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.
Showing posts with label Serie A. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serie A. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Boring, Boring Internazionale!
After watching Inter extend its winning start to the Serie A season which equals the previous best start to a season (under Hector Cuper in the 2002-03 season), a penny dropped in me on what to expect of Inter 2015-16. I found contentment at the end of the match replacing the frustration and dismay I felt since pre-season. It was like I had reached enlightenment. We shall go through more of that later but first my views on the match.
As an attacking force, Inter offered little. It was nothing more than what we have seen in the previous matches, some dangerous forays into the opponents half and some nearly moments. I struggle to think of any clear-cut chance we created until the goal before half-time. It was a goal scored by my enemy in my colours and that too with a hint of luck as the ball could have very nearly not got through to him. It wasn't exactly an inch-perfect pass but Mauro Icardi deserves credit for making the most of it to score. That goal just epitomises his talent in the box. Geoffrey Kondogbia deserves the credit for picking him out. It wasn't Pirlo-esque but efficient. I was pleased to see Inter score and take the lead but honestly, the identity of the scorer didn't leave me feeling pumped. Defensively, we were rock solid and steady especially in the second half when we didn't give Chievo even a sniff at our goal. Samir Handanovic had an easy outing. In the absence of Joao Miranda, I would have preferred to see Andrea Ranocchia given a chance to play and stake a claim in the side but the performance of Gary Medel in the last two matches vindicates his inclusion as a centre back. Medel was brilliant in his defending and especially his reading of the game. Murillo put in a more solid performance than he did against Milan but had to retire from the match earlier than expected due to an injury. Ranocchia did finally make a appearance as Murillo's replacement but he looks like a player short on confidence and feeling sorry for himself. If I could, I would just like to say to him that this is not the time to feel sorry and wallow in self-pity, it's time to prove the manager wrong and the only way he can do that is to be brilliant in every moment he gets on the field. He might just finally get his chance this midweek against Hellas Verona with Miranda and Murillo likely to be out injured.
How Felipe Melo was not even yellow carded in the game it beats me, pun intended as that was his objective. He was aggressive throughout,sometimes a bit more so and one day, someone will notice it and it could land the team into trouble if he is not careful and is more interested in kicking lumps out of his opponents. To be fair, he wasn't very dirty against Chievo. He was fine except on a few occasions but I still feel he could have got a yellow card for at least one of his challenges. I was most impressed by him when he went over to Stevan Jovetic, who looked frustrated and unhappy at being brought off, to calm him down so that he doesn't speak out of turn to the manager or displays an ugly behaviour in public. That was a mark of a leader and a strong character. Kudos to Melo for that but I am not impressed by his footballing ability. Ivan Perisic went on a great run in the second half, bursting with pace and leaving defenders in his wake, to remind us why he was bought. I hope to see that more often because that was the most exciting thing an Inter player did all game in the attacking third. Jovetic, looks a little lost and frustrated with what is expected of him tactically which is a shame as a player like him needs to be free to create and be a thorn for the opposing defenders. Kondogbia, has gone about his job quietly but for a player that was bought for such a high fee, he is offering little. What is he supposed to do on the field? I haven't fully figured that out. He looks like a box-to-box midfielder but hasn't made the impact expected of such a player. He wears the look of a man that is just there to do his job as well as wearing a quizzical look on his face almost wondering what is he doing there and how did he get there. It doesn't look like he speaks much and commands much on the pitch but that could be down to the lack of proficiency in the Italian language. I still feel he is over-rated especially for the price we paid for him. Maybe he has been made to wear the proverbial tactical shackles and if he is unshackled we will see an explosive player. At the moment we are seeing a tame and timid player. It was nice to see Palacio play a cameo role and do well. It's wonderful to see Santon doing well, oddly enough (or not), the only Italian in the starting eleven for the first 4 matches of an ITALIAN club. I would want to see Adam Ljajic play and from what I have read of him, he is not someone who will take kindly to being left on the bench for long so man-management is going to be important here for Roberto Mancini and the good of the squad.
Now back to the point of enlightenment, Inter 2015-16 is not built to excite with its style of play. It is build to grind out results. It has been built to be dogged and determined. It has been built to be solid at the back first. It is meant to be efficient and muscular which is why players like Melo and Kondogbia were bought. It also explains why Guarin starts over Brovozic and why Kovacic was sold instead of Icardi. Excitement of any kind going forward will be provided by Perisic, Ljajic, Jovetic, Biabiany and Palacio. It looks like any major threat going forward and the most beautiful pieces of play will come down the flanks and not through the centre. When Roberto Mancini won the Scudetto post-Calciopoli, he had built a muscular squad then that played to the strengths of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Icardi doesn't have the talent of Ibrahimovic to win matches on his own with a piece of magic but it looks like he is building a muscular side again but this time to feed Icardi with opportunities to score.
The challenge Mancini would face is in keeping the players motivated, fresh and to keep spirits high in the dressing room. Besides involvement in the Serie A, Inter would only be involved in the Coppa Italia and that in itself will ensure Inter is fresher than its opponents as they have only one game a week to prepare for. Mancini is right not to rotate the squad too much and to retain the players in the starting line-up base on merit but with the quantity and arguably even the quality in the squad, it will be difficult to keep everyone motivated and happy if he doesn't rotate players around a bit. It might have a negative effect on the team as well as it could cause someone to upset the apple-cart, causing friction in the dressing room. Rotating would also help keep everyone on their toes as well. Spirits are high in the dressing room because the team is doing well now. We will only see the true spirit, strength and character of the squad of when the chips are down.
So far Inter have been grinding out results without looking particularly pleasing to the eye but the objective doesn't seem to be to entertain but just to win. However, Serie A is a tactical league and before long, the team's tactics will be figured out and if there is no Plan B, it could backfire very badly when the flaws of the system had been found out by the opponents. It's tough for me to see Inter just grinding out results for the rest of the season. We have been winning by the odd goal in matches by creating little. Inter cannot go on creating little if they are to win football matches because there will come a time when Inter has to chase the lead or break the deadlock and by creating little, Inter will not be able to achieve either. It is still a team settling in but I hope the team starts creating and scoring more soon. I doubt the team will be pleasing to the eye and exciting to watch though but it still needs to do more going forward.
