Those two weeks were long. So long, in fact, that I have completely forgot what we were doing before it started. Something about points and kicking ass (or not, as the case may be)… It will come back to me, I’m sure. Anyway, here we are back to the championship, off to Bologna in an attempt to retain our meager lead while simultaneously avoiding the trap a lower half team before a big game poses. So far, all the press this week has been about the Champions League game next week and poor Bologna has sort of gotten lost in the shuffle. I only hope the boys aren’t similarly distracted. Bologna certainly wont be.

What: Bologna v Internazionale
Where: Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna
When: Saturday, November 21, 6pm (local time; 9am pacific, noon eastern).
How to Watch: FSC is showing this delayed at 2pm pacific, 5pm eastern. If you want to watch it live, catch a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Strangely, last year we also played Bologna away the weekend before an important mid-week CL game (the first ManU tie). We managed to pull out the win, despite a whoopsie from Cuchu, thanks in LARGE part to the heroics of Julio Cesar. Here are the highlights (note the gleam off Cambiasso’s newly shaven head and the unbelievably adorable way JC says “big match” in the post game interview):

THEM

I really hope Ben posts something for this game. I thoroughly enjoy his Surrealist forays into calcio. Just in case he doesn’t, I will try to whip up a little something (it wont be as interesting as Ben’s though, I’m sure).

Wow. That sure is a whole lot of bald Bolognese ‘ballers!

With 11 points, Bologna are hovering just above the relegation zone. They had a not-so-nice start to the season and did not win their first game until day six. After a change of coaches (out with Papadopulo, in with Colomba), things have been looking up. It is true, they have still struggled a bit (especial against teams from Liguria), but have also managed to pull of some impressive results, including holding Juve to a 1-all draw and, most recently, beating Palermo (3-1).

Inter and Bologna share a long a storied past and back in the day, mighty Bologna used to pretty regularly thrash Ambrosiana and Internazionale at the Stadio Dall’Ara. It was only in the last couple years before they were most recently relegated (Bologna has tasted the depths on more than one occation) that Inter beat them with any regularity. Bologna has excelent record against us – especially when playing at home: out of 71 games, Bologna has won 34 and drawn 12. That’s right, Inter have only won this tie 25 times. Not so great.

Colomba has likened Inter to a tank, but pointed out that: “I have often lost to the Nerazzurri, as is normal for a Coach of provincial clubs, but don’t forget my Reggina beat them and cost Marcello Lippi his job.”

One of the goalscorers for that Reggina game was Marazzina, now reunited with his old coach at Bologna. Spooky, isn’t it?

Colomba has called up 22 players:
Portieri: Colombo, Spitoni, Viviano
Difensori: Britos, Lanna, Portanova, Raggi, Santos, Zenoni
Centrocampisti: Bombardini, Guana, Lavecchia, Mingazzini, Mudingayi, Valiani, Vigiani
Attaccanti: Adailton, Di Vaio, Gimenez, Marazzina, Osvaldo, Zalayeta

You may recognize a couple names in that list. Viviano is an Inter youth product (and is still half owned by us), while Zalayeta (recently of Napoli) has a nasty habit of scoring game-winning goals against us. Di Vaio has found himself at Bologna, and last year was in hot competition for the capocannoniere title. As for the rest… well… I have always liked to say “Bombardini” out loud. Try it, it’s fun. Bombardini. And I am pretty sure Guana is bird poop – isn’t it?

Our very own Carro Armato P 40

US

Mourinho (the world’s best Portugese coach) has given us a bit of a surprise with his call up list:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu;
Centrocampisti: Zanetti, Stankovic, Quaresma (!), Thiago Motta, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli, Arnautovic (!!).

Wow, there most certainly are some interesting names up there. Well, first, Suazo isn’t back from international duty so it only makes sense that Arna is on the list (Mou likes to come prepared). Quaresma and Mancini must be part of that turnover he spoke about in his presser today. It wont be as much as in the Livorno game, but there will be a bit of a rotation. What does that mean for our line-up tomorrow? Well, La Gazzetta thinks the only big change will be Cordoba in place of Lucio and Stankovic back to his less-than-fabulous role of play maker. Really, not so much of a turnover. We will see, though, La Gazzetta has been wrong before.

