Internazionale Main Thread III

[RomaShield27]

– February 11, 2011 – By ESPNsoccernet staff

Inter Milan playmaker Wesley Sneijder says he and his team-mates have been much happier since Leonardo replaced Rafa Benitez in the Nerazurri hotseat. Benitez was axed in December after a poor start to the Serie A season saw Inter struggle to assert themselves on the race for the Scudetto.

When the former Liverfekkin'wankscum boss left the club, they were seventh in the table and 13 points adrift of league leaders AC Milan, but the arrival of Leonardo as his replacement has seen Inter reinvigorated and the reigning European champions are now just five points behind their city rivals with a game in hand. Sneijder believes that it is no coincidence that both Inter's and his own form have improved dramatically since Leonardo took the reins at the San Siro, with the Netherlands midfielder claiming his Brazilian boss is more like popular former coach Jose Mourinho.

"I feel better now, more comfortable in my own skin on the field," Sneijder told AD Sportwereld. "And I would be lying if I said the change in coach had nothing to do with it.

"The new coach, Leonardo, works much more like Mourinho. Everyone feels a lot better with him.''

[Messinterista]

Just a small vid of a few of the players enjoying their Inter life atm...

http://football-italia.net/live/nagatomo.html

[RomaShield27]

[Messinterista]

Yikes! You call that porn

[Messinterista]

Pirlo is injured for 6 weeks. Could AC be continuing to fall apart? Anyway, onward to the Juve match this weekend. Cant wait for this one. Should be a cracker!

[Messinterista]

Pazzini: 'Inter want victory at Juve'

Giampaolo Pazzini had a sensational start to his Inter career and faces Juventus, the club he was meant to join. “We’re going to Turin for the victory.”
The former Sampdoria striker had long been linked with a move to the Bianconeri, but instead opted for Leonardo’s revolutionised Nerazzurri.

“I am very happy to have arrived at a club that is European and World champion. Having played three games with goals and earning penalties makes me very proud of how this Inter adventure has begun,” Pazzini told Sky Sport Italia.

“The big difference I found stepping into this locker room was the immense hunger for victory that these players and the Coach have, right from the games between ranks in training. You see these things and realise it’s a truly big club that wants even greater success.

“Clearly it’ll be a difficult match, but we are going to Turin for the victory. As for the Scudetto, it’s not entirely up to us, because Milan are in front, but Inter will try to the very end.”

Diego Milito has been ruled out for a month, so Pazzini completes the attack with Samuel Eto’o and support from Wesley Sneijder.

“It’s a shame for Milito, who is having a bad year in terms of injuries, but nobody can doubt his class,” continued ‘Il Pazzo.’

“Anything I could say about Eto’o would be futile, as he is beyond words. It is wonderful to play with Sneijder as a trequartista. A great side that wants to win has to have competition within the squad and alternatives, considering during a campaign anything can happen.”

Pazzini played the first half of Wednesday’s 1-1 international friendly draw between Italy and Germany, meeting up with many of the Juventus players who’ll be his opponents tomorrow.

“I joked around with Alessandro Matri, but I know many Juve players like Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Gigi Buffon, Alberto Aquilani and Marco Storari. There were quite a few jokey comments, as is only right in these situations.”

Pazzini also worked with his former Fiorentina Coach Cesare Prandelli in the Italy squad.

“Something has changed. During my time in Florence there were some great strikers, I didn’t play too well when I had the chance and other choices were made. I found the Coach to be different in the Nazionale setting, as perhaps it’s another approach from being at club level, so we got along much better.”

Source: http://football-italia.net/feb12d.html

[Totally FRANK]

MI, I blame you for this defeat You jinxed it, just as I predicted.

[Messinterista]

lol yep lets see how we go with fio midweek. see if i can go 2 for 2!

[Messinterista]

Maicon: Inter must start again

Inter full-back Douglas Maicon has played down last night's defeat to Juventus and insists that the Italian champions can still retain their Scudetto.

Leonardo's side lost 1-0 to Juventus in the Derby d'Italia, but came close to equalising when Samuel Eto'o hit the bar after 89 minutes.

“They deserved the victory, but we pushed until the end and in the second half we massacred them, forcing Juventus to play in their own half even with 10 men behind the ball,” Maicon said.

“That second half confirmed our strength to us. Now Wednesday's game against Fiorentina is decisive: if we win in Florence, we can still think about the Scudetto.”

Inter currently lie eight points adrift of League leaders Milan, but still have a game in hand.

Source: http://football-italia.net/feb14b.html

[Lombardiamia]

Losing against Juve is already disgusting enough...but to lose without actually trying is by far worse. I dont think there is any player I would save from yesterday's match......Let's hope we can at least win this midweek match against Fiorentina at least....

[Totally FRANK]

Lomba, how much do you blame Leonardo for this? I was listening to a podcast and they pointed out that Leo always fails in the big games. We all know he isn't the best tactician in the world but personally, I don't think Leo could have done that much. He brought on Pandev to give width to the side and then Nagatomo and neither really influenced the game. I would blame the players more for not showing any drive or any hunger to get a win and Juve clearly stuck to their game plan, which worked for them perfectly on the night.

[maro]

I blame Ranieri.

[Lombardiamia]

[maro]

Both. Is it MI's birthday today? Happy birthday. You're not so bad for an Aussie, Interista prick, it has to be said. Scuse the tautologies.

[Messinterista]

Cheers Maro.

[maro]

I'm nothing if not welcoming, right?

[Messinterista]

I thought there might have been a hidden agenda behind it...
It was a pleasant surprise?

[Totally FRANK]

Happy Birthday, MI.

[Messinterista]

Cheers Frank.

[Bagg10]

Happy birthday mate