How do you rate Inter's first half of 2018/19 season?

[phonk]

In comparison to last season we have been more consistent. Even though we have 2 points less after 19 games, we haven't fluctuated as much in terms of results especially if we look at what happened after our first loss last season.
Our longest winless run in Serie A was only 2 games, right in the beginning of the new campaign (Sassuolo, Torino).

In terms of performance on the pitch we are a little better than last season, I guess. What we seem to do a lot is to mirror the level of our opponents. Against teams in the lower half in the table we usually play quite bad (still winning most of these games, though), while we suddenly turn up against teams that we perceive as good. The best games we played this season were against Lazio, Milan and Napoli in relation how good they are.

What separates us from a team that wins titles is that we can't pressure our opponent for the entire game. I mean 70 min would probably be enough, in case we are up 2-0 by then, but that is rarely the case.
Usually we can keep up the intensity for about one half, but that is not enough.

Now I will take a look at our CL season. It was easily visible that the team lacks the experience. Out of these 6 games I would say that we were clearly superior in only one of them, an that one we didn't win (PSV at home).
Our home win against Tottenham was quite lucky, the away game was a deserved loss and against Barca we were simply outclassed twice.
Even though we went out in kind of an embarrassing manner I believe that just participating in CL is a valuable experience for our players that will come in handy next season. I think we could have made it out of any other group apart from the one Napoli was in and the one with Atletico and Dortmund.

If we have enough cushion by then we should try to go for the EL title. Apart from us there are Chelsea, Arsenal, Napoli and Sevilla as a dark horse (considering their standing in La Liga and the 3 EL titles they recently won).

All in all i will give our current season a 7,5. We haven't exceeded the expectations but neither are we below them. There is a lot to improve but for now I am confident in the team.

 

[Kakaroto]

How about the 2nd half?

 

[H_D_Swagger]

We achieved our objective of CL which is the most important thing, so overall ok. We didn't collapse as much in January / February as in previous seasons.
The whole Icardi saga messed things up. I'm sure we would have done better without that mess.

 

[Kakaroto]

Conte gets a 10 the rest of the team a 7.5.

 

[Batman]

8.5/10. I hope people dont start with the “No one expected we will be first!” Or “we are overachieving” because it isnt true. The moment we signed Conte meant we are aiming for a title. Although our roster isnt big enough, combined with injuries played a big role, I still EXPECTED to go through the group stage, and beat the likes of Roma, Parma and Fiorentina. All those games were winnable. However, Juve played very good against us so that lost game was kinda acceptable.

All in all, it’s our best first half since 2009/2010, from every point of view. We are playing a better football, by that I mean playing a basic football.

I still cant rule out another collapse in the second half of the season due to the mentality of some of our players and fatigue, that’s why Conte (and the Management) will have a huge responsibility. Conte will need to do his best to keep our players’ mentality stable because as the season approaches the end, the bigger the pressure is to the players, and some of them need guidance in order to keep motivated. Management also needs to provide Conte with some signings.

 

[Wobblz]

If we're going to share opinions in this thread may some mod change the thread name to "...2019/20 season"?

 

[Glass box]

Spaletti was the best, that's my opinion.

As for this season, I'd also go with 8.5. Champions League elimination is -0.75, and -0.75 for failing to beat at least Parma and Fiorentina, if not Roma. Defeat in the derby against the cunts at home.

So 8.5. for our persuasive results in Serie A generally, Conte's high pressing, Lukaku-Lautaro duo relatively effective, and managing to stay joint leaders despite the insane amount of injuries and tons of dubious and blatant nonsense calls in favor for the cunts which this season frankly broke a calciopoli record. Well, a good year overall.

 

[Niarc]

I won't talk rating but, conte use the player capability very well and the playstyle is not expected of one pattern/a player, and he use mid well unlike 3 other prev coach that place all mid to sit back in def

 

[SRCJJ]

I'd give it between a 8-8.5 but the way this season goes rests on how management react in January. A new midfielder and a new LWB are going to be incredibly important.

With a fully fit Sanchez, Barella and Sensi the second half of the season has the potential to conclude with Inter being champions but investment in January is necessary.

Bring in Vidal, Alonso and potentially an attacker with alternate qualities with Lautaro and Lukaku and I think Inter will win the title.

Impressive how the players have responded to Conte. It's disappointing to be out of the CL but equally understandable given the lack of squad depth and the fact that the Serie A has to be priority.

 

[crzdcolombian]

7 we gotten lucky that Lautaro is having a breakout season and Juve have been trash

We have lost some silly asspoints that can cost us big at the end of the season

Conte won’t change his formation no matter what. We made some awful decisions in the summer and let our 3 best players basically leave on loan for free. We have literally 0 bench and got taken out of champions league because we tied at home to the worst team in the group

Obviously if we win Europa league or the Italian league the rating will go up. Hoping we don’t implode like last time we were up in January and we finally start buying good players. I don’t get why everyone we are linked to turns to shit

 

[Adriano@10]

8 maybe even 8.5

I did not expect us to keep up with jube so there is one thing thats very positive.
The CL exit was kind of expected after we saw the group it was very bitter and stupid how we went out but overall i think we had a decent showing.
Now to conte i did not expect him to get through to the team that fast as in we implemented his style faster then expected and it s showing, even though we fall back to old habits from time to time.

All of Lautaro Barella and Sensi have been way better than i expected Lautaro since he scored against barca has been a beast and even a blind man can see how much our game is elevated when both sensi and barella are on the field.
The rest of the guys is pretty much playing how i expected them to play, with the exception of skriniar who has been disappointing this season.

