Internazionale Main Thread II

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Totally FRANK]

Mourinho: "An indisputable victory"
Sunday, 07 February 2010 18:12:27
[FOTO Sunday, 07 February 2010 18:12:27]

MILAN - Inter's victory over Cagliari was their ninth home win in a row and José Mourinho says the recent run of successes has done wonders for team morale. "It was an important victory after a January which has given this Inter lots of confidence. We have won many games in a row, also in the Coppa Italia," he said. "The team has lots of confidence. You could see it today from the way we went on the pitch, and as a coach I felt this feeling too. Cagliari aren't an easy opponent and they created difficulties even when they were two- or three-nil down, but my team was compact and confident throughout. These three points today are very important considering Milan's draw at Bologna.

"Our opponent played their game and did well, but we had total control. Cagliari are very strong in attack, but we did well. Pandev played a spectacular game. Behind him there was a very well organised structure and in front of him there were Eto'o and Milito who are two very difficult players for opponents. It was an indisputable victory and Cagliari's heaviest defeat, and this is significant."

With Sneidjder out suspended, Pandev was deployed in a slightly deeper role than usual, a position usually filled by the Dutchman. "Sneijder is an attacking midfielder while Pandev is a striker who can also be a bit defensive," said Mourinho. "Today we knew that Conti is a good organiser of play and someone we couldn't leave free, so I asked Goran to play offensively but also to get back a bit defensively. And Eto'o and Milito did the same."



Inter are scoring a lot and the goals are coming from all over. Mourinho explained the secret: "This is our game. We attack down the wings when we have the chance, and we also play more centrally with players who can do it. This creates difficulties for our opponents because we can change the way we obtain depth each time and it's not easy for them to close down our movements."

With four strikers to choose from, Mourinho was asked how he will rotate Eto'o, Pandev, Milito, Balotelli in the coming months. "It depends on the opponent, on the match and on the available players, but having the possibility of choosing between them is only a beautiful problem," he replied. "We have many matches ahead of us. Today, for example, Pandev was a bit stronger than Milito and this is because Diego played ninety minutes against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia last Wednesday. Also, I can play with three strikers because I have players who 'frighten' opponents. If I were an opponent, I would be really frightened of the Nerazzurri attack."

[Messinterista]

Inter 3-0 Cagliari

Inter made short work of Cagliari with a comfortable 3-0 victory, although the Sardinians had a goal incorrectly disallowed.

The Nerazzurri seemed just about unstoppable at the moment, but that was not enough to stop Massimiliano Allegri beating Jose Mourinho to the Panchina d'Oro award for Coach of the Year last week. Inter were without the suspended duo of Wesley Sneijder and Lucio, while Cristian Chivu and Dejan Stankovic were sidelined, but Samuel Eto'o made his comeback after Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Cagliari had key trequartista Andrea Cossu on a ban, plus Diego Lopez, Federico Marchetti and Cristiano Lupatelli injured. This meant third choice goalkeeper Michael Agazzi, signed from Triestina in the January transfer window, was thrown in at the deep end.

This fixture tends to be a tight affair, as last season it ended 1-1 and only once in the last six top flight visits have Cagliari lost by more than a single goal.

Despite playing at San Siro, it was Cagliari who conceded on a classic counter. Javier Zanetti charged down the right and pulled back for an Eto'o scuffed effort, but that accidentally turned into an assist for Goran Pandev at the back post.

Another cross from the right found Pandev, whose stop and volley was beaten away by Serie A debutant Agazzi. The Sardinians also threatened with Julio Cesar smothering Daniele Conti's snapshot.

Walter Samuel made it 2-0, this time from a Douglas Maicon corner kick, as the defender soared to nod into the near top corner from six yards.

There was controversy after 34 minutes when Cagliari did hit the back of the net with Aessandro Matri's chip. However, it was flagged for offside when in fact Davide Santon's backpass had released Matri, so the goal should not have been disallowed.

Moments later it was Julio Cesar who denied a goal with an incredible save on Nene's stunning volley from six yards. It was from point-blank range and the goalkeeper needed sharp instincts to palm it round the post.

