Manchester City - Inter (18 Sep 24) [0-0]

[delaurentis]

Acerbi is one of those rare oldschool Italian center backs - Yet he kept Haaland quiet, again (ofcourse I acknowledge it's a team effort, but also an individual effort).
I'm curious how much of these modern day attackers would fare against the likes of Maldini, Nesta, Bergomi,....

 

[Gal]

Acerbi is one of those rare oldschool Italian center backs - Yet he kept Haaland quiet, again (ofcourse I acknowledge it's a team effort, but also an individual effort).
I'm curious how much of these modern day attackers would fare against the likes of Maldini, Nesta, Bergomi,....

The problem with the old school was at large they could not play the way modern coaches wanted them too. As they simply wasn’t good enough with their feet and ball. Usually you have to give some to gain some, it’s a trade off. so I’m not so convinced thinking in that direction is really all that useful, for what good is it having great defenders, but that doesn’t poses enough quality to be pivotal in building up the play from the defensive zone, and not just hammering the ball at any given chance (I’m not thinking at those you mentioned specifically)

 

[dax21]

Acerbi is one of those rare oldschool Italian center backs - Yet he kept Haaland quiet, again (ofcourse I acknowledge it's a team effort, but also an individual effort).
I'm curious how much of these modern day attackers would fare against the likes of Maldini, Nesta, Bergomi,....

Makes you almost feel bad for Acerbi for wasting his career until Inter, guy spent his mid/late 20s all at Sassuolo. What a late blooming moment and almost entirely a happenstance, no one wanted him here and we only got him because he was free and Ranocchia left.

 

[Alex de Large]

Makes you almost feel bad for Acerbi for wasting his career until Inter, guy spent his mid/late 20s all at Sassuolo. What a late blooming moment and almost entirely a happenstance, no one wanted him here and we only got him because he was free and Ranocchia left.

Limone's Inter, because Frank De Boer Inter is not better than Sassuolo for Acerbi

 

[DARi0]

Acerbi kept Haaland in his pocket, AGAIN. Kudos to him.

LOL after the final whistle Haaland was complaining that Acerbi kept holding his shirt, Acerbi told him something laughing showing him "2" and Haaland told him "oh fuck off! " was clear on the lip-reading

Thanks for sharing this interpretation:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836514204901347533

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836509014898692200

Hilarious scenes.

perfectly explains it hahahahah owned

 

[CraigM]

I was thoroughly impressed with the overall performance, the levels of concentration, the fitness and the bravery on the ball. A really good night although familiar failings of not quite being able to convert a great defensive and midfield performance into a win over an elite opponent because of an insipid attacking performance.

I'm usually quite hard on Nicolo Barella because I'm frustrated that, fine player that he is, I feel he could be better still. Last night was perhaps the best performance I've seen from him at Inter. The difference was not just that he played extremely well against high-end opposition, he remained utterly focused for the entire game and showed none of the careless touches that usually leak in to most of performances. Last night showed the player he can be and that's a real top-tier one who would be an asset for any team.

Best performance I've also seen yet from Carlos Augusto too, perhaps also Bisseck who plays with such confidence and verve for someone who is hardly a regular. At the moment I'd pick him ahead of Pavard as first-choice for that position. A mention for Sommer who, while he did not have a huge amount to do in his standard goalkeeping role, saw more of the ball at his feet and under pressure than in any game he has had at Inter. I thought he carried that off really, really well. Zielinski showed great promise too and looks like he should be a starter ahead of Miki now.

The solitary black spot of the evening was the performance of Thuram who worked hard but was awful. He's a really odd player to watch. Lautaro is out of form and fitness at the moment and you see him doing the things he would usually do, just without the sharpness or the ball sticking. When Thuram is out of form he doesn't look like a footballer at all, he looks like he has been pulled out of the crowd and given a shirt as the most basic elements of being a player - like kicking a ball properly or understanding offside - seem to escape him. We saw a lot of those performance from him in the second-half of last season. He's good at football but he's not a remotely good footballer.

 

[CraigM]

The problem with the old school was at large they could not play the way modern coaches wanted them too. As they simply wasn’t good enough with their feet and ball. Usually you have to give some to gain some, it’s a trade off. so I’m not so convinced thinking in that direction is really all that useful, for what good is it having great defenders, but that doesn’t poses enough quality to be pivotal in building up the play from the defensive zone, and not just hammering the ball at any given chance (I’m not thinking at those you mentioned specifically)

Wait what? Maldini was exceptional on the ball and a key element in the most tactically demanding defence to play in that Italy has ever seen. Nesta was utterly comfortable and elegant on the ball. Bergomi a bit less so as he was a more traditional defender.