As for the rest, Santon has had his surgery and, while everything went well, he will be out of commission until next year. Sneijder is still injured, although seems to be on track for Barcelona. Aside from those two, Mou has a full squad at his disposal. Hooray.

Muntari is in a bit of hot water with his National team. Apparently Essian, Asamoah Gyan, and Muntari were meant to go last week with the Ghanan National team to Angola to play a friendly against the Palancas Negras. Instead, they left to return to their respective clubs without the permission of the Black Star’s coach. The Ghanan Football Association has launched an investigation into the matter and is looking into whether or not any punishment will be handed out. Yikes. Muntari has not said anything about it. I wonder if this means he will be going to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Mario Balotelli has put himself back into the spotlight again. He went to visit with some handicapped children and, when one of them asked which team he was a fan of, Balotelli said “Milan, of course!” Needless to say, this caused all sorts of ruckus with the children and with the press. His sister later said that it was all a joke, and besides, Mario had liked Milan when he was a child. Mourinho’s take was that it didn’t really matter which team Mario liked as a child, we should be much more concerned about the reports that Balotelli likes to drive his car 240 km per hour (that’s about 149 miles per hour for us non-European types).

On the transfer front, besides Galloppa and Ranocchia, Inter are also supposedly looking at Lyon midfielder Jeremy Toulalan. Super double plus wonderful, we may get him in partial exchange for Vieira. Sold!

Ok. So lets focus and keep our heads, and most importantly, lets keep on track and take home the three points.

FORZA INTER

Wow! Take a look at those knee muscles! Yowza

We didn’t play particularly well, as in at all, but I think that we put together 3 very credible goal scoring chances. We made one, we pushed one way wide and a goalkeeper save stopped the other.

We had other chances, but for various reasons they didn’t go in… like Eto’o hitting a volley off the outside of his foot or Milito getting an elbow to the back of his head when he tried to head in a shot or Milito getting a shove on his head when he took the shot that was saved, or Milito getting shoved to the ground when a cross came in…

We played about even in the first half when we played our worst and with the incredibly defensive minded midfield of Muntari, Motta and Vieira – who I was so very happy to see, of course. Which was a bit sad for both teams. We didn’t really do anything other than try to get out of the first half with a draw. Roma – who jeered at us for years about style over substance – defended 9 men to within an inch of its life and counter attacked only for a miracle of a goal. A little hypocritical, wouldn’t you say… oh, and welcome to the dark side of results oriented football. Good luck on the transition.

In the second half we put in the cavalry but the attitude was the same, “Its vaca time”. We got a goal, mostly because losing to Roma shouldn’t be an option and pride wouldn’t let it happen.

So we screwed the pooch on this one. We had help doing it – I am sure the League/pundits/neutrals are happy that we dropped points – but the pooch continues well screwed. Inter player of the match, is there any doubt? Not many decided to show up today, even though it should have been enough to finish off Roma…

Highlights after the break

Stats Home Team First

Shots (on Goal): 12(4) 12(4)
Fouls: 26 13
Corner Kicks: 4 5
Offsides: 5 0
Time of Possession: 62% 38%
Yellow Cards: 3 2

So, we led the game in possession, fouls against and yellow cards received. Apparently we have been fouling people while we have possession. If you happened to watch the “pundits” after the match, there was a lot of heat on the ref for blowing the whistle so much for little things, especially as there was a movement by Collina to let play go and not disturb the flow of the game as much as possible, and for not getting the bigger fouls at all. Flow was allowed for one team, as the statistics show, so Collina can’t get too upset. The statistical findings that on average two teams will commit about the same – not exact, but similar – number of fouls a game was apparently lost on this sap. As was the plot.