I wouldn't say I am delighted with the direction Inter is taking despite my enlightenment. I still feel it is not the right way to go about it but if Inter win the Scudetto in May or at least wins the Coppa Italia, I would have lesser to complain. For now, while they are still successful, all hail Boring, Boring Internazionale!
On Roberto Mancini, he had built exciting sides when he first took charge of Inter in 2004-05 and 2005-06. However, the lack of Scudetto successes (courtroom awarded Scudetto notwithstanding) and a multitude of draws has lead to a more pragmatic approach. He builds teams to win by buying players. He doesn't exactly patiently develops players as youngsters which is not exactly the kind of profile of a manager I would employ. Unfortunately, I am not Erick Thohir and I am not rich enough to buy over the club and run it my way. I am just a fan voicing my views through my blog.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Focus On The Italian National Team
It was international weekend last week which for most is seen as a hindrance as that would mean a weekend without any "meaningful" football from your favourite leagues and club teams. Most football fans are mainly excited by international football only when it reaches the final stage of a tournament not the qualifiers or friendlies but the international teams would need to qualify for these international or continental tournaments and would need friendlies to fine tune their playing style as well as experiment and try out new players and systems which is why these weekends are important to the international team managers. During this kind of weekends, most fans would just pray that the international players from their favourite club or clubs do not return to club duties with any injuries. The good news is that the international weekend is now over and the bad news is that inevitably, someone did get injured.
I am an Italy fan and have been one for the longest time. It was the first-ever team I supported and I feel for the Italian national team very strongly. I am not an Italian citizen, have no Italian ancestry and never ever been to Italy but I support Italy like it is my national team. It is the number 1 international team for me. Heading into this round of European Championships qualifying matches, I was quite worried over the state of the national team seeing that from a recent study, the Italian national team's manager, Antonio Conte has only 36% of Italian players to choose from Serie A for the national team. Italian players have left Italy due to the lack of faith and trust in them as well as the lack of space or are in Serie A but don't play often enough. Moreover, the atmosphere in Italian football can be very stressful and poisonous due to the violence, demands and expectations placed on teams by fans.
Italian clubs have been very territorial in their approach, focusing only on the good of their respective club sides and discounting the greater good of the national team. From what I have read, qualifiers and friendlies are not taken seriously in Italy which is why you see the national team losing friendlies and doing the bare minimum in qualifiers to qualify for an international or continental tournament. Once they have qualified for the World Cup or European Championships, everyone would leave their club allegiance aside for one month at the end of the season to support the national team and get upset when things go wrong and Italy do not win the tournament as they are expected to by most fans. In fact, Italy tends to do better in the World Cup or European Championships when they have been written off and not given a chance. History would suggest so. Personally, I love it when Italy approaches a tournament and is completely written off before a tournament because I know that is when Italy will be at its most dangerous.
Back to the topic of lack of Italian players in Serie A, I don't understand why Italian players are not given space, trust and faith in the Italian clubs. My favourite Italian club, Internazionale is one of the main culprits of doing so. There have been an influx of foreigners into Italian football not necessarily for the better. Some of these foreigners occupy a space that could be occupied by an Italian player without offering more in terms of quality. There have been suggestions that Serie A is on its way back to its glory days again due to the foreign names it is attracting but if you analyse it carefully, most of the foreign players are either rejects from big clubs in other leagues, players formerly from the Serie A who can't find space in foreign clubs or players in their career's final lap. Some do well and can provide a boost to a team's quality while some others falter to deceive.
On the topic of Italian players, is there not enough talent in Italian youth players? I think so looking at the results of the youth Italian teams. The Under-21 team were unlucky to have got knocked out in the group stage of last year's U21 European Championships. Italian players do not lack talent. What they do lack in is confidence to express themselves fully without fear of failure and suffer from inexperience. Italian football is such a stickler for success and the end result that any small mistake made and the player would be annihilated by the press and fans. Due to this fear of making a mistake, young players play with an iron ball around their ankles and do not dare to express themselves fully. There is too much pressure placed on players. Due to the lack of space afforded to these youngsters in the first team, the youngsters lose out in terms of experience playing in Serie B or lower or worse still, in the Primavera against teams of similar ilk and experience whereas German and Spanish players play regularly in the highest division of their league.
Italy have suffered two embarrassing exits from the World Cup. In both cases, they were eliminated in the group stage itself. There was a brief blip of joy and positivity when Italy finished second in the 2012 European Championships and third in the 2013 Confederations Cup. The strength of Italian football lies in the tactical discipline that has been passed on from generation to generation as well as the win-at-all costs mentality.These two factors have enabled Italy to punch above their weight and surprise the odds even when on paper, they have seem to possess a squad lacking in quality but this lack of quality is also the reason why Italy hasn't been able to take the leap forward and win a World Cup or European Championship after winning the 2006 World Cup.
The Italian FA's controversial President, Carlo Tavecchio has commented on the issue of foreigners in Italian football but has done little to address the issue. Former Italian national team manager, Cesare Prandelli has also commented on it as has other big names in the game but no-one in a position of power has exerted any influence or their power to address the issue. It could be due to the fear of upsetting the club Presidents who have only got the greater good of their club side in mind. There have been allegations raised that Tavecchio is a puppet for Lazio's President Claudio Lotito and doesn't act independently.
