I'd been refraining from posting a mad tldr post but I feel there a few things that need to be addressed. In the Korean language we have a word which I'm not sure has a perfect translation into English as there's a lot lost in translation. The word describes the notion of basically going out of your way to do something unnecessary. That's how I describe Mancini's desired playing style.
I respect the fact that he wants us to play a more patient, possessive and intelligent passing game, building attacks from the back. But there's a time and place for that. Arguably, we lack the personnel for it to begin with but that's beside the point because we still do it anyway. Now, all of Italy and probably the continent knows that Mancio wants to play a possession game and indeed practically every team we've faced now regularly camps itself outside our box when we have a goal kick. How do we respond? We stubbornly try to pass our way through a maze of attackers pressuring the hell out of our defenders. Every single time this leads to a frantic mess and a rushed clearance. It bewilders and utterly infuriates me to no end to see this happen. It's like watching insanity itself unfold in front of my eyes. And there's no other reason this happens besides on Mancini's insistence. Why not skip the nonsense and just have the goalkeeper kick the ball upfield to begin with? Why not build from the back only when we have the space and opportunity to do so? Why force it, on defenders who aren't capable of it, when the opponent clearly expects it and sets up to pressure and manipulate us?
Secondly, a brief comment on some players. Without a doubt Palacio was MOTM yesterday. He wasn't outstanding and had that miss, but he scored and ran and actually contributed positively. As far as I'm concerned, Shaqiri was practically a non-factor, Hernanes was doing his job, albeit too quietly, and Guarin was rubbish. Regarding Carrizo, I don't blame him for the first goal. That was a bullet header from very close range - extremely difficult for any keeper. The second goal was a joke, and the third.. well, he got tricked, thinking the ball was going to the near post. It happens. Either way, Vidic was a brute and should have known better than to give away that free kick.
This brings me back to Mancini. He lost the plot completely yesterday when he brought Vidic on and switched to a 3 man defense. Every idiot and his mother knows that we can't defend. Yet with 30+ minutes remaining he invites a dangerous and motivated opponent, in their home ground, to attack us, playing in a formation which has yielded very little success and very little defensive stability for us. That move was cowardly. And it goes to show why his European record is so abysmal.
Before Mancini was even rumored to us, I mentioned that I wanted him to replace Mazzarri because he would stabilize the ship and he would make us at least 'not shit'. 'Not shit' is hardly asking much, but as far as I'm concerned, he hasn't even qualified that. Personally, I rate his work with us a D. C if I'm feeling generous. I'll wait to the end of the season, and the end of the season after that, but if the team (and Mancini showing his own managerial ability) continues as is, I'll have to lower my already-dismal expectations.
Regarding this upcoming match, I'm reminded of three similar matches in recent years - Inter vs Liverpool in 2008, Inter vs Schalke in 2011, and Inter vs Tottenham 2013. In all three matches, we had a vastly underwhelming result in the first leg and needed not only to perform, but to make a statement in the second leg. Only Stramaccioni, whether by motivation, tactics or sheer dumb luck managed to do so. We still failed to qualify on aggregate, but we played proudly. Of course in the other two matches, we went into hiding and played the exact same underwhelming game as the first legs. I'm curious to see which category this match will fall under.
10 years of FIF
blivious:
