Internazionale Main Thread III

[Lombardiamia]

HB M_I...

[Messinterista]

Thanks heaps Bagg and Lomba. Anyway, back to more important matters at hand...

[Messinterista]

Leo rejects claims Inter are 'dead'

Leonardo has rejected claims that Inter's title challenge is “dead” after Sunday's defeat to Juventus in the Derby d'Italia.

Inter lost 1-0 but arguably should have equalised in the 89th minute when Samuel Eto'o hit the bar from just a few yards out.

Speaking ahead of Inter's midweek clash with Fiorentina, Leonardo said: “The game in Turin was balanced. Criticising Eto'o is out of this world. I won't make a drama out of it.

“Sure we wanted to win and didn't manage to do so, but to say that we're 'dead' from here onwards…

“The President is right [that we have to try and win the Scudetto].

“It's still all open. No one can say that they have won it. I am counting on a team that plays well and today Inter are the best team in the world.

“I won't make a drama out of it.”

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/feb15m.html

[Messinterista]

Mihajlovic: 'Easier to beat Inter now!'

Sinisa Mihajlovic takes on his former team in Wednesday’s rescheduled Fiorentina-Inter and jokes, “it’s easier to beat them now than a year ago.”

The Coach worked at San Siro as both player and assistant manager to Roberto Mancini.

“I hope Inter win the Scudetto, but tomorrow I want to win the game,” smiled the Serb.

“I think it’s easier to beat them now than a year ago when I was in charge of Catania for two reasons. Firstly, Fiorentina are stronger than Catania and secondly last term’s Inter were a complete squad, whereas now they have a few absentees.

“Tomorrow is a very important match against a great team that can give us a sense of consistency in our results.

“Winning would be wonderful and I hope to prepare for it well, but will try to stay out of the emotional sphere surrounding this fixture for me. I am concentrated and calm, so I hope the lads are too.”

Leonardo’s Inter have been quite spectacular, but fell to defeats at Udinese and Juventus, while Fiorentina finally celebrated their first away win 4-2 at Palermo on Sunday.

“They lost two games on their travels, though every match is different. A side like Inter has everything it needs to win the Scudetto and their path goes through Florence. Failing to win here would make it all much more difficult for them.

“I know Inter well,” continued Mihajlovic. “We must stop them playing to their best, especially those three up front. Wesley Sneijder, Samuel Eto’o and Giampaolo Pazzini are very dangerous, as are those less visible talents.

“We’ve got to learn to watch our opponents when defending and not just the ball. Eto’o and Sneijder pass it quickly and then continue their runs, so we can’t follow the ball. The same is true of crosses for Pazzini.

“I hope the best team doesn’t win, because that would be bad for us...”

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/feb15p.html

[zafferano]

a game we have to win and on paper should be easy
Inter good oz at 2,40 ,any betting man should be on it
Messina munday or tusday ,that is what i ben told

[Totally FRANK]

We weren't particularly good today, just did enough to get a win. Everyone looked a little tired and disjointed. Leonardo has quite a bit of work to do when it comes to the midfield. Neither of them provided enough cover for the defence but Stankovic was all over the place and he left Nagatomo to deal with the left wing alone. I think Leo switched Sneijder and Stankovic because of this after half time but this should not be a long term solution. Sneijder is not good defensively (though he did better than Stankovic in helping out Nagatomo) but his talent going forward is totally wasted with him on the left.

Ranocchia was a monster today. He covered for Maicon, he covered for Cordoba and he was all over the place. Without him we would easily shipped in more goals today. My Man of the Match.

[Messinterista]

A win is a win. Glad to see that Nagatomo started. How did he perform? Also happy to hear that Ranocchia played well. With him and Lucio/Samuel in form we will have a strong cb pairing.

[Messinterista]

Fiorentina 1 - 2 Inter
Camporese og 6 (I), Pasqual 33 (F), Pazzini 62 (I)
Stadio Franchi

Giampaolo Pazzini scored against his former club to give Inter a 2-1 victory in Florence after two strange goals. It's the Viola's first home defeat since October.

