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Six games played and six wins. A month of good results, improving performances and a lot of praise for Andrea Stramaccioni
The fixtures and results from October
October 4th- Neftci 1 – 3 Inter
Goals from Philippe Coutinho, Joel Obi and Marko Livaja gave Inter a more than comfortable victory in Azerbaijan. A competition I find hard to get excited for but it’s good to see other players get a chance to play. I miss the Champions League and hope it returns soon. Inter’s 500th and 501st goals in Europe came in the first game Inter played in Azerbaijan.
October 7th- AC Milan 0-1 Inter
A 4th minute header from Samuel gave Inter the lead and turned out to be the only goal in a hard fought game most notably after Nagatomo was sent off for a second yellow early in the second half. The referee made many dubious decisions through out this game but Inter came out victorious. After the sending off Milan out us under a lot of pressure but to be honest we frustrated Milan and suffocated Milan in the middle leaving them to swing hopeful balls into the box. We closed spaces down and gave them little room, a real solid defensive display. Certainly not a memorable encounter but bragging rights none the less.
October 21st – Inter 2-0 Catania
Three points at home that puts us in the chasing pack for the Scudetto. Catania are no pushovers and are a team that puts a lot of pressure on your defence even away from home. So minus the two moments that Stramma pointed out, one being the a chance early on, we dealt with them and got a clean sheet, scored two goals and secured the three points.
Esteban Cambiasso played a quality cross to the far post for Antonio Cassano to nod home to put the Inter one up. Towards the end of the game Rodrigo Palacio chested the ball from a Diego Milito cross, and then tucked the ball away to his left. Glad to see Palacio make a return from injury looking forward to seeing what he can produce after an impressive pre-season. Cassano was good as he always seems to be. Cambiasso was immense. I do grow a little tired of the complaints over Cambiasso, with people saying he’s past it. The guys a quality footballer and great at what he does and what he’s produced.
What he’s given to the club deserves a little more respect.
October 25th Inter 1-0 Partizan Belgrade
A long boring 90 minutes of football. Most importantly, three points to take us to the top of our group with seven points and three games left to play. A Palacio goal on the stroke of 90 minutes from a Milito cross took the points on the day. The Inter goal came as a result of a counter attack after Samir Handanovic saved brilliantly in a one on one chance for the opponents. It may not of been a great performance but again I find myself admiring the work rate and team ethic. Too many times last year games like this would’ve been lost.
October 28th Bologna 1-3 Inter
Another away win taking the tally to eight in all competitions this season. First goal came from a header at the back post from Andrea Rannochia after a well-placed set piece from Cambiasso. The second came in the second half, a quick counter attack ending in Milito slotting home from a Palacio cross. Bologna got a goal back prior to Inter getting their third, another Palacio pass tucked away with confidence by Cambiasso lifting it over the on rushing goal keeper. In very wet conditions it was a good away win with some good performances. Mudingayi had another solid game in the midfield, Palacio setting up two goals, and the usual solid performances from Rannochia, Juan Jesus, Cambiasso, Walter Samuel and Javier Zanetti.
October 31st Inter 3-2 Sampdoria
A change of formation but no change in the outcome. A switch to 4-3-3 due to the suspension of Juan and the lack of trust in Matias Silvestre. In the first half, we didn’t seem to click. There was plenty of pressure but no end result. Samp took the lead in the first half after a rare defensive mix up. At half time Cambiasso replaced Gabi Mudingayi. Again Cambiasso ran the midfield along side Freddy Guarin who had a decent game. Seven minutes into the second half Milito was brought down resulting in Samp going down to ten men. Milito converted the penalty to draw us level. Inter took the lead after a quick counter attack, with Cassano making a lovely weighted pass to Palacio who placed the ball into the back of the net. On 36 minutes it was 3-1 after Guarin received a pass from Cassano, with his first touch took it past the defender and then slotted home. Late on in stoppage time, Samp got one back to make it 3-2. In truth we made it harder for our selves. On another day we could’ve converted more chances.
Top 3 goals:
1- Palacio V Catania – Cross from Milito chest down and left foot volley
2- Cambiasso V Bologna – Palacio lays the ball across to Cambiasso and as cool as you like lifts over the keeper with great composure
3 Samuel V Milan After Allegri finished throwing a paddy Cambaisso put in a cross to the far post were Samuel headed home to take the lead after only a few minutes gone.
