My Vision For The 2012/13 Season Inter Squad

For the past few months there has been a lot of talk about having to rebuild and rejuvenate the Inter squad and as I’ve said in previous articles this will only solve part of issues that are affecting the Nerazzurri so badly this season.  One of the major changes that needs making is that Massimo Moratti needs to look very closely at the people he has running the different aspects of the club and get rid of those that aren’t helping to move the club forward, replacing them with the right team of people who can turn the club into a proper international business and increase revenues in a way that clubs like Manchester United and Barcelona have been doing for years.

One position that desperately needs changing in the opinion of nearly all Interisti is that of technical director Marco Branca, who after years of mediocre or disastrous transfer dealings must be shown the door before the summer so we can move the club forward with someone more suited to Inter’s new project like fan favourite Lele Oriali or even, as rumoured by both French and Italian press, a return for ex coach Leonardo but this time in Branca’s position.

In this article though I’m just going to look at the rebuilding and rejuvenation of the squad and my vision of what Inter should do this summer to not only produce a competitive team again next season but also save the club some money so in the future we are ready for UEFA’s FFP rules, and also help moving towards owning our own stadium and eventually even be in a position to once again purchase the world’s superstar players.

Mercato review: Inter’s crazy summer 2011

So that’s it the transfer window for 2011 and what a summer it has been, unlike last season there has been a lot of movement in and out of Inter. It all started with rumours of Sneijder going to Manchester United for a record transfer fee of €35+ million and the equally amazing rumour that want away Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez was linked with a move to the Nerazzurri. Then the club was thrown in to chaos as the then manager Leonardo was 1st linked with a directors job at PSG which he denied at first and then shortly afterward took it leaving Moratti without a coach, from that point on rumours started flying about possible replacements including Jose Mourinho’s protegé Andres Villas Boas but eventually after being turned down by a hand full of world class coaches Moratti decided on what was the best of the rest Gian Piero Gasperini and so Inter’s transfer window resumed, though another cloud was hovering over Inter, our huge debt and the need to resolve it in time for the FFP’s and so the massive spending of old that Moratti was famous for had to be held in check.  That doesn’t mean we haven’t brought in some fantastic players though, while offloading others that weren’t part of the future plan for us or could bring in a healthy profit to help us financially…..

Andrea Poli: Starting a new chapter at Inter

Andrea Poli  is now an Inter player. The midfielder, with Giovanni Branchini and his agents, met with technical director Marco Branca and sporting director Piero Ausilio in the Nerazzurri headquarters in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II yesterday to complete the loan deal from Sampdoria with the option to buy in 2012.  The Italian born midfielder is Inter’s 5th first team signing this summer and has been brought in to strengthen the central midfield position.

21 year old Poli was born 29 September 1989 in Vittorio Veneto in Italy, he started his career in Serie B with Treviso.  In the January transfer window of 2007 he was signed in a co-ownership deal with Sampdoria but stayed on loan with Treviso until the end of the season.  He made his Serie A debut with Sampdoria in a 0-3 loss against Cagliari on the 4th November 2007, he spent that season in the Sampdoria Primavera squad that won the Campionato Primavera.  The following season saw him loaned out to Serie B side Sassuolo in order for him to gain a bit more first team experience.  He returned to Sampdoria for the 2009/10 season that saw him become a key player in the squad that finished the season in 4th place, gaining Champions league qualification only to see the team relegated from Serie A just a year later, and now he starts a new chapter on loan again but this time returning to Serie A as part of the new look Inter squad.  Time will tell how he will do with the Nerazzurri, but if he impresses there is the option of Inter making the move permanent next summer.

Arrivederci Samuel Eto’o

Samuel Eto’o has completed his move to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala after passing his medical on Wednesday night and has now joined up with his new team mates at the squads base in Moscow. The reported figures for the transfer aren’t as high as have been speculated in recent days with Anzhi paying Inter 21 million Euros and paying Eto’o 10 million Euros per season

When asked about the move Eto’o said
“The project is very interesting, money is not so important for me, that’s just part of football,”

His debut with the Russian club will come on Saturday when Anzhi take on Rostov and he will be wearing the number 99 shirt. Many people in the football world think this move is a massive backwards step for Eto’o who is the most decorated African player in history, playing for not only Inter & Barcelona but also Mallorca and Real Madrid, during his career he has been named African player of the year four times and has won the European Champions league three times including two trebles back to back. He has also won both the Spanish and Italian leagues, an Olympic gold medal and the African cup of nations twice. For me he is one of the greatest strikers of all time.

Olympiacos 2-2 Inter: ‘Pazzini’ comeback saves Nerazzurri embarrassment

The last pre season friendly of summer 2011 ended in a 2-2 draw for Gasperini’s team against Greek side Olympiacos, and even though Inter had to come back from two behind there was still many positives for the Italians, the first half for example saw Gasperini’s plans starting to take shape with excellent build up play and creation of chances, they also showed the flexibility of the squad with changes in formation from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3. The second half started badly with bad defending giving away the first goal for the 10 man Greek team from a dead ball situation then later a bad clearance from Ranocchia gifted them a second. Though the Nerazzurri fought hard and Pazzini managed to pull off a brace to save the day and finish the game as a draw.

