Sassuolo - Inter (20 Oct 19) [3-4]

[sakera]

Here are my thoughts from last night's game.

I loved how we came out to play football last night. With the one minute silence and tribute to their former owner, the stage was set from the very beginning of the game for Sassoulo to play with pride and overrun us. But we were hungry and switched on from the very beginning of the match. For me, that was huge. I have watched so many games over the years where Inter started timidly and made early mistakes where it is obvious that the players had not been mentally prepared to play.

I am not sure about other posters on here but Martinez is really coming into his game and has the making of something special. I am not saying that he is the finished product or that he plays perfectly because there are aspects of his game that he needs to work on but the guy is pretty special. There was an occasion that he was running at the defence, cut the other way and went past his defender and I could not help but watch in awe. There was a change of pace that I did not expect and I was quite surprised. For me, the positives are that he is only in his second season at Inter and he is only 22 years old and yet he is really coming along. Perhaps the best part is that there is a lot of room for growth and development. While he was on the field, Sassuolo's defence really struggled to come to terms him. When he was replaced by Politano, we lost all impetus up front.

There were a number of exchanges between Lukaku and Martinez that in my opinion, were simply beautiful. They took place closer to the half-way line and allowed us to break forward. This might sound really corny, but those moves took my breath away. To see us attacking in that manner was quite special given that over the years, we have only managed to cross to Icardi in the hope that he would score. There were also some passes through the middle which totally blew me away because in the past, we only attacked down the flanks. The passes were not eye catching defence splitting passes. They were simply played to feet in the hope that Lukaku or Martinez could make something out it. But I loved seeing that kind of build-up play and dynamism.

In relation to Lukaku, it is evident that there are times when moves break down because of his first touch or a bad pass. I understand and acknowledge that is a problem for us and cannot help but think that against higher calibre opponents, we would inevitably suffer due to possible missed chances and turnovers. However, to only focus on that and say that is all he adds to our game would be wrong. Some of his link up passes were really nice and he genuinely plays for the team. In the last 15 minutes of the game when we were under alot of strain, he was back there helping. With Lukaku, it is not always pretty or smart (for example his penalty or the push that led to Martinez's second being ruled out) but he is effective and I like having a player in the team that thinks of his teammates rather than feeling that he is the center of the universe.

A special mention should go to Candreva and Bastoni. In relation to the former, he is almost unrecognisable from the player that played under Spalletti. I never thought I would write this but I was glad that he started yesterday. He plays tough and his defensive interventions in terms of chasing back and tackling were much needed. It is no coincidence that we conceded as soon as Candreva was substituted. A replay straight after we conceded showed Lazaro rushed to advance and was too much in front of the play to the extent that he was caught out of position. Personally, I feel Lazaro is shit. He does not inspire confidence and from the time he took to the field I felt anxious and wished Candreva had stayed on. There is something Dalbertesque about him. I guess only time will tell.

In relation to Bastoni, he plays with composure, confidence and certainty way beyond his years. I was surprised he started and feel there was a lot to like about his performance last night. Personally, I feel our defensive issues last night stemmed from the left and the space that Biraghi granted Berardi rather than through the presence of Bastoni and balls being played through the middle.

Lastly, I just want to mention Gagliardini. He was by no means our most visible player but that does not mean that he did not contribute or that he was non-existent. He played a solid game in the engine room and there were numerous occasions when we were playing out from the back when he was in the thick of the battle helping his teammates. I am hoping that if a choice has to be made between Vecino and Gagliardini, that Inter will elect to keep Gagliardini.

The only other thought I have is that we are far from the finished product and there are aspects to our game that need work. But more than anything, what I am loving right now is the effort, the mental preparedness, the different aspects of our game and the way the players are all contributing to the team.