Player of the month
Esteban Cambiasso – When Wesley Sneijder got injured, there were those who wondered if we would suffer without the creative talent (I for one find Wes restricting on the team) I don’t think anyone expected Cambiasso to step up as he did. Two set piece assists for Samuel and Rannochia and a cross in open play for Cassano as well as a wonderfully taken goal v Bologna capped off a fantastic month. All too often criticised, wrongly I may add, he really showed his doubters he’s not finished with some fantastic displays defensively and going forward.
Thoughts:
It’s still very early on in the season but Interistas can’t help but be excited for the future. Even if the best we achieve this season is a Champions League spot, with new players coming through and performing and the intelligence of Stramma shining through, it’s buzzing in the Nerazzurri half of Milan at the moment. That said, feet must remain firmly on the ground as there is still a long way to go.
On the subject of Stramma I can’t help but be really impressed with this guy. Firstly credit to Moratti and Co for spotting this talent an bringing him into the club and secondly for giving him the chance. Stramma has not been intimidated by his lack of experience in any way. In his interviews he oozes confidence, intelligence and respect, plus the little bit of attitude to bite at the media when required. His interviews are fascinating, he explains decisions and selections and talks good sense. After the debacle of the last couple of years it’s a breath of fresh air. Stramma has shown tactical intelligence and confidence. Switching to three at the back so early on takes some guts but he adapts and clearly has plenty of ideas.
On the player side of things there’s lots to be happy about. Players are playing confidently and consistently. The likes of Juan and Rannochia at the back have been outstanding. Cambiasso has been key in the middle, Cassano is showing the dark side of Milan what they are missing, most players are stepping out onto the field and giving it their all and performing. A slight concern are the performances of Perreira and Guarin. Stramma has been quite clear on Guarin, and he expects a lot but he is not doing enough at the moment. He’s started the season very brightly and is an exciting midfielder, so I hope he finds form soon. Perreira seems to be out of favour with respect to to Nagatomo and time must be given to the Uruguayan to settle into his new surroundings.
On the news front it seems every couple of days Paulinho of Corinthians says how much he would consider a move to Inter once the Club World Cup is out of the way. He’s made it clear he turned us down to play in the completion and also made it quite clear he would love to play in Milan. The problem is that the rest of Europe has suddenly noticed he’s quite good, with the money sharks of Chelsea, PSG, Madrid and Man City floating about I fully expect is transfer fee to be doubled, thus putting him out of our range.
Moratti has said he hopes the Chinese deal is done before the New Year, with the reason for the delay being “Local bureaucratic matters.” So once those hurdles have been jumped it all becomes official and stadium plans should hopefully be announced. It seems quite clear it’s happening and just a few details to be ironed out, but I have been an Inter fan long enough to know its never that easy.
What’s happening in November
November brings six games for Inter, four in Serie A and two in the Europa League. A Minor matter of Juventus in Turin followed by Partizan in Belgrade in the Europa League. A short away trip up the road to Atalanta before a home game against Cagliari. Most notably, there is a gap of seven days between the two league games, allowing some much needed rest. After Cagliari a trip to Rubin Kazan before ending the month at the Giuseppe Meazza against Parma.
Player from the past
Ivan Zamorano
Zamorano, nicknamed Bam Bam, spent four years in an Inter shirt. The Chilean forward was exciting to watch and his passion for the game was always evident. A popular guy in his home country, representing his Chile 69 times, scoring over 30 goals. He joined Inter in the summer of 1996 from Real Madrid after an average of a goal every other game in Spain. Zamorano best year came in the UEFA Cup winning season under Roy Hodgson, scoring 14 goals one of which was the opening goal in the final versus Lazio in France. That goal made up for the penalty miss in the final the year before.
One thing I remember Ivan for was when he was forced to give up his number 9 shirt for Ronaldo leaving him with the 18 shirt. Clearly not approving of it he had a plus sign in between the 1 and 8. Always made me laugh and always wanted one of his shirts for that reason. Being in the shadow of Ronaldo and Baggio clearly effected his form an he left for Mexico in 2000. Bam bam represented Inter 102, times scoring 27 goals.
Forza Inter
Grazie Inter Family