Pagelle

Cesar: I can’t blame him for the goal, it was a once in a lifetime shot by a guy not even looking at the net. He made a mistake in distribution, though. 6.5

Maicon: Anonymous and on vacation a too early. Roma played with one forward/player out of their own half of the field and Maicon had little in front of him defensively, he could have pushed up more. 6.5

Lucio: He recovered well to save a good chance from happening for Roma after he fell asleep on Vucinic. He should have been in better position – although that’s not really his game – on the goal. He was targeted by Roma. 6.5

Samuel: Didn’t have much to do but when he did it, he did it well. Considering all the relationships between the players of both teams, Samuel didn’t seem too happy to see his old club… 7.0

Zanetti: Was the best defender on the field and schooled Menez about 5 times on the left – oddly Menez/Nedved stayed on his feet when going up against Zanetti. More on that later. It also looked like he took an injury. It’s always obvious when the team plays without the same spirit that he has. 7.5

Muntari: Delicious on the tackle, bitter on everything else. He was called for a foul when he jumped around a Roma player and got the ball and nothing else. Typical. 6.5

Vieira: He gets half a point for knocking that idiot De Rossi – whose elbows were up as well – out of the game. Nice to see Irony get served here – out of the game. Other than that, feh. 6.5

Motta: The good Motta on the pitch made the pass that got a goal. He got a yellow for impersonating John Arne Riise without ginger. 7.0

Deki: He gets half a point for not killing Menez/Nedved when Menez/Nedved threw an elbow at his face. He gets another point for not having to leave the game… like someone else… 7.0

Eto’o: He scored and that deserves praise. He shanked a volley that most strikers dream of getting and that does not. He disappointed me today. 6.5

Milito: Milito suffered the same problem that others of his stature suffer. He’s a little undersized and that makes him a target. Unfortunately he blew his chance to rub their faces in it. 7.0

Balotelli: Like Eto’o he disappointed. He had a shot at a striker’s goal at the top of the area, with tons of space and at a slight angle… and he really blew it. I agree with Mourinho here… he should have been in better form considering. But this is the danger of playing young players. They are ALL less reliable. 5.5

Cambiasso: Took over the middle of the pitch but the results don’t show much had changed. If he were on earlier, it wouldn’t have mattered. Roma were playing longball to bypass their own midfield which they had sucked back for defense anyway. He might have made a better contribution on our offensive end… but we didn’t really have one. 6.5

Sneijder: Made an instant difference in the team when he came on, unfortunately it wasn’t that much of a difference. We went from bad to average-ish bad. Still, average-ish bad was enough to score and keep from being scored on by Roma. 7.0

Analysis

I am not too concerned with this score and result. We didn’t play well, we looked tired from playing a tough schedule, we looked tired from travelling, we weren’t in good form, the ref sucked as usual and we still managed a point.

- Menez/Neved didn’t go down so easily when he went up against Zanetti. Either he didn’t think that he would get the call or he thought that he could take Zanetti and wanted to make sure he stayed on his feet to score. It appears that he thought wrong.

- De Rossi had it coming to him. There are those who will say that’s not nice, not classy, but he did. There is only so much abuse that a guy 100s of miles away can hurl at you before it becomes too satisfying to see him in pain 100s of inches from you. He spent so much time flapping his lips in his street clothes; it was pretty gratifying watching them get flapped for him when he finally got on the field within arms reach.

- Why was there no call when Mexes put his hands on Balotelli’s neck? Balotelli was walking away from the situation – you know the kind of behavior we want to see from him. Why isn’t there more outcry that Mexes thought that he had the right to touch another human on the scruff of his neck like that. Why was there no yellow card? Why is there nothing in the newspaper today? Why isn’t Mexes banned for 3 games?

FORZA INTER

What: Inter v Roma, Matchday 12
Where: San Siro, Milan
When: Sunday, November 8th, 8:45 local time (11:45 pacific, 2:45 eastern)
How to Watch: Live on FSC (hooray) or find a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

For the last couple of years, this tie has ended in draws. Last year’s 3-all was epic. Twice, Inter went down 2 goals, and, in the end, we managed to claw our way back. I tell you, a draw never felt so much like a win. Well, that is except the for the same tie two years ago. That game saw our fearless captain snatch a point with a rare but wonderful goal that helped seal our scudetto.