Highlight video via ROARINTER

TIM Trophy 2011: Two mini derby wins and a trophy for Inter

It was Inter’s treble winning hero Diego Milito that showed he was ready for the upcoming season by hitting the crossbar and also scoring the winning goal against Milan to secure the trophy in the second match for Inter in the pre season triangular tournament.  The trophy itself doesn’t really mean anything but if your one of the clubs that doesn’t win it you can be sure of some serious criticism.  The competition consists of three 45 minute games and the winner is the team with the most points at the end of the night, Inter claimed the trophy with 5 points: 2 for the win against Juventus on penalties and 3 for our 1-0 win against Allegri’s AC Milan.  It was by no means a perfect night for the Nerazzurri but it was clear that the team is starting to find it’s shape with the return of south American players that have missed out on the previous pre season games, and even with our new formations and tactics our old character still stood out giving us Interista hope that things are going to come together as the start of the season approaches.

The evening started with the mini derby d’Italia against Juve which ended 1-1 and was decided on penalties

Inter’s Summer Transfers – Do They Really Fit In With Gasperini’s Formations?

With about a month left in this year’s summer transfer window have Inter lived up to the promises made at the end of last season? Unfortunately not! Don’t get me wrong I believe that the players we have signed will be useful to us, but I believe that the biggest thing holding us back is Gasperini’s formations.

We have signed two wing backs, Nagatomo & Jonathan, yet in Gasperini’s formations there is no place for wing backs meaning that these two and Maicon will be forced to play as wingers or full backs dependent on whether we’re playing with a 3 man or 4 man defence. It’s not just the defence that is causing problems with fitting players in, our biggest signing so far is Alvarez who plays CAM or as a winger but so far this pre-season he’s been pushed into a deeper midfield position or as right forward which in the match against Galatasaray he looked pretty uncomfortable in my opinion. Also on the subject of midfielders out of position Gasperini’s formations are also forcing Sneijder (one of the best trequartistas in the game) to play a deep central position which to be fair Wes is taking in his stride and playing well in, though it’s hardly taking advantage of the talent available.

The final problem with his formations in my opinion is the three forwards, the central position is fine with Pazzini & Milito perfect for this role but Eto’o out wide is a problem because he has said several times he wants to play in the middle even though he is great on the left and this could make up his mind about leaving us, also that leaves Pandev for the right and in my opinion he is a complete waste of space, yeah he gets a few goals but in a squad like ours i’m sure even I could score a few! My main problem with Pandev is that he lacks the skill of his team mates and to me he looks clumsy on the pitch.

 

Inter’s 4th pre-season friendly ends in an eventful 0-0 draw against Galatasaray

It was the fourth pre-season summer friendly for Inter yesterday against Turkish side Galatasaray played in the neutral venue of the rewirpowerSTADION in Bochum, Dusseldorf, which is a city of the largest Turkish community in Germany. It wasn’t a surprise to see that the stadium had sold out all of it’s 20,000 seats to see the Turkish giants take on the World Champions. The weather conditions were hardly perfect, with a temperature slightly above 10 degrees, heavy rain, a slippery pitch and a bothersome wind. It also proved to be that the Turkish team & fans were hardly perfect either with some nasty tackles & an incident involving the Galatasaray throwing flares in the second half. Both their players & fans were a disgrace considering this was supposedly a friendly, there is no need for fans of any club to be throwing flares on to the pitch & the crunching tackles coming from the Galatasaray players were out of order, if I didn’t know better I would have thought this game was a UCL knock out match not a pre season friendly & I feel that the Turk club should be fined for the behaviour of their fans.

Inter’s second pre season friendly against Mezzocorona ends 6-1

After a morning training session that included recovery programmes for Ivan Cordoba, Jonathan, Thiago Motta & Nelson Rivas. After the session it was decided that three players weren’t 100% and wouldn’t be involved in the afternoon friendly against Mezzocorona, missing was Yuto Nagatomo (slight muscle strain in the left thigh which he picked up during the morning session), Giampaolo Pazzini (groin fatigue, is this down to the fact he’s still a newly wed? You decide!) & also Walter Samuel (who is still involved in a strength training program after last seasons injury)

So on to the afternoon match which i got to watch on a very grainy & slow live stream that tested my paitence several times by putting adverts on at random times during the match including as Inter scored their first three goals, luckily for me (& the sake of my computer, which i was getting close to throwing out of the window!) it came back on just in time for the replays each time. The fireworks started early before the match when in a mark of respect for the great Giacinto Facchetti who’s 69th Birthday it would have been today, the players came onto the pitch all wearing the special ‘Grande Inter’ shirt with the number 3 on the back, which they then threw in to the crowd as a present for a lucky few Interista.

A week of Interviews for the Nerazzurri

The world’s press has been focused on Inter in the last week or so with the Sneijder transfer saga & the Calcioploi accusations against Facchetti, but the squad at the pre season training camp at Pinzolo have been concentrating on building their fitness & adapting to new coach Gasperini’s tactics. Although the main point of the camp is to get the players and staff ready for the upcoming season there has been a very fan friendly feel to the whole thing with Intersta flocking in their thousands to get a glimpse of their heroes training & also there has been various evening events around the camp to entertain and enthrall the fans present including various appearances by Nerazzurri stars & Gasperini it has just emphasised the whole Inter family philosophy that we are so proud of.