the second half, it was his midfield partner, Felipe Melo who was sent off for collecting 2 yellow cards in 7 minutes. Inter reacted by playing better and scored the only goal of the game when Marcelo Brozovic's pass was not cut out by a Bologna defender and it went through to Adem Ljajic who set up his captain, Mauro Icardi for a simple tap in. There was no real danger to Inter's goal despite being down to 10 minutes until the last minute of the match, in injury time when a former product of Inter's youth set-up, Mattia Destro found himself in acres of space yards away from goal, volleyed at goal only to be denied by a splendid save by Samir Handanovic.
Once again, it was far from fluent Inter going forward but rock solid at the back and hard to penetrate. Ljajic made his first start and was the most vibrant and dangerous Inter attacker. Being objective, Icardi is a striker that thrives on supply. He is not a player that can create chances on his own like Ronaldo or Adriano did in the past. He is most dangerous in the box when chances are created for him. He is not in the same mould as Christian Vieri, Hernan Crespo or Diego Milito who could do something even with half a chance or out of nothing at all. A player that I feel is similar to Icardi would be Giampaolo Pazzini, another striker that relied a lot on the service he got to score. Pazzini, being an Italian was sold after a poor season while Icardi at the moment is the Inter captain and has kept his place in the starting line up so far. The Inter captain is struggling to score because Inter as a whole has struggled to create chances as an attacking outlet going forward. This is an area that Roberto Mancini has to fix and find the solution to because at the moment, Inter is relying on scrappy goals, mistakes and great goals to score.
Melo's sending off comes as no surprise to me as he has shown himself to be more interested in kicking his opponents than playing the ball. I still don't understand what Mancini sees in Melo. I can understand what he brings in terms of personality and character but in terms of his quality as a player, he is by no means like Claude Makelele, Patrick Viera, Roy Keane, Gennaro Gattuso or our very own club legend, Esteban Cambiasso. If he has been signed for the reason of injecting some personality and character into the team, then I feel Mancini should keep him as part of the squad and not as a starter as Gary Medel has superior quality as a defensive central midfielder. Medel is less prone to kicking his opponents as he reads the game well but yet isn't afraid to put himself about if he needs to.
This season, Serie A has been refreshing and interesting as there are more teams capable of winning the title. Teams have taken advantage of Juventus' struggles this season. It is refreshing to see an actual contest that could hopefully go down to the last day of the season instead of witnessing one side being the ultra dominant force, running away with the title. Juventus deserves credit for winning the last 4 Scudetti and for the unrelentless pace and high level of consistency set by them from the start to finish. The chasing pack in those seasons deserve criticism for not being consistent enough and being incapable of sustaining the intensity and pace to match Juventus. They deserve the criticism for bottling it. In my opinion, Napoli are flying at the moment, playing very good football and scoring lots of goals. They have never been goal shy but the difference is that I feel Maurizio Sarri is doing a good job to keep them grounded and added some steel into the team as well as getting the team to enjoy themselves on the pitch which is something they evidently did not do last season under Rafa Benitez. Roma, have started well in Italy but their struggles in Europe leaves some doubt in my mind on their ability to sustain their leadership. I feel Roma is missing some solidity in defence and are perhaps lacking in their ability to cope with pressure and seeing out games. They have done pretty well in Italy but got to improve in Europe. Their performances in Europe have had no effect on their form in Italy so far so let's see how they do as the season unfolds.
Fiorentina have played good football but seem to have something missing in their side. They have been punished lately for not finishing chances and have conceded goals on the counter attack to lose games. You can say they might not have the rub of the green in their favour but you could also argue that they have not actually created their own luck and have only themselves to blame. They are only a couple of points off the top so they are still in with a shout but they got to start finishing better while being mindful and solid in defence. Mancini has built an Inter team that bullies and is physical. It is not attractive but the solidity at the back has helped keep clean sheets and eke out points. It is far from the complete or finished Inter side as it is a team with a lot of newcomers over the summer. This Inter team is a team that has not fully gel yet. I can only hope as a fan, that Inter will play better in the near future because it has been boring to watch so far. I find it odd that Mancini would build a team to be physical when he was an attacker that had creativity and skill as a player. He played for teams that played good football and yet is building a team that relies on its physique and defensive strength. Perhaps his earlier experiences of not winning while playing good football has shaped his ideology to be as such today.
I will not discount Juventus just yet but it will require an almighty collapse from the leading pack as well as great powers of recovery from Juventus to win their fifth Scudetti in a row. Overall, I hope we witness an exciting Serie A title race that is won by the team that plays the best football.
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