Last year’s game:

And the year before:

As you can see, it is always a heart-stopping nail-biter. In fact, we haven’t really put one over on Roma at the San Siro in the Serie A since a 2-0 win in 2005 (both goals were from Mihajlovic). Overall, though, Inter have a pretty decent home record against Roma: of the 78 Serie A games, Inter have won 42, drawn 24, and only lost 12. Not bad.

Another bit of interest is all the business the two clubs have done over the years. Moratti and Sensi were friends, and players have moved between Inter and Roma without much fuss. Right now, our good friend Nico Burdisso is on loan to the Giallorossi (and they seem to like him just fine), while Pizarro also was a Nerrazzuri not all that long ago. Andreolli is an Inter youth product, and until last year, was co-owned by the clubs*. In our ranks, Chivu and Mancini came directly from i Lupi, while Samuel took a brief detour to Real Madrid before finding his way from Rome to Milan. In other words, we are almost family. Almost.

*Rumor is that Andreolli will come back to Inter this winter in exchange for Burdisso. Go figure.

THEM

Our four-legged friends have not gotten off to the best of starts this season – between money woes and the never ending injuries, they haven’t had a whole lot to work with. Still, they have won their last two games and may just be starting to figure out what Ranieri wants from them. Unfortunately, they have dug themselves into a bit of a hole and have a lot of work to do if they want to see the sun again.

Roma sit at 14 points (exactly half Inter’s points), and have lost more games than they have won. They dont seem to have any trouble scoring goals – Roma’s 18 goals puts them in the top four offensively – but have real difficulty stopping the other team from scoring. With 19 goals conceded, they have the second worst defensive record in the league (Genoa is the worst with 20). Clearly, they have strengths to respect and weaknesses to exploit.

Right now, probably their greatest weakness is their medical staff. For some reason, Roma always seem to have half their starters out with some injury of another. Today is no different: Totti, Doni, Juan, and Burdisso are all out. Taddei will also be sitting one this out due to suspension. It could be (and has been) worse, though. At least today when I look at their projected line-up I know who everyone is. They have not had to dip into their youth team for this match.

Happy is good, focused is better.

US

We are finally starting to clear out our injury ward – and none too soon, either. Everyone is fit (although Eto’o is not quite 100%) and we have no suspensions. There has been some talk of a bit of a rotation squad, and for the first time in a couple years that doesn’t immediately make my stomach start to churn. It sure is nice to have options! Cambiasso may start from the bench as he is still nursing his knee. He has finally won his first call-up to the Argentine National team and everyone wants him to do well and earn a returning role. Every player worth his boots is dreaming of the World Cup – I am sure Cuchu is no different.

Mourinho has called-up 19 players:
Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Thiago Motta, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli.

Mourinho was all humble and wary during his press conference today. He didn’t drop any hints about line-ups or formations or anything.

I repeat what I said before the last two games: if I have no idea how to play my opponent, it doesn’t make life easy. It is not easy to prepare a game where no one knows how to play the adversary: Claudio Ranieri is a coach who usually uses a 4-4-2, but in these days has spoken of the possibility to deploy the diamond in midfield and I also thought that he uses the 4-4-1-1. I’m thinking and working hard in this sense, then I will not say which team I will play with now. There are no injured players at this time, I believe that it is not news to those who are part of our environment, Rui Faria is a phenomenon, however, we are all working well to build the best team possible to meet Roma, a team that right now does not find the justice of its quality in its current position in the standings.

The 14-point difference between Inter and Roma are not a true testament of the situation of these two teams: we have done very well since the beginning of the season, they have had some problems and lost some points unnecessarily, but what counts in a team is the quality and level of quality, I always said that I like Roma and there are some Roma players I like very much. For these reasons, I see the game tomorrow night as a big game, a game between two teams fighting for the Scudetto. They are quite far behind, it’s true, but the reality of the situation is that they too are a team that can fight for the Scudetto.

