Draw Derby

The latest edition of the Derby D'Italia took place last Sunday on the 18th of October 2015. Inter entered the match as favourites due to a better start to the season compared to their fierce rivals. However, realistically, with the quality that Juventus possess as well as the fact that in derbies, the form book goes out of the window, I found it tough to feel comfortable with the favourites tag attached to Inter. I also found it odd that at such an early stage of the season, the media and pundits were billing this tie as a must-win tie for Juventus and a defeat would mean an end to their Scudetto hopes. It's only the 8th league match of the season not the 36th or 37th.

The choreography from the Inter fans was fantastic and commendable. It caught the eye of Inter players that had newly joined the club and I was very impressed by it. Inter had a good first half but sat back too much in the 2nd half to have any meaningful impact going forward. Overall, it was a fair result with a half dominated by either side. In the aftermath of the match, Cesare Prandelli had said that both teams played with the fear of losing. I feel Juventus were probably more fearful to lose than Inter. In Inter's case, it was just another game of a team finding its feet with the plethora of changes in personnel in the summer.

I would commend Roberto Mancini for dropping Geoffrey Kondogbia who has been underwhelming so far, a fact recognised by his national team manager Didier Deschamps who dropped him for the latest round of France's international matches. Marcelo Brozovic played in his place and came close to scoring with a great effort that was tipped onto the bar by Gianluigi Buffon. However, I don't feel Brozovic had a great impact on the match to do his chances any good. With the partnership of Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo reunited, Mancini fielded Gary Medel in midfield alongside Felipe Melo and Brozovic. In my opinion, there should be space for only one defensive midfielder in the 4-3-3 formation that Mancini used and that midfielder should be Medel as he is a much better player than Melo is (or ever will be). Stevan Jovetic had a great game but unfortunately the players around him were either too defensive minded or didn't have the desired impact. I was very impressed and pleased with Jovetic's performance.

Ivan Perisic didn't do much and I was very impressed by how he was marshalled by the older and slower Andrea Barzagli. Barzagli not only dealt with the threat of Perisic but he pushed forward to support the attack in the second half. The lesser said about Mauro Icardi the better. If you have read my past posts, you would know by now that I don't rate him highly as a person or a player. Put this into perspective, he was the Serie A top scorer last season but didn't make it into the Argentina squad for the Copa America over the summer even I do have to admit that Argentina is presently blessed with riches up front. He still couldn't make it into Argentina's latest squad despite Lionel Messi's unavailability. Perhaps, Argentina are making a moral decision not to call him up but hey, at least someone has the balls to be morally right. It is embarrassing that Inter have not only kept him at the club with a new contract, they have even made him the club captain!

Adem Ljajic was dropped completely from the squad and I wonder why. He seems to be trouble from the time Inter signed him and something doesn't seem right between him and Mancini. On Inter's performance, I was pleased with Jovetic's contribution and creativity. At least someone is providing some creativity in the team. I am waiting for Perisic to start performing because with him and Jovetic in full flow (and maybe Ljajic if he can sort things out), Inter could become exciting to watch again. One defensive midfielder should be dropped between Melo and Medel (Melo! Please drop him!) unless Mancini plays with a 4-2-3-1 (even then Melo shouldn't start!). In a 4-2-3-1, I feel Kondogbia should start as the one of the 2 alongside Medel and could be very beneficial as the box-to-box midfielder breaking up attacks in his own half and going forward to support the attack in the opponents' half. I was surprised to see Juan Jesus start in place of Alex Telles and Jesus did very well defensively.

To be fair, I feel Inter is playing better now than they did early in the season when they were winning matches but logically, it will take time for the team to gel and play better. Let's see what Inter are capable of achieving as the season transpires. Next would be a trip to Palermo. It is a tricky match because no-one knows what to expect from them and they seem to do better when they play against bigger clubs.