Italian football needs to be refreshed with new ideas and fresh faces in the management positions at club and national level. By management, I mean management in the administrative level. Stadiums need to be renovated and club-owned. Violence and hooliganism needs to be eradicated. Fresh ideas need to be brought in at all levels of the game starting from the FIGC to Serie A, Serie B and so on. Primavera teams should be allowed to compete in the lower leagues of the Italian league system with promotion to Serie B as their ceiling of progression. All clubs should universally agree to focus on developing young Italian players and giving space to Italian players in their first team. The Italian national team should be the Number 1 team in Italy not Juventus or Roma or AC Milan or Inter. Knowing the selfishness of Italian clubs which comes from the traditional win-at-all costs attitude in the game, perhaps a restriction needs to be introduced to force Italian clubs into fielding a certain amount of Italian players as part of their starting eleven and a certain amount of Italian players as part of their match day squad per week. I don't think a lot of these Italian clubs realise the talents they have on their hands as they are so blinded by foreign players, Inter being the prime example.
There have been complaints in the recent past over the inclusion of Oriundi in the national team but what is Conte to do when there are so many foreigners and so little Italians to choose from? It is slowly becoming more common now for Italian players to move abroad to find playing time and to play in a better atmosphere where they can focus on football and lead a normal life without the fear of being harrassed by fans after losing a match or being under too much pressure during the entire week. Not many have made a successful transition with Marco Verratti developing at an eye-catching and consistent rate. Graziano Pelle, has been abroad for a long time now but has only gained prominence now playing in the English Premier League. Matteo Darmian has made a good start to life at Manchester United and Salvatore Sirigu was first choice at Paris Saint Germain until he lost his place this season. Sebastian Giovinco is enjoying a new lease of life and is full of confidence in Major League Soccer. If Italian players continue to find themselves marginalised in their own countries, more Italian players will continue to move abroad and Italian football would suffer from the talent drain. If foreign players continue to be preferred over Italian players, then it would be better for Italian clubs to compete in foreign leagues instead. I do hope one day soon crooks like Lotito and puppets like Tavecchio are removed to allow for someone younger and fresher to revolutionise Italian football. I don't mind taking up the mantle but I don't speak or understand Italian and I am afraid I lack the expertise to implement the changes and ironically, Italians are sceptical of having foreign owners for their clubs and foreign players representing their national team. I don't think they would take too kindly to having a foreigner trying to revolutionise Italian football. Hahah.
In this round of European Championship qualifier matches, Italy won both matches 1-0 at a time when Italian players haven't exactly hit full form in terms of match fitness. I feel the team collected good and important results on the path to qualifying for the European Championships. I didn't get to watch these matches so I can't comment on the performances but being an Italian fan, I know that all that matters now is to win and qualify. It would be nice to see or hear of Italy winning comfortably by a bigger score-line but I read that Italy were profligate in both matches and the standard between the big teams in Europe and the smaller teams has reduced over the years. It is no longer a walk in the park for big teams against smaller teams. We'll accept the goal of qualification any way it comes. Due to these wins, Italy have moved up the FIFA standings and most importantly moved a step closer to qualifying. Win against Azerbaijan next on the 11th of October and Italy would go through. Achievable goal but what about the future of Italian football? I hope more is done and lesser is said about what needs rectifying in Italian football for the sake of the national team.
I am an Italy fan and have been one for the longest time. It was the first-ever team I supported and I feel for the Italian national team very strongly. I am not an Italian citizen, have no Italian ancestry and never ever been to Italy but I support Italy like it is my national team. It is the number 1 international team for me. Heading into this round of European Championships qualifying matches, I was quite worried over the state of the national team seeing that from a recent study, the Italian national team's manager, Antonio Conte has only 36% of Italian players to choose from Serie A for the national team. Italian players have left Italy due to the lack of faith and trust in them as well as the lack of space or are in Serie A but don't play often enough. Moreover, the atmosphere in Italian football can be very stressful and poisonous due to the violence, demands and expectations placed on teams by fans.
Italian clubs have been very territorial in their approach, focusing only on the good of their respective club sides and discounting the greater good of the national team. From what I have read, qualifiers and friendlies are not taken seriously in Italy which is why you see the national team losing friendlies and doing the bare minimum in qualifiers to qualify for an international or continental tournament. Once they have qualified for the World Cup or European Championships, everyone would leave their club allegiance aside for one month at the end of the season to support the national team and get upset when things go wrong and Italy do not win the tournament as they are expected to by most fans. In fact, Italy tends to do better in the World Cup or European Championships when they have been written off and not given a chance. History would suggest so. Personally, I love it when Italy approaches a tournament and is completely written off before a tournament because I know that is when Italy will be at its most dangerous.
Back to the topic of lack of Italian players in Serie A, I don't understand why Italian players are not given space, trust and faith in the Italian clubs. My favourite Italian club, Internazionale is one of the main culprits of doing so. There have been an influx of foreigners into Italian football not necessarily for the better. Some of these foreigners occupy a space that could be occupied by an Italian player without offering more in terms of quality. There have been suggestions that Serie A is on its way back to its glory days again due to the foreign names it is attracting but if you analyse it carefully, most of the foreign players are either rejects from big clubs in other leagues, players formerly from the Serie A who can't find space in foreign clubs or players in their career's final lap. Some do well and can provide a boost to a team's quality while some others falter to deceive.
On the topic of Italian players, is there not enough talent in Italian youth players? I think so looking at the results of the youth Italian teams. The Under-21 team were unlucky to have got knocked out in the group stage of last year's U21 European Championships. Italian players do not lack talent. What they do lack in is confidence to express themselves fully without fear of failure and suffer from inexperience. Italian football is such a stickler for success and the end result that any small mistake made and the player would be annihilated by the press and fans. Due to this fear of making a mistake, young players play with an iron ball around their ankles and do not dare to express themselves fully. There is too much pressure placed on players. Due to the lack of space afforded to these youngsters in the first team, the youngsters lose out in terms of experience playing in Serie B or lower or worse still, in the Primavera against teams of similar ilk and experience whereas German and Spanish players play regularly in the highest division of their league.