Good review, bro. Thanks

 

[Choppin Onions]

Fucking Sassuolo. In the near or not so near future when they finally get relegated, I hope they never get back to the top flight. Not because I hate them or their football but simply because even a fucking 4-1 lead in the 70th minute is barely enough to beat these cunts. One of the biggest bogey teams we've had to deal with in the time I've supported this club. But we got the 3 points against them. That's a start.

 

[Universe]

I'm glad to have broken our Sassuolo curse (for now) but in general I'm less enthused. That's mainly because the defensive scheme was fucking shocking (yet again). I think we're actually worse in this regard than last season due to the individual plumetting of quality of Skriniar in particular.

We generally contain opponents fairly well in the balanced phases of the game. But games change and enter different phases. When we're forced to defend we concede way too much pressure. When we tire, or take our foot off the gas and go into all-out defense mode, we look fucking horrendous. No one makes tackles, we just stand off attackers and try to shepherd them away from goal. But any forward with a semi-competent level of drive and skill can simply waltz through our training cone defence.

As I mentioned, the final 20 minutes of that match were exactly like the last 20 minutes of Inter - Empoli from the previous season - complete disarray, at the mercy of our opponents and looking dangerously incapable of holding the result. It was the same against Barca too. At what point after the 60th minute at Camp Nou did we look like we had any further say in that match? Despite the obvious quality of opponent, and the lack of possession, we still had great control of that match in the first half. However, the game changed, as they all do, whether through fatigue or tactical changes. And when it did, we were forced to defend. And we didn't just lose our grip on the match, we completely lost all control and the result went out of our hands. It was like "OK, we just played our game for 60 mins, now let's see what you got." The same happened against Sassuolo.

When we have the players (Sensi), the lungs, the freshness and the motivation to attack (like we do at the start of games), we generally look very good. But we need to manage games much better and more effectively. Games last for 90 fucking minutes, not 1 hour. In this short sample size I'm already seeing this trend of completely surrendering control for large patches of matches. This team needs to either improve their low block defensive schemes, or conserve energy/composure and remain an attacking threat for all 90 minutes. Preferably both. We can't just play great for 60 minutes then go all-out defense for the last 30 minutes - especially when our all-out defense is shit.

I don't want to focus on the negatives considering we just beat our bogey team away from home and we're 1 point off 1st, having won 7/8 games. But this is a real fucking issue and I can not ignore it. Even when we were undefeated for 16 games in Spalletti's first half-season, I kept going on about the lack of midfield defending, and our inability to create centrally. It's a new coach and new time but similarly, we have some crippling issues that need to be addressed before they become more damaging.

 

[Vertigo]

what's wrong with skriniar.. two seasons ago he wouldn't even let insigne and mertens going trough like that.

He was like "Please Boga you can go trough"

does conte instruct him not to challenge any penetrations ?

 

[brehme1989]

His new role and position make him uncomfortable.

At the moment I think he is best suited to play in front of De Vrij or in his spot. He cannot pull off this side center back thing. Maybe if we had better wingbacks.

 

[ElDuccio]

Stellini (Vice Conte): "It was important responding to Juves victory". Gazzetta mentioned this statement. Conte keeps talking about a strong Juve and a Inter that is probably not ready for this battle. But the truth is that the whole team want's to keep this Gap till January where 2-3 new players could make the important diffrence to keep our hopes till the end alive.
I think it's good that Conte remains realstic. The team has to work every day hard. Nobody should start to feel to sure about our perfomance, you have to improve every week. At May we will see but im anyway sure that it's only a strategy from Conte. Starting to talk about Scudetto would only make the Media crazy and the team will start to feel the pressure or maybe even to sure, like i already said. Everyone has to make he's best. Specialy because we don't have a lot of players that can change the game from he's own, as we already saw against Juve without Sensi.
I was thinking that it would be hard without Sensi against Sassuolo but the reaction from the team was brilliant (at last till the 75. minute when Lazaro came in). Without Godin, Dambro, Sensi, Sanchez...it's not granted that you score 4 goals and win this game. I hope we can continue to go this way. And that we will have less injuries, because we have already enough now.