In first half stoppages, Agazzi parried an Esteban Cambiasso free kick.

Straight after the restart, Inter made it 3-0 with a well-worked move. Eto'o and Pandev combined to thread through for Diego Milito, who held off his marker to roll into the far bottom corner from seven yards.

The Sardinians did not give in and had shots from Matri and Nene' charged down, while Matri also hit the side-netting.

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/sa0910/int-cag.html

[Messinterista]

Mourinho: 'An important victory'. And now Chelsea...

18:00 del 07 febbraio

Mourinho commented to Sky his team important victory over Cagliari: "We acquired a lot of self-confidence in January and today we went to the pitch with the right mentality. Cagliari is not an easy opponent. Pandev? A very good performance".

Then he spoke about Balotelli to Rai: "Balotelli? He's a player like all the others. Chelsea? Great team. We are improving, we're better than last year. We'll have 50% chance to win".

Source: http://www.calciomercato.com/index.php?c=46&a=166162

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Being generous?

[Lombardiamia]

Nice game yesterday against a very in-form team like Cagliari. I had expected us to sweat of this game, but we dominated from beginning to end, and closed it after only 50 mins. I'm quite impressed. Let's hope I dont see some Maro running in here telling us how Inter can only play the physical game... Now that the players seem to be coming back from injuries, our performances have hit a stride.
I've seen you guys debate quite a lot about Zanetti. I am sort of playing fiddle in the middle here. I mean I wish to have a much more technically gifted midfield to field, but at the same time I would dread seeing Zanetti resting on the bench. Against Chelsea, maybe we would need a different midfield, but I guess Mariga is not ready yet to fill that spot in these matches. Zanetti will need to play. More importantly, the other players will need to play a great game against Chelsea. Zanetti playing will not be the do or die factor in these 2 games. Sneijder, Milito, Eto'o, Pandev yes.

[Totally FRANK]

Lomba, still not impresses with Santon? I agree with you that he doesn't use his left foot at all and he needs to work on that but defensively he has been really good. And he is in good shape at the moment.

Stankovic is still training apart. When is he expected to return.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Zanetti makes me look like a fool when he plays like this, especially with that run at the start for the first goal. But in the end, we know we could use someone who offers us more. Atm though, he's probably been our most consistent midfielder minus Sneijder.

It's easy to say this being an armchair fan but I think Mou needs to show balls and find a way to fit Sneijder, Milito, Eto'o, Pandev all in the one team for this tie. If that means Sneijder playing at LM with Pandev as CAM or RW then so be it. I'd be prepared to take that gamble because our normal midfield will simply get blown away, almost similar to the Barca game. Personally I would like to see Motta in place of Zanetti as that would balance us out a bit more but that's just wishful thinking.

Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Santon; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Sneijder; Eto'o, Milito, Pandev.

[Lombardiamia]

[Totally FRANK]

[Totally FRANK]

[Lombardiamia]

[Messinterista]

[Totally FRANK]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Totally FRANK]

Police Question Jose Mourinho After Foiling Planned Burglary On His Home - Report
Mourinho is reportedly in shock after criminals planned to rob him...
Jose Mourinho is being questioned by police after they foiled a Macedonian gang who allegedly planned to raid his villa in Como.

La Stampa reports the gang were ready to burgle Mourinho's home and they had built up a diary of all of his movements so they could strike when he wasn't there.

Police in Genoa discovered documents including Mourinho's address, photographs and his car number plate, which the gang had obtained.

Mourinho will be questioned by investigators today over the incident. Inter assistant coach Giuseppe Baresi is expected to take the press conference ahead of tomorrow's game against Parma.

It is said the Macedonian gang is connected to a network of Italian criminals who had already tried to target Atalanta players in the past.

The former Chelsea coach has also taken steps to increase security in his home.

[juventino_italiano]

[Totally FRANK]

[Lombardiamia]

[juventino_italiano]

[Messinterista]

you guys shouldn't let us down in the europa.