Italy have suffered two embarrassing exits from the World Cup. In both cases, they were eliminated in the group stage itself. There was a brief blip of joy and positivity when Italy finished second in the 2012 European Championships and third in the 2013 Confederations Cup. The strength of Italian football lies in the tactical discipline that has been passed on from generation to generation as well as the win-at-all costs mentality.These two factors have enabled Italy to punch above their weight and surprise the odds even when on paper, they have seem to possess a squad lacking in quality but this lack of quality is also the reason why Italy hasn't been able to take the leap forward and win a World Cup or European Championship after winning the 2006 World Cup.
The Italian FA's controversial President, Carlo Tavecchio has commented on the issue of foreigners in Italian football but has done little to address the issue. Former Italian national team manager, Cesare Prandelli has also commented on it as has other big names in the game but no-one in a position of power has exerted any influence or their power to address the issue. It could be due to the fear of upsetting the club Presidents who have only got the greater good of their club side in mind. There have been allegations raised that Tavecchio is a puppet for Lazio's President Claudio Lotito and doesn't act independently.
Italian football needs to be refreshed with new ideas and fresh faces in the management positions at club and national level. By management, I mean management in the administrative level. Stadiums need to be renovated and club-owned. Violence and hooliganism needs to be eradicated. Fresh ideas need to be brought in at all levels of the game starting from the FIGC to Serie A, Serie B and so on. Primavera teams should be allowed to compete in the lower leagues of the Italian league system with promotion to Serie B as their ceiling of progression. All clubs should universally agree to focus on developing young Italian players and giving space to Italian players in their first team. The Italian national team should be the Number 1 team in Italy not Juventus or Roma or AC Milan or Inter. Knowing the selfishness of Italian clubs which comes from the traditional win-at-all costs attitude in the game, perhaps a restriction needs to be introduced to force Italian clubs into fielding a certain amount of Italian players as part of their starting eleven and a certain amount of Italian players as part of their match day squad per week. I don't think a lot of these Italian clubs realise the talents they have on their hands as they are so blinded by foreign players, Inter being the prime example.
There have been complaints in the recent past over the inclusion of Oriundi in the national team but what is Conte to do when there are so many foreigners and so little Italians to choose from? It is slowly becoming more common now for Italian players to move abroad to find playing time and to play in a better atmosphere where they can focus on football and lead a normal life without the fear of being harrassed by fans after losing a match or being under too much pressure during the entire week. Not many have made a successful transition with Marco Verratti developing at an eye-catching and consistent rate. Graziano Pelle, has been abroad for a long time now but has only gained prominence now playing in the English Premier League. Matteo Darmian has made a good start to life at Manchester United and Salvatore Sirigu was first choice at Paris Saint Germain until he lost his place this season. Sebastian Giovinco is enjoying a new lease of life and is full of confidence in Major League Soccer. If Italian players continue to find themselves marginalised in their own countries, more Italian players will continue to move abroad and Italian football would suffer from the talent drain. If foreign players continue to be preferred over Italian players, then it would be better for Italian clubs to compete in foreign leagues instead. I do hope one day soon crooks like Lotito and puppets like Tavecchio are removed to allow for someone younger and fresher to revolutionise Italian football. I don't mind taking up the mantle but I don't speak or understand Italian and I am afraid I lack the expertise to implement the changes and ironically, Italians are sceptical of having foreign owners for their clubs and foreign players representing their national team. I don't think they would take too kindly to having a foreigner trying to revolutionise Italian football. Hahah.
In this round of European Championship qualifier matches, Italy won both matches 1-0 at a time when Italian players haven't exactly hit full form in terms of match fitness. I feel the team collected good and important results on the path to qualifying for the European Championships. I didn't get to watch these matches so I can't comment on the performances but being an Italian fan, I know that all that matters now is to win and qualify. It would be nice to see or hear of Italy winning comfortably by a bigger score-line but I read that Italy were profligate in both matches and the standard between the big teams in Europe and the smaller teams has reduced over the years. It is no longer a walk in the park for big teams against smaller teams. We'll accept the goal of qualification any way it comes. Due to these wins, Italy have moved up the FIFA standings and most importantly moved a step closer to qualifying. Win against Azerbaijan next on the 11th of October and Italy would go through. Achievable goal but what about the future of Italian football? I hope more is done and lesser is said about what needs rectifying in Italian football for the sake of the national team.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Inter 2015-16 Preview
It's not official yet but Mateo Kovacic would be sold to Real Madrid. The news is disappointing to hear. Very disappointing for me personally as the Croatian was fast becoming my favourite player at Inter. He was worthy to wear the number 10 jersey that was once worn by one of my all-time favourites, Roberto Baggio and that was last worn rightfully by Wesley Sneijder. The only consolation for me is that he is not going to Liverpool like Coutinho did. This as well as the signings made in the summer so far epitomises the lack of planning and strategy in Inter's transfer policy. You can say it's typical of Inter to buy quick and fast and lack patience and/or to buy and then not plan on how to manage the resources and squad size.
This season onwards, Serie A squads have been capped to only 25 players per squad and it was no secret. The directors knew it all along but yet before they could sell, they bought and they bought a lot. They now face the predicament of offloading players. All summer, the club has struggled to sell players especially with players turning down moves elsewhere. Finally, at long last, the club managed to offload Xherdan Shaqiri after he was offered to many different clubs. He was sold to the first club that he was offered to, Stoke City after failing to agree to a move there earlier in the summer. Shaqiri only lasted 6 months at the club. He had come to Inter with aplomb and amidst great excitement. He started off well but then tailed off. It's too soon to sell a player that had just been bought 6 months ago unless there was a falling out of sorts with the manager Roberto Mancini. On top of the squad cap, the club had to adhere to UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules which has been something the club started doing since they won the Treble as it tried reduce its debts. It has resulted in significant weakening of the squad without signing replacements of sufficient quality.
