Internazionale Main Thread II

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[Messinterista]

As I said previously, if we get knocked out of the champions league, no biggy, let's try to win the Europa League!
Oh, wait...Liverpoοls in it. We'll most probably lose to them.

[Carlo Romano]

[RomaShield27]

MOURINHO GETS MORATTI BACKING
www.sportinglife.com

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has been given the full backing of club president Massimo Moratti ahead of this weekend's visit of Fiorentina. Defeat at Barcelona in midweek has left Inter's hopes of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League in the balance. Victory in their final group game against Rubin Kazan would seal their passage but the manner of the performance at the Nou Camp caused a stir in Milan.

On suggestions former Chelsea manager Mourinho's job could be in jeopardy, Moratti said: "Absolutely not. There's no problem at all. We continue with the same faith. "He will certainly analyse that match and he will have to look at the players and the tactics.

"It will be him who has to do this, but there's complete faith in someone who so far has replied to this faith." It was certainly not the Inter which has lost just once and opened up a five-point lead at the top of Serie A that were defeated 2-0 in midweek.

"I am disappointed because we practically stayed in Milan," said Moratti. "It was a useless trip. And I think that we saw the players go missing. I think it was an isolated episode, because something like this has never happened before and I think it ends there. "This doesn't cancel out our good play in other matches, it doesn't cancel out the continuous growth and the fact that we are having an excellent season. We played a terrible match at the wrong time."

Moratti's view is supported by the bare statistics of champions Inter's season: they are comfortably top scorers with 32 goals in just 13 matches, 10 of which they have won. Strikers Diego Milito and Samuel Eto'o have provided the firepower to cover the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the top scorer in Italy last season, netting 14 times between them.

Fiorentina, in contrast, have lost their way in the league after an impressive start, slipping to sixth on the back of just two wins from seven games. With progress from Liverfekkin'wankscum's group of the Champions League guaranteed by the win over Lyon, however, confidence will be high and it would be an opportune time to concentrate on domestic matters once more.

The Viola have been sound in defence this campaign with former Inter goalkeeper Sebastien Frey behind a back four accountable for just a dozen goals. Midfielder Riccardo Montolivo refused to be intimidated by the trip to the San Siro.

"We are going into a very difficult game and on paper Inter have the advantage, but we are certainly not scared," Montolivo told www.tribalfootball.com. "We will go to Milan aiming to confirm all the good things we have done up until now and prove we are the team seen against Lyon."

They will not want to be the team seen against Parma last week, though, after they came out second best in a five-goal thriller. Top scorer Alberto Gilardino struck twice, either side of Parma going 2-1 ahead, but the visitors exploited Cesare Prandelli's recent Serie A susceptibility.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Fio will be a tough game. They're high on confidence after the CL, play at a decent tempo which is our main weakness and we're coming off a pounding not to mention we've got Juve next and Rubin after that so it will be a massive test. Sneijder not available once again as well and no Maicon. There are also rumors Vieira will start over Cambiasso.

---------------Cesar-----------------
Zanetti---Lucio----Sameul---Chivu
--------------Vieira------------------
-----Muntari--------Motta-----------
-----------Stankovic----------------
-----Eto'o-------------Milito---------

If we can go into the Juve game with the same 5 point advantage, that will be priceless.

[ricky2882]

You guys will probably have a 7 point advantage going into the Juve game

[Messinterista]

Ancelotti: 'I cried for Inter!'

Carlo Ancelotti reveals his best and worst Milan moments as well as a shocking secret. “I have always supported Inter and cried for this team.â€

[Lombardiamia]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

And it's not a CL game, so that's another advantage.

[RomaShield27]

Disgraceful dive by Milito. He knew exactly what he was doing and should feel ashamed of having to win in such a manner.

[Lombardiamia]

[Carlo Romano]

I should add in this thread rather than a Roma one, that after the demise of la Grande Inter and the fact that my life in my late teens up to my later twenties took me to different towns and even countries, I really didn't have much time for week end football. It was true to say that gli azzurri in the World Cups of 1970, 1974, and 1978 became my sole major soccer concern, other than a passing interest in what little tv viewing I was able to get of Italian clubs in European competition...Inter and Juventus most notably. I took a special satisfaction from Inter's 1972 defeat of Celtic and the Azzurri's 1973 Wembley 0-2 defeat of England in which Fabio Capello scored a goal. Then there was the 1976 Italian 2-0 victory in Roma over England which helped prevent them from qualifying for the 1978 World Cup...

Until the very late 1970's into the early 1980's when I particularly picked up on Roberto Pruzzo's Roma thanks to a better and less British football only tv coverage, not forgetting the Italian newspapers I could sometimes buy, and old fashioned short wave radio...so I got back to my family roots and there's no stronger medicine.

When I get a little time over the Christmas holidays I'll do a piece on Trapattoni's Inter, another side which deserves to be given credit, with names like Aldo Serena, Beppe Bergomi, Beppe Baresi, Riccardo Ferri, Jurgen Klinsmann, Lothar Matthaeus, Andy Brehme, the young Nicola Berti, and of course Walter Zenga...along with Zoff and Buffon, one of Italy's truly great goalkeepers.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Thiago Motta, Muntari and Stankovic came off the pitch without yellow cards, meaning all three will be available to face Juventus in Turin next Saturday. "They weren't booked because they didn't commit any fouls, verbal ones included. There's only one player who usually does these kind of fouls."

Continuing his post-match analysis on Rai Sport, Mourinho added: "I saw a fantastic team that would have deserved this adjective and my praise even if we hadn't won. Not playing Mario was a technical decision and I don't want to discuss it. The team didn't miss Mario. If two World Cup winners found a place on the bench, why can't I send Balotelli into the stands."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sounds like something fucked up happened with Mou and Mario, maybe even just before the match.

I wonder who he was referring to in the first quote...hmmm.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Lombardiamia]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Messinterista]

[Lombardiamia]

Quaresma will be out till the re-start of the season after the Christmas break. I believe that in that period, he will be sold so I dont have high hopes about him. Let's hope at least we can get some decent cash with him.

[RomaShield27]