This game was postponed from December 19 due to the Nerazzurri's Club World Cup commitments. Since that day, much had changed, including new Coach Leonardo, ex-Fiorentina striker Giampaolo Pazzini, Andrea Ranocchia and Yuto Nagatomo, the Japan international getting his first start. Dejan Stankovic returned from injury, but Fiorentina missed Juan Manuel Vargas, Stevan Jovetic, Sebastien Frey and Per Kroldrup.

Inter broke the deadlock with a very lucky goal after six minutes. A Samuel Eto'o cross struck Michele Camporese on the ankle and ricocheted straight into the near bottom corner past a helpless Artur Boruc.

Julio Cesar needed two touches to get an Adrian Mutu free kick under control. There was a nasty clash of heads between Alberto Gilardino and Ranocchia, leaving the Viola forward with a split lip, but he was able to continue after treatment.

Mutu and then Alessandro Gamberini had efforts charged down in the box by Ivan Cordoba, while Mario Alberto Santana fired wide from a corner.

The home side lost Santana to injury when he pulled up with a thigh problem while running side-by-side with Javier Zanetti. The Argentine immediately asked for a substitution and made way for Adem Ljajic.

Fioretina equalised with a curious goal. Manuel Pasqual's cross was whipped in from the left and Gilardino got between centre-backs to make the gesture of flicking the ball, but did not make contact, so it flashed all the way across everyone into the far bottom corner.

The Viola were fired up and nearly turned it around by pinning Inter back. First Riccardo Montolivo's side-foot finish from nine yards was deflected wide off teammate Gilardino, then Julio Cesar had his palms stung by a Mutu screamer from 25 metres.

Gilardino went on the counter and curled a delicate effort that skimmed the crossbar with Julio Cesar stranded off his line. At the other end, Pazzini's backheel flick set up Douglas Maicon for an angled drive off target.

Julio Cesar flew to beat away a Ljajic rising angled drive at the near post, but it wouldn't have counted as Gilardino was offside in his eyeline - making the save even more impressive.

Stankovic nearly restored the visitors' lead with an oddly swerving effort from nine yards that nearly took Artur Boruc by surprise, but the former Celtic goalkeeper managed to bat it away with his trailing hand.

Ranocchia allowed Gila to spring the offside trap, but then got back in time to deflect the shot out for a corner.

Pazzini scored against his former club to put Inter back in front. Eto'o got to the by-line after skipping past Camporese and pulled back for Pazzini to tap in from six yards, celebrating his 200th Serie A appearance.

Stankovic fired just over the bar from a Maicon assist, while Ljajic's finish was off target following a give-and-go with Mutu. Wesley Sneijder requested a substitution after a groin twinge.

Khouma Babacar came off the bench and almost scored with his first touch, the header directing a free kick inches past the far post.
Fiorentina: Boruc; Comotto, Gamberini, Camporese, Pasqual; Montolivo, Donadel, Behrami (Babacar 86); Santana (Ljajic 27), Gilardino, Mutu

Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Ranocchia, Cordoba, Nagatomo (Kharja 72); Zanetti, Cambiasso, Stankovic (Obi 90); Sneijder (Mariga 82); Pazzini, Eto'o

Ref: Damato

Source: http://www.football-italia.net/sa1011/fio-int.html

[Lombardiamia]

I forgot we were playing early yesterday so I just saw the last 20 mins or so....Cant say it was a pretty match to watch during those final 20 mins..

[maro]

You guys were roasted for the last 15 minutes of the first half after Fiorentina equalised and they went desperately close to getting another. After halftime, though, you came out and pegged them right back and got the goal your pressure deserved. You were very good for those 20 minutes or so and that was enough to win you the game. That Eto'o guy looks quite good, too. I'm amazed he's not been picked up by a big club before now.

[Totally FRANK]

Right, after we took the lead in both the halves we got it into ourselves that we did enough and it will give us the 3 points. The most worrying factor for me was that even though Ranocchia had his best game in an Inter shirt we still managed to concede a goal. Its not that the defence as such is bad but our midfield is not providing enough cover. Too often we were in situations where it was 2v2 or 2v3 with both our full backs pushing forward and none of the midfielders dropping deep to help out the defence. If both our fullbacks push forward we need one of our midfielders to drop back and form a 3-man defence like Barcelona do with Busquets.