Why did we sign Shaqiri, a player with obvious quality, in the winter on a 4 year contract only to sell him 6 months later? I just can't understand it at all unless the player himself wanted to move or he fell out with the manager. Santon too was signed in the winter. He had hardly played at Newcastle before his move to Inter and understandably after a strong start, he would tail off due to the lack of fitness just like Shaqiri and he was also offered to other clubs. Why, oh why? His performances in pre-season have been jittery but he deserves time and faith for at least one full season. Danilo D'Ambrosio played well under Mancini last season and he is transfer listed. Why?! Beats me! Martin Montoya who was signed from Barcelona in the summer hasn't quite set the world alight with his performances. D'Ambrosio deserves his spot at right back. Signing Jeison Murillo looks like a very good decision and the decision could be vindicated if all goes well. However, I am not too sure on the signing of Miranda. We'll see how that turns out. I'd rather have him as back up. It's sad though that captain Andrea Ranocchia has been kept out of the starting lineup. He has had some shaky performances I admit but on his day he can be as good as anyone. I would prefer to see the pairing of Murillo-Ranocchia at centre back. Nemanja Vidic had a bad season. He did redeem himself somewhat in the closing months of last season but I wouldn't be surprised if he was sold. There are rumours Juan Jesus could be sold. He is a good back up to have at centre back and an option at left back but not great in both positions so I wouldn't mind if he is sold. I would rather keep Marco Andreolli at centre back as cover because to be fair, he has always done well at centre back when he has played. He doesn't deserve to be sold. Yuto Nagatomo could be sold and it would be sad when that happens as he has always given his best when he has played and a favourite with fans and team-mates but I understand the reason for it when it happens. He is under-rated slightly and as an Asian, I am proud to see a fellow Asian playing at one of my favourite clubs. Ezequiel Schelotto and Dodo are two players clearly surplus to requirements as well.
In midfield, a big deal was made out of the signing of Geoffrey Kondogbia. He is not the best player in the world. Let's be honest, we didn't sign Andres Iniesta. He is still a relative youngster and has a huge price tag to live up to as well as having to adjust to playing in Serie A which might not be the easiest thing to do so please give him time and pipe down on your expectations of him. Thank God we have kept Gary Medel so far. He did well and the best he could last season in his position. Marcelo Brovozic is growing into an influential player in pre-season and would be one to watch out for. Thank God we did not sign Felipe Melo because that would have been the most unnecessary signing of the summer. Assane Gnoukouri, a product of our youth academy is getting opportunities to play in the first team and that is nice to see. Hopefully more would follow. I am disappointed to see Marco Benassi leave for Torino. He did well there last season in Serie A, the Europa League and for the Italy U21s at the Euro U21. He would have been good to have in the squad. I certainly would not mind seeing Fredy Guarin, a player that has frustrated me and lots of fans with his inconsistent displays, leave. Another player I don't mind seeing leave would be Hernanes. We have only seen the best of him in flashes which is something you do not expect from an established player who is not new to Italian football. There's also forgotten and unwanted man Saphir Taider who had a strong start to life at Inter under Walter Mazzari to be sold as well. The imminent departure of Kovacic is another disappointment. I hope and pray for a miracle and the move falls through.
Up front, I would have made the brave decision in cashing in on Mauro Icardi. He might have been top scorer last season but I feel he is over-rated. I do have a moral vendetta against him for what he did to his best friend, Maxi Lopez which could cloud my judgement but the lack of goals in pre-season seems to vindicate my point. We would have got lots of money from his sale and I feel he is less integral to Inter's present and future plans than Kovacic. Rodrigo Palacio is getting on in age but always gives us more than 100% in every game. He might be losing pace but I hope he stays injury-free because he can be really dangerous when he is sharp. The signing of Stevan Jovetic is a good one. I am excited to see him play and its been a long time since I have been excited by Inter signing an attacker. I just hope he can rediscover his Fiorentina form and that he hasn't become a talent spoilt and wasted by Manchester City. We have re-signed Jonathan Biabiany who last season was so close to joining AC Milan. He came through our ranks, we had him with us in the first post-Treble season (2010-11), sold him to Parma after some less than impressive displays where he did very well and is now back with us. Most importantly, I hope he is in good health after his health scare and then I hope he can cope with the pressure of playing for Inter. He will certainly be useful to Mancini's plans to play with wingers. I would have kept Samuele Longo so I am disappointed to see him go.
On potential signings, there has been a lot of talk all summer on the chase for Ivan Perisic. If he fails to arrive, I wouldn't mind signing Dries Mertens and no-one else really. No way can I see Diego Perotti as a player worthy of Inter. There's talk of signing Thiago Motta and it would be nice to have him back to bolster the midfield after the imminent sale of Kovacic and also a left back. Between Fabio Coentrao and Domenico Criscito, I'd rather see us sign Criscito as he is an Italian and its very unlikely Coentrao would sign for Inter. In a nutshell, just for the sake of selling players to reduce debts and squad size, I wouldn't mind selling Vidic, Nagatomo, Guarin, Hernanes, Taider, Schelotto, Icardi (maybe Juan Jesus too) and return Dodo to Roma. I would have kept Benassi, Longo and Kovacic at the club. We would then need to sign a striker (how about Berardi or Immobile if we had "sold" Icardi earlier), Criscito and Perisic or Mertens. In case you are wondering why I have not mentioned goalkeepers, it's because even Inter are not that crazy to sell Samir Handanovic after the seasons that he has had. There was a threat of that happening when he hadn't extended his contract and if he did leave, I believe we have a good replacement ready in Francesco Bardi (only if the club keeps its eyes open to Italian players).
The results in pre-season have been far from impressive. I have watched some matches in pre-season and we have not played as badly as the results suggest. What has been telling has been the lack of sharpness in attack. We have been toothless. I know results in pre-season don't guarantee you a great season and I hope we have a better season than the last one and the one we are suggesting to have so far. The best things in this pre-season has been our new kits.