Only thing keeping us from advancing in CL and putting up a real fight for scudetto is our depth. But again that was to be expected.

Oh also i cant believe i m saying this but candreva has actually been a positive surprise this far by not being his usual shit selfe all the time..

 

[brehme1989]

Only thing keeping us from advancing in CL and putting up a real fight for scudetto is our depth.

Inaccurate statement regarding Europe.

We failed in Europe because we didn't beat Slavia with our full team at home, failed to manage a 2-0 lead in Germany and failed to overcome a weak Barcelona side at home regardless of absences.

Those were 8 easy points tossed away due to inability, not due to lack of depth.

I also don't see us having these issues in Italy. The games we lost points are not due to lack of depth. Injuries happen, so I won't expect to be concerned about "lack of depth" unless we have games like last year's vs Atalanta or Napoli away against most teams with the best team we could field.

Our bench made it to the Champions League twice in a row after years of failure, so even if they seem weak compared to the starters, they are not as weak compared to the competition.

 

[Black Knight]

We failed in Europe because we didn't beat Slavia with our full team at home, failed to manage a 2-0 lead in Germany and failed to overcome a weak Barcelona side at home regardless of absences.

Those were 8 easy points tossed away due to inability, not due to lack of depth.

I also don't see us having these issues in Italy.

Granted re. Slavia, though I might chalk that down to the guys not yet gelling enough if I'm feeling generous.

I'd argue that our depth issues came out more against Dortmund and Barca than in Serie A because, frankly, those are better teams than what you typically face in Serie A. Sure, it was Barca B, but any team fielding the likes of Vidal, Griezmann, Rakitic, and subbing in Suarez and Frenkie De Jong would be a top Serie A team, and one we'd expect to struggle against when starting our 5th and 6th choice midfielders.

TL;DR Depth wasn't the only thing that knocked us out of CL, but it definitely played a part.

 

[brehme1989]

Depth was an issue only in our last game. By then we should have already been through if Conte didn't fuck up the other two games.

 

[PHM1605]

I wouldn't give a rate for the 1st half just yet. There are still 2 extremely difficult matches ahead.
We could be 1st, or we could be 1 point above 4th.

 

[Kova10]

Depth was an issue only in our last game. By then we should have already been through if Conte didn't fuck up the other two games.

Sure it was Conte who didn't get his shit right on the pitch.

 

[brehme1989]

Sure it was Conte who didn't get his shit right on the pitch.

He failed to beat Slavia at home with a full team and failed to manage a 2-0 lead at half time in Dortmund. Quite simple really.

 

[PHM1605]

He failed to beat Slavia at home with a full team and failed to manage a 2-0 lead at half time in Dortmund. Quite simple really.

You claimed 2nd half as a fuckup, why didn't you count the 2-0 lead in 1st half as an incredible achievement? They balanced out.

The players were exhausted. Conte couldn't do anything more. 2-3 loss at WS is a predictable result.

 

[brehme1989]

You claimed 2nd half as a fuckup, why didn't you count the 2-0 lead in 1st half as an incredible achievement? They balanced out.

The players were exhausted. Conte couldn't do anything more. 2-3 loss at WS is a predictable result.

Erm, no? They don't balance out. Unless you feel that having 3 points and then not having any points while your main rival gets those 3 points off of you is "balance". If your aim is to exhaust the players by going full attack and running out of gas after 45 minutes then it's a bad plan. But that's not what happened. What happened is that Dortmund realized that all they had to do is attack our flanks. And that was it. All we had to do is fill that gap by changing formations. Instead, Conte waited until we were equalized to make a double sub iirc, sticking with the same evidently losing gameplan and then we conceded another one. It was terrible match management and there's no way to sugarcoat it.

And no, it's not predictable at 2-0 that you're going to concede 3. I was a heavy pessimist during half time when I was saying that it's a fragile lead and Dortmund can still do us damage. I'm not in football management and I could see that. Everyone should have been able to see that. It was too obvious.

This was my halftime post

We are BAD defensively. Biraghi in particular is abysmal.

What's great for us so far is that Dortmund doesn't want to exploit our wings other than freaking Hakimi making an occasional run and they keep hitting that defensive wall + Handanovic.

Offensively on the other hand we are doing VERY WELL. Could be a lot better but can't complain with a 2-0 bonus.

Keep the clean sheet and we are set.

 

[PHM1605]

Erm, no? They don't balance out. Unless you feel that having 3 points and then not having any points while your main rival gets those 3 points off of you is "balance". If your aim is to exhaust the players by going full attack and running out of gas after 45 minutes then it's a bad plan. But that's not what happened. What happened is that Dortmund realized that all they had to do is attack our flanks. And that was it. All we had to do is fill that gap by changing formations. Instead, Conte waited until we were equalized to make a double sub iirc, sticking with the same evidently losing gameplan and then we conceded another one. It was terrible match management and there's no way to sugarcoat it.

And no, it's not predictable at 2-0 that you're going to concede 3. I was a heavy pessimist during half time when I was saying that it's a fragile lead and Dortmund can still do us damage. I'm not in football management and I could see that. Everyone should have been able to see that. It was too obvious.

This was my halftime post

After the CL draw, did you (and many others here) predict our chance is equal to theirs, at their home? Let's be honest. No. They have better players with home advantage .

You are using Conte's over-achievement in the 1st half to criticise his under-achievement in the 2nd, that's unfair. That match overall was disappointing, but FAR from terrible.