Inter Can’t Catch A Break [Or Are Catching Too Many] As All Roads Lead To Rome.
It’s been a rough couple of months for Andrea Stramaccioni and his Inter Milan side. The former Roma and Inter Youth coach was given the top job this time last year at the Nerazzurri with instruction to bring through a young, inexpensive squad that can get into Europe and challenge the top clubs in Italy, even Juventus.
His first full season in the hot seat began well and we were raving at their aggressive, attacking performances in the early part of the season, culminating in a win against the The Old Lady herself, breaking Juventus’ 49 game unbeaten streak away in Turin.
That night in November seems a long long time ago as injuries, suspensions and unconvincing performances now see Stramaccioni’s side hurtling down away from the European places and on their way to a mid-table finish.
Their last six league encounters have seen them take just six points with losses coming against Bologna, Juventus, Atalanta and Calgari, while their injury list continues to pile up.
Out are the goal scorers Rodrigo Palacio, Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano. Gone are the creative sparks of Dejan Stankovic and Yuto Nagatomo along with five other key members of their dwindling squad. On Wednesday night, against a Roma side whose newfound form under Aurelio Andreazzoli has breathed new life into their quest for European football, you just knew that Inter were going to struggle.
The football gods are cruel and can kick even the toughest fighters when their chips are down as Inter found themselves in trouble before the match even began in mid-week. Esteban Cambiasso’s injury in the warm-up was just another name to add to the injury pile at the San Siro as Jonathan replaced the Argentinian late before the kickoff.
Cambiasso’s stand-in opened the scoring after 22 minutes for the home side to pull them level on aggregate with their guests but over 90 minutes, Roma were too strong. Mattia Destro, who was rested on the weekend after his return from injury that kept him out of the side for three months, bagged a brace in a excellent performance against his old club while Michael Bradley and Danielle Di Rossi dominated the midfield. Vasilis Torosidis’ wonderful strike added Roma’s third, before Ricky Alvarez pulled a late goal back for Stramaccioni’s side 10 minutes from time.
With Roma booking their place in the Coppa Italia final against their local rivals Lazio, Inter fans may be relieved to have the opportunity to focus their time and efforts on a late revival in the league and hope to pip both the sides from the capital city to 5th place in Serie A.
Their final fixtures, though, could leave Inter floundering in Italy’s top flight as they take on a difficult Parma side this weekend, with Napoli, Lazio and Udinese all taking on the Italian giants in their last six fixtures of the 2012/13 season. Inter could be falling quicker then Gareth Bale when someone thinks about sticking a leg out at him.
Happy 100th David Luiz and The Joe Breaks Wigan’s Hart.
Some love him, some hate him, but whatever your thoughts on the man’s ability in Chlesea’s back four; you can’t deny that David Luiz sure knows how to hit the target.
In his 100th game for Chelsea against Fulham on Wednesday, Luiz marked his century mark with a 35-yard screamer that any centre forward would be proud to call their own. If you can think of a better goal scored by a player on their 100th game, we’d love to hear it.
Elsewhere in the Premier League this mid-week we were treated to a preview of what the FA Cup final could be like this year and those who doubt that Wigan can put up a fight against Manchester City were pleasantly surprised as the Latics were denied a point (or three) by the hands of Joe Hart.
Hart, whose come under a lot of criticism this season after some poor decisions for both club and country have cost his sides dearly [not to mention a disastrous shampoo advert in the UK], but his saves on Wednesday night that included an incredible stop to deny Franco Di Santo showed that Joe, in crunch time, can be one the worlds top keepers. Wigan, though, showed enough courage, quality and battle to worry City and those around them in the relegation battle. They have a habit of raising their game against the big boys late in the season, as we saw last year with their wins against United and Arsenal in the final weeks of the season, and Premier League safety and an FA Cup final victory are not beyond the realms of possibility this year. Roberto Martinez could turn disaster in delirium.
Technology
Goal line technology is pointless unless it paves a way for more technology to be introduced into our beautiful game. Once again on Wednesday night we saw another goal that, was there such a thing as offside technology, would have been disallowed and potentially have handed West Ham United three points at Upton park against Manchester United.
While Sam Allardyce may find it funny how decisions such as Robin van Persie’s debatable offside position seem to go United’s way more often then not, many of use were sat at our TV screens yelling “this decision effects a game 10x more often then a debatable ‘did the ball cross the line’ goal”.
Unfortunately for FIFA, they have now opened the floodgates for the introduction of more review systems, artificial officials and technology devices in the game, and must find a way to sort out what modern technology can and can’t be used for, as well as finding a way to implement them into the game. Challenge flags? Timeouts? Post-match disallowed goals? Personally, I like the NFL’s approach of two challenges per game. 30 seconds to review a decision can be added on to stoppage time and we can all go home happier knowing that the right result has been played out.
Treble Her We Come
Manchester United did it in 1999, Barcelona did it in 2009 and Inter Milan did it in 2010. The T word is back on the lips of European football as Bayern Munich booked their place in the DFB Pokal Cup Final on Tuesday, and with only Barcelona standing in their path to a trip to the Champions League final at Wembley in May, it’s time to ask how this Bayern side matches up to out three other treble winners.
Before we decide, let us know your thoughts at World Football Daily via the email (show@worldfootballdaily.com), twitter (@WFootballDaily) or down the rant line [+1 (310) 909 8483]. We’ll be letting you know our thoughts later in the week.
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