[Lombardiamia]

Agreed Frank. Right now I suppose we' re lucky enough to have Cordoba in there and not Lucio cause otherwise apart from the fullbacks we'd also have one of our central defenders attacking.....and Cordoba has the speed to cover more space. Indeed the midfield is offering little cover, mainly because most of the time our defence line is way too low whereas the forward line too high. That is why we ofter lose the midfield battle. Thank God we have the champions to settle a match in an instant, without the need of excellent teamwork. Also one has to say that we have little rotation possibilities in midfield. There is quite a gap IMO between the first XI and the subs, so players like Cambiasso, Motta and Sneijder cannot offer excellent performances every 3 days. We need to rotate...but we cant..

[Messinterista]

Inter face Pandev transfer inquest

Inter directors including Marco Branca have been deferred to the Disciplinary Commission for the contentious Goran Pandev transfer.
Pandev was in the middle of a law suit with Lazio trying to have his contract terminated when he signed for the Nerazzurri in January 2010 as a free agent.

Lazio have always stated the move was illegal, as their court case had not yet been completed at the time.

Today Inter directors Branca and Rinaldo Ghelfi were deferred to the Disciplinary Commission along with agent Carlo Pallavicino.

They are accused of holding negotiations for the player without authorisation.

Source: http://football-italia.net/feb17p.html

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Nothing can come out of this surely?

[Messinterista]

Ganso certain of move to Milan

Brazilian midfielder Ganso has been attracting the attention of Europe's elite, and now claims that he is certain to be moving to the San Siro to play for Milan or Inter in the summer.

Ganso, 21, has been linked with a host of Premiershit teams, but says that he is ready to move to Italy to take the next step in his career.

"Next season I will play in Milan," the Santos star told Corriere dello Sport. "Leonardo often calls me because he wants me to go to Inter Milan. Leo is a wonderful person. He has been a great player and I wish him much success as a coach.

"I respect him very much personally. Inter Milan are a great club and everyone would to play there. They have a fantastic team and their latest victories are the proof of that."

However, Ganso also claimed that Inter's city rivals had been in contact and would be happy to play for Serie A's league leaders as well.

"My agent also told me of interest from AC Milan, which is a great club too,'' he added. ''I'm ready for Italy, I'm ready for this challenge. Winning titles with Santos and playing in the Brazilian national team have strengthened me as a footballer."

Ganso claims Santos have put a €50million price tag on his head, but thinks that it will not provide a stumbling block to his future move.

He added: "The valuation of €50million made by Santos is unrealistic in the market but I'll leave the matter in the hands of my agents who know how to solve the problem with the president of Santos.

"My greatest dream is to win the Libertadores Cup this season with Santos and then move to a top European club, perhaps in a major Italian team. If I have the opportunity to play in a big club, I won't disappoint."

Source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... an?cc=3436

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This move is bound to happen. Would be a good addition and assist in the strengthening of our midfield.

[Lombardiamia]

[Messinterista]

Sneijder and Lucio miss Cagliari

Wesley Sneijder and Lucio have not been called up for Saturday's match against Cagliari at San Siro.

Both players are carrying knocks and Inter don't want to run of the risk of further complications.

Leonardo is mindful of next week's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

It's his first match in Europe for Inter since he took charge in December.

Inter beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final last season.

Source: http://football-italia.net/feb18o.html
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I can understand Lucio but Sneijder as well? I don't care about the Champions League. We should be sacrificing that for the scudetto.

[Lombardiamia]

[Messinterista]

Got your wish Lomba, Cambiasso hasn't started. 1-0 up at half time.

[Messinterista]

Another 3 points. Wouldn't say it was a convincing performance. This might have been due to the fact that Leo and the team had an eye on the match against Bayern mid-week. Our last 30 minutes wasn't great and if we play like that against the Germans they would punish us. Ranocchia stand out performance once again and a shining light in our defence. Maicon gets a rest after the Bayern match as he got a silly yellow card for time wasting. He is suspended against Sampdoria next weekend.

[Totally FRANK]

I was also hoping that Eto'o would be rested and Pandev given a start but Leo surprised everyone with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Also, Eto'o got a much needed rest after 60 mins. We got a win playing badly and as Leo said that's a good sign as well.

Now everyone except Maicon should be relatively fresh against Bayern.