Inter - Valencia (21 Feb 07)

[ristoman]

This is the problem of playing the first leg at home, you are under more pressure than your opponent.

So you'd rather play in a stadium you're not comfortable with (the pitch has different dimensions!), where there's 20 times as many supporters for your opponent? Going in, we're the definite favorites today. Seeing as we've been doing well so far, it shouldn't feel any different than playing Roma or Milan in terms of importance. Not doing well always complicates things, regardless of whether you play home or away. Getting a good, well-fought result is all we need tonite, even if it's 0-0 or 1-0.

I do agree, however, that Valencia will rely on taking the clash back home to decide, but it would be stupid of them to sit back and play defensive. If they fall asleep and we go on a 2-0, 3-0 run then it's gonna be a b**** for them no matter what. That's where the real pressure lies.

Bottom line is, we need to keep a clean sheet. That should be our #1 priority. But for any good football team, it should always be.

 

[giorgio242]

I heard Vieira was out for this match is it true?

yes, he is injured.

 

[Il Biscione]

Forzza Inter !!!!

 

[Jimmy]

Right, it's gonna take a hell of a performance by Inter for me to see us extending Mancini's contract. The lineup is outrageous. He goes completely off the game-plan we have had all season. Damn fool!

Julio cesar

Maicon - Cordoba - Materazzi - Burdisso

Stankovic - Cambiasso - Figo - Zanetti

Crespo - Zlatan

Burdisso as a left back, Figo starting, Adriano on the bench. Mancini lost it as soon as there was a big match.

 

[Khalifa]

lets pray.

 

[giorgio242]

Right, it's gonna take a hell of a performance by Inter for me to see us extending Mancini's contract. The lineup is outrageous. He goes completely off the game-plan we have had all season. Damn fool!

Julio cesar

Maicon - Cordoba - Materazzi - Burdisso

Stankovic - Cambiasso - Figo - Zanetti

Crespo - Zlatan

Burdisso as a left back, Figo starting, Adriano on the bench. Mancini lost it as soon as there was a big match.

come on, let them play first...

 

[CafeCordoba]

Well, we should watch the match first, and then give our sentences. Maybe Mancini thinks Portuguese has Euro-match experience (in big matches) no one else in the squad has. And it's true. But I'm not too conviced about Figo either. Stankovic-Cambiasso-Zanetti is still very tough midfield package. We need a top performance from Zlatan.

 

[alvaro]

Vieira injured for weeeeeks, Mancini making some odd picking in lineup... I can already see our downfall starting from here.

 

[1919]

Right, it's gonna take a hell of a performance by Inter for me to see us extending Mancini's contract. The lineup is outrageous. He goes completely off the game-plan we have had all season. Damn fool!

Julio cesar

Maicon - Cordoba - Materazzi - Burdisso

Stankovic - Cambiasso - Figo - Zanetti

Crespo - Zlatan

Burdisso as a left back, Figo starting, Adriano on the bench. Mancini lost it as soon as there was a big match.

is the line-up official? i dont see anything on www.inter.it and it is still a good 45 mins for the match to start

 

[J zanetti]

hmmm.... lets hope Mancinis gamble will pay off. If not he will have a hard time defending himself. I'm totally against changing a winning formula....

 

[Tanel]

As many others said, Jimmy, that let them play the match first. You can disagree, but you cannot say that Mancini lost it. Many times before I've seen people say similiar things this season and they've been wrong.

I doubt none of us knows how much those lads want to play, how they did in trainings etc.

There are some reasonable explenations tbh to all those "weird" choices.

Burdisso at left-back probably is because Maxwell had a little knock and Grosso obviously isn't in good form. Adriano this seasno in big match is still a questionable and not in such important match we can take that risk of playing him (in the end he didn't have much of a performance vs. Cagliari anyway), while Crespo scored a goal in the most important CL match of the season and is a proven big-game player. (Roma 2x, Lazio, Sporting, Milan all the games he has scored in this season! Not to talk about CL final 2 years ago ) And Dacourt has got very little experience at such level.

Figo has the potential of turning into a game winner. There is quite reasonable chance for him to turn out with a display like againist Roma in Supercoppa which was just amazing.

 

[1919]

oooooooooopsssssssss ... now i see it. really i dont know what he is thinking.

why Adri on the bench ???

 

[ristoman]

Right, it's gonna take a hell of a performance by Inter for me to see us extending Mancini's contract. The lineup is outrageous. He goes completely off the game-plan we have had all season. Damn fool!

Julio cesar

Maicon - Cordoba - Materazzi - Burdisso

Stankovic - Cambiasso - Figo - Zanetti

Crespo - Zlatan

Burdisso as a left back, Figo starting, Adriano on the bench. Mancini lost it as soon as there was a big match.

Can you provide a link to this please?

 

[1919]

Well one thing i got to say ... picking Cordoba at CD ahead of Burdisso is crazy. i really dont know how can one play Cordoba in view of his performances this season.

man this is valencia, not some cagliari or torino

 

[Alex de Large]

I have a bad feeling.... when we lose vs Bayern Vieira was also injured...
and by the way all the important matches this season were with Vieira on the field, probably he is not as important as Stankovic or Cambiasso, but definitely important....

 

[J zanetti]

Can you provide a link to this please?

http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=25599&L=en

 

[Waleed]

Mancini has lost it, double whammy with Burdisso, and Figo. He is going to ask nothing from Miguel and is just asking him to com up and rape Burdisso.

This is some piss poor stuff from Mancini, thought maybe the league form would have given him some backbone but he continues to make shitty selections for the CL.

 

[bjwam4]

Yea I disagree with his line-up as well. Why not include Dacourt when he has been so strong in the center...Why Figo? WHY?!

 

[ragazzofortunato]

Right, it's gonna take a hell of a performance by Inter for me to see us extending Mancini's contract. The lineup is outrageous. He goes completely off the game-plan we have had all season. Damn fool!

Julio cesar

Maicon - Cordoba - Materazzi - Burdisso

Stankovic - Cambiasso - Figo - Zanetti

Crespo - Zlatan

Burdisso as a left back, Figo starting, Adriano on the bench. Mancini lost it as soon as there was a big match.

What here exactly is completely off the game plan???

Deki Cuchu Zanetti
.........Figo...........

Yes, we all expected Dacourt to replace Viera, but it isn't like this is something new.. And yes, we all have bad memories from Figo playing in the hole against Sporting, but against Bayern he was on the bench and yet we lost again...

Mancini's tactical decisons were on spot this season, so idea of opening a little bit more and bringing the game up to their half could very likely be a good one..
They are most dangerous on the wings so Burdisso on the left to contain Silva is only logical...
And Crespo instead of Adri.. well, would prefer Adri but guess Crespo is more reliable..

So let's wait and see how it goes on.. Can't wait for it to start!

 

[ristoman]

I don't think Crespo has 90' in him, especially against a fast team. I expect Adri to enter in the second half and throw Valencia's plans way off