Internazionale Main Thread

[RomaShield27]

INTER BOUNCE BACK
www.sportinglife.com

Leaders Inter Milan returned to winning ways in Serie A with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at lowly Lecce on Saturday. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho's side in the first half while further goals from Luis Figo and Dejan Stankovic made sure of a comfortable victory at Stadio Via del Mare. The win lifted Inter nine points clear at the summit for a few hours at least, although AC Milan could bring that gap back to six points with victory in the evening encounter at home to Reggina.

Inter were keyed up for this game after being held to a 1-1 draw by Torino last weekend, setting about their task with vigour and going close after just nine minutes when Stankovic headed wide.

And the visitors went ahead just moments later as Esteban Cambiasso picked out Ibrahimovic in space on the edge of the area and the Sweden international fired home from 20 yards. Inter had Julio Cesar to thank for keeping their noses in front after 18 minutes, the goalkeeper making a great reflex save to deny Guglielmo Stendardo.

Lecce were far from overawed by their illustrious visitors and created another chance after 33 minutes when Simone Tiribocchi let fly from 25 yards with a shot that went just wide of the right-hand post.

Inter began to assert themselves after the break and 11 minutes in Maicon should have done better than fire over when inside the area. Stankovic then had another chance after 62 minutes but Francesco Benussi was equal to the chance, making a good save.

Lecce were struggling in the final third and often resorted to long-range efforts, one of which, by Dimitrios Papadopoulos midway through the half, only just sailed wide of the mark with Julio Cesar struggling.

Inter were still only a goal away from seeing their lead wiped out, however, and a weight was lifted from their shoulders when Figo netted the clincher after 72 minutes, the veteran Portuguese winger heading home Maicon's left-wing cross.

Papadopoulos, who entered the fray as a 66th-minute substitute, was proving to be a lively addition to the Lecce team and the striker again got the attention of Julio Cesar with a testing long-range effort that again missed by a whisker.

Inter were never in any real danger of being breached at the back, however, and increased their winning margin with eight minutes left to play.

The impressive Maicon was again at the heart of the move, the Brazilian's right-wing free-kick finding its way to Stankovic who planted a firm header beyond Benussi to seal three valuable points for Inter in their bid to claim a fourth Scudetto in a row.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Thanks for that, Red. Much appreciated.

Didn't watch the game since I fell asleep lonnnng before 4:00 am but the Christmas tree formation? A strange game to use it for the first time this season but I'm not going to argue woth 3 - 0. Good assist by Santon, great head by Stankovic and what a rocket by Zlatan. Also the save on 18 mins by Cesar was fucking insane. Now for the Derby and we have Samuel and Adriano back and maybe even Vieira but Balotelli is suspended. Anyway, glad to be 8 points clear of Milan and lets see how Juve go tonight.

Latest news says Kaka fractured his foot and Bonera is suspended. I'm 100% certain Mou would of learned from his first Derby and instead of sitting back and letting them bring the game to us, we should be right at them from the first whistle. Also, 11 points would be near impossible to come back from..

[Dejan-Stankovic]

He said: "Unfortunately it's like this with us. They forget straight away. I was disqualified for using the word 'scared', so now I'll use the word 'strange'. Adriano's suspension was strange, the penalty Inter were denied against Torino at the Meazza was strange, and the penalty today, when it was 1-0 and could have had an effect on the game, was strange, and it's strange that you didn't show the penalty in your two-minute highlights. I'm always willing to talk with you after the match but I can say that in these two minutes you didn't show the penalty foul. All this is a bit strange but what can I do? I have to work."

Mou with some insight..

[Totally FRANK]

[Lombardiamia]

[zafferano]

[Messinterista]

[red]

[zafferano]

[Messinterista]

Jose Mourinho Prepares €30m For Atletico Madrid Star Sergio Agüero - Report

Agüero has turned Mourinho's head in his direction and the money needed to land him is available, according to reports in Italy...

Massimo Moratti has given Jose Mourinho a blank cheque book for the summer transfer window, which the coach will use to spend €30 million on Atletico Madrid hitman Sergio Agüero.

The former Chelsea coach had his eyes set on Manchester United's Carlos Tevez before Sir tender Alex Ferguson offered the former West Ham man a new deal. Mourinho has now turned his head towards Agüero and Sportmediaset.it claims that he is ready to offer the Spanish giants €30m plus two players in return for the striker.

Didier Drogba has been closely linked with the Nerazzurri, but Agüero's age and prowess compared to the Ivorian's will represent more value for money, given that 'Drogs' is 31 and Agüero is stil only 20.

In addition, the Nerazzurri need a world-class striker to partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front and the Argentinean is, perhaps, the best match in terms of tactics. Mario Balotelli and Adriano have been unreliable and the 'Special One' doesn't want any further problems next season.

Convincing the Colchoneros to sell will be tough, of course. However, Mourinho is undeterred and has a cunning plan up his sleeve. The coach will insert Nicolas Burdisso and Luis Jimenez as part of the deal, as both players are wanted by the Rojiblancos. This will work for 'Mou', as he will also be trimming down his squad.

Source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/1707/inter/ ... rgio-aguer

========================================================

How does the reporter know this? There are no direct quotes. Although, this does sound appealing.

[oily]

my money's on drogba coming to inter ... maybe even lampard

[Dejan-Stankovic]

No Kaka for the Derby. Good news since he always seems to play a blinder against us.

In the first derby, Mou let them take the game to us and that's why they beat us. We didn't test them or put pressure on them one bit. This time, we should go out there with Stankovic behind Adriano and Zlatan and just play our natural attacking game and we should break them down as their backline is their weakest point. If Mou is the genius he claims he is, we'll go out there with the complete opposite approach we did in round 1.

Shit I fucking forgot about these fucked up and meaningless International friendlies. What a fucking shit week to have them just before the derby and 2 weeks before our most important game of the season. What retarted cunts, besides national team coaches, think these games are a good idea?

[red]

[Lombardiamia]

[red]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Messinterista]

[Totally FRANK]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

We're just churning out the strikers, hey Frank? Balotelli, Destro, Napoli, Acquafresca etc.. our scouts are proving invaluable atm. I thought Bolzoni would get at least a little playing time but it just hasn't happened so maybe a loan deal would be good for next season.

[Lombardiamia]

To be completely honest Dejan, I dont really think that Destro is on the verge of shining or anything. He is a good striker but will most probably only make it to some lower table serie A team in the future.Same thing with Napoli. That is unless they have a sudden or late improvement, like Toni, who was always considered as a good striker, but very few thought he would reach the heights he's reached. Toni though had his physique to help him out and learnt how to master it. Napoli & Destro dont even have that.
Unfortunately, I dont beleive in Bolzoni much either. The more I see him play, the more I think he is a Dacourt type of player. Knows how to cover the defense, but knows very little on what to do with a ball in his feet.

IMO, our best prospects are our primavera goalie Belec, the LB Fatic (I think he is on loan somewhere) & our latest addition Stefanovic (an AM). We have still yet to see this huge Brazilian prospect we bought last summer Coutinho. Scouts have talked highly about the guy and lets not forget that Robinho also said he has seen him do things with the ball that he has never seen before. Certainly our most immediate prospect is Acquafresca.