Since the Treble and Jose Mourinho, Inter has changed 7 managers in 5 years! That is certainly not a recipe for success. The club has lacked stability at all levels. The sale of the club to Erick Thohir has contributed to the instability experienced at the club. As fans, we are aware of the need to sell before signing. It doesn't help if we keep missing out on qualifying to the Champions League. We don't have a stadium of our own like Juventus. It takes patience and careful planning if Inter are to return to glory days again but I seriously doubt we will ever see that. The longer we go without winning anything, the more twitchy the club will get. We have seen it before in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if it repeats now and lessons from the past are not learnt. Fingers crossed for a better than expected season. Inter is really Amala Inter!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Ras, The Inter Fan
I have been an Inter fan since 1992. For those that are new to this blog, please refer to the Introductory post that has a very concise paragraph on how I became a fan. I would describe myself as an unconventional and unique fan. I hope to address that later in this post.
As a new and young Inter fan, I didn't get to watch too many Inter matches because Inter were struggling and the Indonesian channels (Singapore didn't broadcast any "live" Serie A matches at that time) which were the only ones broadcasting "live" Serie A matches at that time in the region, hardly broadcasted any Inter matches. I would constantly check for their results on the Teletext and watch highlights of the matches on the weekly highlights show and would get sad looking at the poor results. In those days, I was in awe looking at AC Milan and Juventus' supremacy. I was particularly impressed and shocked to hear of AC Milan's trashing of Barcelona in the Champions League. That just created an air on invincibility around Milan in my mind. I was glad too as Milan were representing Italy and Italian football. Barcelona were a pompous bunch too under Johan Cryuff. Juventus had Roberto Baggio who had became another of my favourite players so that is reason enough to watch them closely and got delighted watching Baggio. At that time, the rivalry between Inter & Milan or Juventus hadn't kicked in yet. Moreover in Singapore, it is easier to feel the intensity and rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool due to the popularity and exposure towards the English League here. I don't remember knowing any other person who supported an Italian club.
I started disliking Juventus when Baggio's time came to an end there rather acrimoniously and as for Milan, I got bored of watching them constantly winning and was quite delighted to hear of Ajax beating them in the 1995 Champions League final. That is how my dislike for both of our rivals grew. As an Inter fan, I experienced a lot of anger, frustration and heartbreak. The first of which was a disappointment felt at losing the UEFA Cup final against a supposed inferior opponent, Schalke 04 on penalties in 1996-97. Next was the dismay and fury felt from the injustice of having a legitimate penalty turned down amongst other decisions that went against us in a crucial title decider against Juventus which began the hatred towards Juventus.
Juventus 1 - Inter 0 1997-98
Next was the most embarrassing defeat suffered as an Inter fan, the 0-6 defeat to AC Milan in the 2000-01 season and the following season, 2001-02, I experienced my first real heartbreak as an Inter fan. Inter were in the driving seat to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1989, they had a few stumbles near the end of the season but went into the final day of the season still top. All Inter needed to do was win against a Lazio side that had nothing to play for and had fans supporting Inter because an Inter defeat could open up the door for their hated rivals, Roma to win the Scudetto. Inter collapsed and lost in that match to cause trauma and heartbreak for all Inter fans. 5th May 2002 will forever be a dark day in Inter's history.
Now let's recount the happy moments. The 1993-94 UEFA Cup triumph was the first success I experienced as an Inter fan followed by the 1997-98 UEFA Cup triumph which was memorable for the comprehensive and resounding manner with which we won it culminating a great season we had.
The Coppa Italia triumph of 2003-04 was a huge relief and lifted some pressure off us after the traumatic collapse of 2001-02 Serie A season. That brought great joy after 6 years of a trophy drought.
The Supercoppa Italiana of 2004-05 was sweet as we beat Juventus to win it and the Coppa Italia of 2004-05 provided us continuity of winning silverware after long absences between our previous trophies.
Then it would undoubtedly be the historic and unforgettable Treble that is unmatched by any Italian side till date and finally, the World Club Cup which culminated the good work of Jose Mourinho the previous season and our final trophy triumph till date, Coppa Italia triumph of 2010-11.
I have consciously left out the Scudetto awarded to us in the courtroom in 2005-06 and the ones won on the pitch in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Why? Because firstly, I rather win the Scudetto on the pitch rather than get it handed to us in a courtroom. We were third in that season and the top two were implicated in Calciopoli which meant that we were the next best team that was not implicated. There is no joy in that because I believe titles are won on the pitch and even if the top two, Juventus and Milan were guilty of trying to influence the appointment of referees to influence the matches in their favour, I would prefered it if we had finished top on the pitch after 38 matches. As for the other Scudetto wins, I was happy to have won it but truthfully it was always a matter of formality because we won it without any strong rivals that ran us close. We had taken advantage of Juventus' relegation very well by signing a talismanic player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic who could win games on his own in Italy but the lack of a serious rival was telling when Inter played in Europe and we struggled to impose our superiority there. Roma were our only rivals but they finished miles apart. If anything, us taking our foot off the pedal and losing focus allowed them back in a bit and gave them more of a chance like in 2007-08. I would have got more joy if we had won the Scudetto in 1997-98 and/or 2001-02 because then we would have come up against strong rivals and won it on the pitch for football reasons not in the courtroom or with severely weakened rivals.
Massimo Moratti made us dream with the signings he made every season since he took over. He showed us what he was capable of when he first signed Ronaldo for a record transfer fee and would then break that record to sign Christian Vieri.
It was exciting to have a fantasy football style approach, signing the best players in the world and trying to make them fit in as a team. However, Moratti didn't get the balance right in his signings and was guilty of not being patient enough with his managers. Luigi Simoni should never have been sacked so soon into 1998-99.
Hector Cuper suffered from the trauma of 2001-02 like the rest of us. He was never quite able to replicate the success of 2001-02.
