Internazionale Main Thread II

[juventino_italiano]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Totally FRANK]

[juventino_italiano]

[Totally FRANK]

[juventino_italiano]

[RomaShield27]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[RomaShield27]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Dejan-Stankovic]

[Totally FRANK]

[Bagg10]

Chelsea deserved a penalty right before halftime.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Maybe. The ref was about 30 yards and directly behind the play so poor positioning there. It's about time something went our way though so I'm not complaining.

Frank, in the second leg, they'll have Zhirkov and probably Essien back too but it looks like Cech is ko'd. We'll probably be forced to play strictly on the counter and the game will be at a much higher tempo. Still, we should go out there looking for the win and if we manage to get an away goal first, it could get interesting.

Also, congrats to Milan for the Scudetto.

[Totally FRANK]

The ref was in a bad position and Kalou too over reacted a bit. He made it a bit theatrical and I think thats why the ref decided against giving the penalty. Anyway, it is high time the Italian teams got some favorable decisions going for them. We need all the help we can get to progress against teams like Chelsea and Man U.

We would be in even bigger trouble if Essien returns. Yes Dejan, we will be forced to play on the counter attacks and I think that should suit us well as long we don't lose possession cheaply when we have the ball and put too much pressure on our defenders. I wouldn't want to get too excited and think we could score an away goal

[Dejan-Stankovic]

Lol yeah. Tbh all I'll want from our boys is to just make them earn their qualification to the next round. Give them a few scares, tough tackles and play with some heart. As long as we do that then I'll be satisfied enough.

We really need to work on the amount of space we let them have. They were walking through the second third freely and getting to about 20 meters outside the box with ease. I'd much rather we give up width and cram the center of the park than letting them just waltz up to the CB's. As long as we have no injuries, it should be Pandev, Sneijder and Milito in a trident in the return leg.

[Lombardiamia]

Woww a win against a top club. That's refreshing.. Chelsea played better than us, but for once in Europe, we were cynical. I agree with you guys that our main problem was the central part of our midfield. They seemed to have more players than we did in there, but they played the diamond, just like us. Imo Cambiasso was positioned too low, almost in line with our defenders, while Motta rarely tracked back when caught out of position. Also the midfield seemed more preoccupied to stay focused on their markers rather than trying to attack when in possession. In fact when our midfield decided to attack, we scored our second goal. Anyway, we knew this was going to be a problem for us, yet we won. Not bad for a team which is half way through its reconstruction process. Makes me look forward towards next year, when the reconstruction should be completed.

[Dejan-Stankovic]

I agree about Motta. For me today, he almost played 2 games; one was a great possession and one touch game and the other was an abysmal positioning and tracking back game. I couldn't really decide if he played great or poorly but he got a nice ovation when he came off so the supports must have liked it.

Still, the performance would've been a lot more complete had we gotten better performances from Stankovic and Eto'o, who I was really disappointed with. That chance needed to be taken but even though his work rate was good, he just disappeared for large chunks of the game.

We also saw the best and worst of Balo; some very nice and direct play, some tricks and aggressiveness but then also that cry baby bullshit which I simply cannot stand. Btw, did you guys see Drogba's stare and laugh at Lucio for apparently going down easy? Are you fuckin kidding me?

Tbh, I'll be supporting Chelsea after they knock us out. I kind of feel bad for them after the Man Utd final and especially last season vs Barca. I think if anyone deserves it, it's them. Oh and I want to see Barca knocked off their high-horse.

[maro]

Congrats on the win, Interisti. I missed the game as I was at training as usual on a Wednesday, but I was glad to see there were goals in it and so it seems you weren't happy just to sit back and play for a 0-0 as it seemed you did at home against Barca. I wonder if this game will also quieten down some of the 'anti-Italian' conspiracy theorists? It's funny how calls that go for you "might have gone the other way" while calls that go against you are stone-wall travesties of justice (and by 'you' there I don't mean you Interisti in particular). Moaninho's sides have tended to be pretty good defending leads and catching something on the break - I think Porto won the first leg 2-1 against ManUre, no, before stealing a late equaliser at Old Trafford, and no team ever found it easy overturning a deficit against his Chelski. We shall see.

[Totally FRANK]