I do not understand this answer at all.

 

[CraigM]

On the Darmian chance. I see what he said about the shout from Barella but I thought it was as much that his first touch was not great and his lack of pace meant that the City defender had recovered a lot of the ground and already narrowed the angle for him to shoot from.

 

[varmin]

View attachment 13339

Darmian just shat his pants. No need for excuses.
We love him regardless.

 

[_Ivan_]

On the Darmian chance. I see what he said about the shout from Barella but I thought it was as much that his first touch was not great and his lack of pace meant that the City defender had recovered a lot of the ground and already narrowed the angle for him to shoot from.

Yes, it was Gvardiol to his left side and Darmian was 1 step too short ahead of positioning himself for a shot. He went 1 more step ahead and he got to him to a block position. I would love to see him shot that kind of chances regardless.

 

[CraigM]

Yes, it was Gvardiol to his left side and Darmian was 1 step too short ahead of positioning himself for a shot. He went 1 more step ahead and he got to him to a block position. I would love to see him shot that kind of chances regardless.

From how I remember it, by that stage the angle was narrow enough he could only likely have managed a shot at the near post which would have been unlikely to result in anything, so I can see why he did what he did. Not going to blame him anyway and that really shouldn't be his job now.

 

[Raul Duke]

Took a peek at the City forums, and they’re probably the least delusional PL fans when it comes assessing Inter.

They are mostly content with drawing against us.

 

[Gal]

Wait what? Maldini was exceptional on the ball and a key element in the most tactically demanding defence to play in that Italy has ever seen. Nesta was utterly comfortable and elegant on the ball. Bergomi a bit less so as he was a more traditional defender.

I do not understand this answer at all.

Read the ( ) I make it quite clear that I’m not exactly referring to players that was the rare breed and those actually posed some skill, I specifically refer to the old style defenders that at large did not.

It was not exactly Bastoni type in the past, for most part.

 

[brehme1989]

Acerbi is one of those rare oldschool Italian center backs - Yet he kept Haaland quiet, again (ofcourse I acknowledge it's a team effort, but also an individual effort).
I'm curious how much of these modern day attackers would fare against the likes of Maldini, Nesta, Bergomi,....

TikTok - Make Your Day

Just a small taste

 

[Kenny]

Took a peek at the City forums, and they’re probably the least delusional PL fans when it comes assessing Inter.

They are mostly content with drawing against us.

Same on their youtube channel, its mutual respect the way it should be, they are very rational thinking.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Took a peek at the City forums, and they’re probably the least delusional PL fans when it comes assessing Inter.

They are mostly content with drawing against us.

They know damn well it was a Belgian who won't be named who is the biggest - perhaps only - reason why they celebrated the trophy in 2023 and not us. For a non-Italian team, they should be the ones with the greatest respect level for Inter, so this checks out.

 

[brehme1989]

Took a peek at the City forums, and they’re probably the least delusional PL fans when it comes assessing Inter.

They are mostly content with drawing against us.

That's because the majority of them have been through shit and mud, and their perspective isn't tainted. And their city rivals are the despicable Manchester United so they know how it feels to be the cunt of the town.
Plus football wise they enjoy the best the "school" after Mancini and now with Guardiola, their talents aren't usually domestic and they can see that their best players are always the ones they import rather than the useless turds they overspend for within England (Grealish, Sterling, Phillips, Stones till he turned DM etc). Only Walker was a proper success. And they sort of know that, ever since 2010 at least.


Problem is with their detached new fanbase that learned about the club via video games and the 2010s or even 2020s. They have no idea about the club culture.
A lot like the English speaking Barcelona (and Bayern) fanbase that popped up in the last 15-20 years.

 

[SiamoNoi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836511570245095508

https://twitter.com/x/status/1836514893144449138

 

[RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot]

City were better here than in the final imo. They were nearly perfect aside from a few missed occasions.

 

[zan89]

Took a peek at the City forums, and they’re probably the least delusional PL fans when it comes assessing Inter.

They are mostly content with drawing against us.

Arsenal on the other hand…