Marcello Lippi had seemed liked the right choice as a manager having been a serial winner at our arch-rivals, Juventus but sticking with him after barely scrapping into the Champions League was the wrong decision to take. Signing lots of players over one summer to replace an outgoing bulk was also not the right decision to make because it disrupts the stability of the team as is the lack of stability in the manager's position. The blame of that would have to be shared by the technical director and Moratti himself (as much as I love the man, he has to take the blame for it). Probably our biggest mistakes would be not getting the best out of Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Fabio Cannavaro while they were at Inter. All three would go on to enjoy much success at our arch-rivals AC Milan and Juventus. The folly of our transfer policy can be exemplified by the swap deal of Pirlo and Seedorf for Coco and Guly. Evidently, we got the worse of the deal.
Until today, the transfer policy and dealings continue to frustrate and annoy me. The best we did on the transfer market was to take advantage of Juventus' relegation and signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Prior to that, we had already been building up a decent squad with the signing of Dejan Stankovic, Adriano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Walter Samuel.
Lesser known players like Julio Cesar and Maicon were also signed as was the signing of Esteban Cambiasso, a bargain buy who turned out to be an integral and valuable signing.
In the summer of 2009-10, Jose Mourinho made signings to allow us to take the next step up in Europe with the signing of Lucio, Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder.
The signings of Thiago Motta and Diego Milito were shrewd.
What was particularly important was the swap between Eto'o and Ibrahimovic. If Ibrahimovic had stayed, Inter would never have won the Treble and would never have been able to rise above the underachievement in Europe.
I know the club has its origins in giving foreign players a chance to play. The club is built on that. I am well aware of that. However, in the last few years, the number of Italian players in the Inter team has decreased. As an Italy fan as well, this fact irks me. I would like a nice mix of Italian and foreign players in the team. Besides, being an Italy fan, Inter is an Italian club and it needs Italian representation in the team outside of the coaching staff. The club needs local identity and flavour. I know people will argue that the Treble and all the success before that was achieved largely by a squad filled with foreign players and that Inter is a big enough club internationally for players to understand what it means to play for the club. We have had foreign players who knew what it meant to play for Inter but the club should never lose its identity and representation of Italian players and I would want to see more Italian players playing for Inter.
The next thing I would like to see Inter do more of is to give more space for the youngsters from the youth team to play in the first team. In my time as a fan, I remember Giovanni Pasquale, Obafemi Martins, Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon who made the progress from the youth team into the first team but for one reason or another none of these players have stayed long enough at the club. Santon is back for his second innings at the club but could be sold in the transfer market as the team looks to reduce the squad size. Marco Andreolli and Andrea Ranocchia returned to Inter after some time out elsewhere and the former has been transfer listed. At a time when the club is in debt and have the Financial Fair Play to comply with, it makes greater sense to be self-dependent on players created in the club, players that have been brought up by the club, have the club's colours in their heart and know very well what it means to play for the club. Generally, there is little patience and space for youngsters from the youth rank in Italian clubs but Inter can be revolutionary in this aspect by giving youngsters space and path into the first team. The club has done well in recent years in the youth sector so there is definitely talent in the club's youth sector. I understand that the youngsters lack exposure of playing against adult teams and would need to be loaned out to gain experience but there's no use doing that if they are only sold because the space in the team has been taken by a young South American or a more established player.
I still remain an Inter fan and regardless of what the club does in the transfer market, I will keep supporting them. Am I an unconventional and unique Inter fan? I think I am but maybe I am not. You be the judge on that :-)
As a new and young Inter fan, I didn't get to watch too many Inter matches because Inter were struggling and the Indonesian channels (Singapore didn't broadcast any "live" Serie A matches at that time) which were the only ones broadcasting "live" Serie A matches at that time in the region, hardly broadcasted any Inter matches. I would constantly check for their results on the Teletext and watch highlights of the matches on the weekly highlights show and would get sad looking at the poor results. In those days, I was in awe looking at AC Milan and Juventus' supremacy. I was particularly impressed and shocked to hear of AC Milan's trashing of Barcelona in the Champions League. That just created an air on invincibility around Milan in my mind. I was glad too as Milan were representing Italy and Italian football. Barcelona were a pompous bunch too under Johan Cryuff. Juventus had Roberto Baggio who had became another of my favourite players so that is reason enough to watch them closely and got delighted watching Baggio. At that time, the rivalry between Inter & Milan or Juventus hadn't kicked in yet. Moreover in Singapore, it is easier to feel the intensity and rivalry between Manchester United and Liverpool due to the popularity and exposure towards the English League here. I don't remember knowing any other person who supported an Italian club.
I started disliking Juventus when Baggio's time came to an end there rather acrimoniously and as for Milan, I got bored of watching them constantly winning and was quite delighted to hear of Ajax beating them in the 1995 Champions League final. That is how my dislike for both of our rivals grew. As an Inter fan, I experienced a lot of anger, frustration and heartbreak. The first of which was a disappointment felt at losing the UEFA Cup final against a supposed inferior opponent, Schalke 04 on penalties in 1996-97. Next was the dismay and fury felt from the injustice of having a legitimate penalty turned down amongst other decisions that went against us in a crucial title decider against Juventus which began the hatred towards Juventus.
Juventus 1 - Inter 0 1997-98
Next was the most embarrassing defeat suffered as an Inter fan, the 0-6 defeat to AC Milan in the 2000-01 season and the following season, 2001-02, I experienced my first real heartbreak as an Inter fan. Inter were in the driving seat to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1989, they had a few stumbles near the end of the season but went into the final day of the season still top. All Inter needed to do was win against a Lazio side that had nothing to play for and had fans supporting Inter because an Inter defeat could open up the door for their hated rivals, Roma to win the Scudetto. Inter collapsed and lost in that match to cause trauma and heartbreak for all Inter fans. 5th May 2002 will forever be a dark day in Inter's history.
Now let's recount the happy moments. The 1993-94 UEFA Cup triumph was the first success I experienced as an Inter fan followed by the 1997-98 UEFA Cup triumph which was memorable for the comprehensive and resounding manner with which we won it culminating a great season we had.