 

[Sassuolu]

Did I just break the Sassuolo curse?

You're welcome bitches.

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Where's my curse breaker badge admins?

 

[sikman]

Stellini (Vice Conte): "It was important responding to Juves victory". Gazzetta mentioned this statement. Conte keeps talking about a strong Juve and a Inter that is probably not ready for this battle. But the truth is that the whole team want's to keep this Gap till January where 2-3 new players could make the important diffrence to keep our hopes till the end alive.
I think it's good that Conte remains realstic. The team has to work every day hard. Nobody should start to feel to sure about our perfomance, you have to improve every week. At May we will see but im anyway sure that it's only a strategy from Conte. Starting to talk about Scudetto would only make the Media crazy and the team will start to feel the pressure or maybe even to sure, like i already said. Everyone has to make he's best. Specialy because we don't have a lot of players that can change the game from he's own, as we already saw against Juve without Sensi.
I was thinking that it would be hard without Sensi against Sassuolo but the reaction from the team was brilliant (at last till the 75. minute when Lazaro came in). Without Godin, Dambro, Sensi, Sanchez...it's not granted that you score 4 goals and win this game. I hope we can continue to go this way. And that we will have less injuries, because we have already enough now.

Just this! Brilliant!

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I don’t understand a lot of you.
We played a great 75 mins or so, won against a team we hadn’t won in a long time, at their home and you’re complaining.
No one can control the tempo for whole 90 mins. Even the great Barca were outclassed by Inter for about 44-50 mins at Camp Nou.
Juve barely won a couple of days ago against Bologna (de Ligt’s handball in the penalty box should’ve counted). Milan and Roma drew with ‘inferior’ opponents.
There are no easy teams in Serie A. Every point counts and 3 points against a bogey team are golden.
Sure, we can try to control some phases of the game better but we don’t have the depth. Against Barca and Juve it is nearly universally accepted that we lost due to lack of bench quality.
We’ll get there eventually - and I believe Conte and Lukaku and Toro will get us here. I like and believe in the chemistry of the team.
Leaking in goals is somewhat concerning but I always felt that more so than offensive play, defense is a team effort and either due to fatigue or some other mental issue, our concentration drops at times.
As someone already mentioned we were probably thinking about Dortmund after going up 1-4.
Conte tried to inject freshness to the side by introducing Lazaro (btw, I bet nearly every Inter fan was for that sub, Lazaro had a great recent outing with the national team), but it kinda backfired.

We’ll see what the mentality of the players is on Wednesday for a must win game... but let’s keep the faith.

Forza Inter!

 

[sakera]

Yeah,
We need to keep our feet on the ground,
This team is built for being competitive in serie a, to reach 2nd or 3rd position..

If we can top serie A in the first round, perhaps conte can try to push more..

 

[Candreva Crosses]

 

[DARi0]

EXACTLY!!! Agree 100%! We need more covent of D-line! Hope Marotta wakes up and bring someone like Kante, Torreira or maybe Tonali?

While Kanté is valued 100m, Torreira could be bought by Napoli in January to replace Allan. Tonali is not a DM if we take into consideration how he describes himself [CM].

The man who parachuted into the Mapei Stadium during Sassuolo 3-4 Inter has been banned, but claims he did not intend to stage a pitch invasion.

The curious incident occurred on Sunday afternoon, just as Inter were preparing to take a penalty.

Television cameras cut away from the scene, as they try not to give publicity to pitch invaders.

According to news agency Ansa, the 36-year-old had taken off at the nearby Campovolo airport.

He claimed to have made an emergency landing when running into problems, having “not realised that little green square was a stadium.”

The man has been given a Daspo – ban from attending sporting events – for the pitch invasion.

 

[Dylan]

He should have claimed it was a form of respect to avoid the ban.

 

[Devious]

Did we really beat Sassuolo away? Wow that's very cool!