The Coppa Italia triumph of 2003-04 was a huge relief and lifted some pressure off us after the traumatic collapse of 2001-02 Serie A season. That brought great joy after 6 years of a trophy drought.
The Supercoppa Italiana of 2004-05 was sweet as we beat Juventus to win it and the Coppa Italia of 2004-05 provided us continuity of winning silverware after long absences between our previous trophies.
Then it would undoubtedly be the historic and unforgettable Treble that is unmatched by any Italian side till date and finally, the World Club Cup which culminated the good work of Jose Mourinho the previous season and our final trophy triumph till date, Coppa Italia triumph of 2010-11.
I have consciously left out the Scudetto awarded to us in the courtroom in 2005-06 and the ones won on the pitch in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. Why? Because firstly, I rather win the Scudetto on the pitch rather than get it handed to us in a courtroom. We were third in that season and the top two were implicated in Calciopoli which meant that we were the next best team that was not implicated. There is no joy in that because I believe titles are won on the pitch and even if the top two, Juventus and Milan were guilty of trying to influence the appointment of referees to influence the matches in their favour, I would prefered it if we had finished top on the pitch after 38 matches. As for the other Scudetto wins, I was happy to have won it but truthfully it was always a matter of formality because we won it without any strong rivals that ran us close. We had taken advantage of Juventus' relegation very well by signing a talismanic player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic who could win games on his own in Italy but the lack of a serious rival was telling when Inter played in Europe and we struggled to impose our superiority there. Roma were our only rivals but they finished miles apart. If anything, us taking our foot off the pedal and losing focus allowed them back in a bit and gave them more of a chance like in 2007-08. I would have got more joy if we had won the Scudetto in 1997-98 and/or 2001-02 because then we would have come up against strong rivals and won it on the pitch for football reasons not in the courtroom or with severely weakened rivals.
Massimo Moratti made us dream with the signings he made every season since he took over. He showed us what he was capable of when he first signed Ronaldo for a record transfer fee and would then break that record to sign Christian Vieri.
It was exciting to have a fantasy football style approach, signing the best players in the world and trying to make them fit in as a team. However, Moratti didn't get the balance right in his signings and was guilty of not being patient enough with his managers. Luigi Simoni should never have been sacked so soon into 1998-99.
Hector Cuper suffered from the trauma of 2001-02 like the rest of us. He was never quite able to replicate the success of 2001-02.
Marcello Lippi had seemed liked the right choice as a manager having been a serial winner at our arch-rivals, Juventus but sticking with him after barely scrapping into the Champions League was the wrong decision to take. Signing lots of players over one summer to replace an outgoing bulk was also not the right decision to make because it disrupts the stability of the team as is the lack of stability in the manager's position. The blame of that would have to be shared by the technical director and Moratti himself (as much as I love the man, he has to take the blame for it). Probably our biggest mistakes would be not getting the best out of Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Fabio Cannavaro while they were at Inter. All three would go on to enjoy much success at our arch-rivals AC Milan and Juventus. The folly of our transfer policy can be exemplified by the swap deal of Pirlo and Seedorf for Coco and Guly. Evidently, we got the worse of the deal.
Until today, the transfer policy and dealings continue to frustrate and annoy me. The best we did on the transfer market was to take advantage of Juventus' relegation and signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Prior to that, we had already been building up a decent squad with the signing of Dejan Stankovic, Adriano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Walter Samuel.
Lesser known players like Julio Cesar and Maicon were also signed as was the signing of Esteban Cambiasso, a bargain buy who turned out to be an integral and valuable signing.
In the summer of 2009-10, Jose Mourinho made signings to allow us to take the next step up in Europe with the signing of Lucio, Samuel Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder.
The signings of Thiago Motta and Diego Milito were shrewd.
What was particularly important was the swap between Eto'o and Ibrahimovic. If Ibrahimovic had stayed, Inter would never have won the Treble and would never have been able to rise above the underachievement in Europe.
I know the club has its origins in giving foreign players a chance to play. The club is built on that. I am well aware of that. However, in the last few years, the number of Italian players in the Inter team has decreased. As an Italy fan as well, this fact irks me. I would like a nice mix of Italian and foreign players in the team. Besides, being an Italy fan, Inter is an Italian club and it needs Italian representation in the team outside of the coaching staff. The club needs local identity and flavour. I know people will argue that the Treble and all the success before that was achieved largely by a squad filled with foreign players and that Inter is a big enough club internationally for players to understand what it means to play for the club. We have had foreign players who knew what it meant to play for Inter but the club should never lose its identity and representation of Italian players and I would want to see more Italian players playing for Inter.
The next thing I would like to see Inter do more of is to give more space for the youngsters from the youth team to play in the first team. In my time as a fan, I remember Giovanni Pasquale, Obafemi Martins, Mario Balotelli and Davide Santon who made the progress from the youth team into the first team but for one reason or another none of these players have stayed long enough at the club. Santon is back for his second innings at the club but could be sold in the transfer market as the team looks to reduce the squad size. Marco Andreolli and Andrea Ranocchia returned to Inter after some time out elsewhere and the former has been transfer listed. At a time when the club is in debt and have the Financial Fair Play to comply with, it makes greater sense to be self-dependent on players created in the club, players that have been brought up by the club, have the club's colours in their heart and know very well what it means to play for the club. Generally, there is little patience and space for youngsters from the youth rank in Italian clubs but Inter can be revolutionary in this aspect by giving youngsters space and path into the first team. The club has done well in recent years in the youth sector so there is definitely talent in the club's youth sector. I understand that the youngsters lack exposure of playing against adult teams and would need to be loaned out to gain experience but there's no use doing that if they are only sold because the space in the team has been taken by a young South American or a more established player.
I still remain an Inter fan and regardless of what the club does in the transfer market, I will keep supporting them. Am I an unconventional and unique Inter fan? I think I am but maybe I am not. You be the judge on that :-)
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