Mourinho is also worried about the team’s mentality after the euphoria of the win in Kiev.

Character is very important and this team has already shown theirs many times, but it is also character to win and stay calm after an important win. History is full of bad games after a great battle and that of Inter against Dynamo was truly a great match on every level: psychologically, physically, tactically and the level of risk. … Right now, for for me it is … important that players understand that we have not done anything, or at least, that we have done something that has an ephemeral significance. We need to stay calm, the race tomorrow will be served to the team who understands that there is a need to begin every future match with the same mentality and the same concentration. This is the mentality of the big teams, teams that never tire of doing good to win, who do not need to recover psychologically and physically after a great game. A great team is always prepared to play a great match after great match, this is the mentality that I want.

Tomorrow I dont want to have a disappointment and a team that takes the field playing with the victory of Kiev in its pocket. I do not want to have in our pocket the victory won in the Champions League, that is the past. The only difference is that we are in a better position and, now, instead of the press writing that Inter has not won in 7 games they will write that inter has not lost in 4, but there is nothing more.

Then, when asked if Mourinho was confident of winning tomorrow, he said no and that “it depends on us.”

And really, what more can be said? More than anything, tomorrow “Dipende da noi“.

We have a great squad who are determined and used to playing under this sort of pressure. We have the tranquility of knowing that no matter how terribly Juventus beats Atalanta, we will still be top of the table. Couple that with the drive for success and I think we have a pretty good shot of coming out of this with three points. That is, if we can concentrate on the task at hand. In many ways, a win is far more important for Roma than it is for Inter and that is a dangerous situation. I dont think that Roma has it in them to beat us, but I think we can most certainly beat ourselves. Inter must be focused and hungry – anything less just will not do.

FORZA INTER

The results are all in, and, no matter the outcome of the game tomorrow, we will still be top of the table come Friday. Although a draw would not be a disaster at this stage of the competition, a loss would sting. Plus, I want to win this one – four points in front of Juve is far more comfortable than one. Two would be barely adequate. The problem is, Palermo want it too. A win for them would catapult them into fourth, endowing them with all the bragging rights that come with that position (KJ, I am looking at you, buddy). For the record, I hate going second. I much prefer to set the pace than try to play catch-up after the fact.

What: Inter v Palermo, Matchday 10
Where: San Siro, Milan
When: Thursday, October 28, 8:45pm local time (12:45pm pacific, 3:45pm eastern)
How to Watch: Live on FSC or catch a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

Palermo do not have a lot of happy memories of the San Siro: out of 24 total games played, Palermo have only won one and that was a Coppa Italia match way back in 1980. We have drawn an additional seven games, but mostly, Inter win this tie. Oh, and just in case there is someone who keeps track, Inter have also outscored Palermo by a factor of three (scored 57, allowed 16).

Last season was one of those draws. We had them right were we wanted them, down 2 goals, then let it all slip away in the space of something like 10 minutes. This just goes to show, Palermo is a team you can never turn your back on. Here are the highlights to jog your memories:

THEM

Hopefully Steven will put something up because I think the only Palermo game I have seen all season is their Juve demolition. Basically, I am in no position to say much of anything about the team. They have been enjoying a fine run of form and are definitely looking to collect yet another scalp.

Spiderman has brought 19 players back to his old stomping grounds:

PORTIERI: Brichetto, Sirigu.
DIFENSORI: Cassani, Goian, Kjaer, Melinte, Morganella.
CENTROCAMPISTI: Tedesco Bertolo, Blasi, Bresciano, Migliaccio, Nocerino, Pastore, Simplicio.
ATTACCANTI: Cavani, Miccoli, Succi, Hernandez.

There are a few important names not on this list, including Balzaretti, Bovo, Budan, Mchedlidze, and Rubinho. Liverani is also not on the list, but from what I remember from reading the comments on the Palermo board, that is no big loss. Carrozzieri is still sitting at home wishing he just said no.

La Gazzetta thinks Coach Z will field a 3-4-1-2 formation:

Sirigu
Gojan Kjaer Migliaccio
Bertolo Simplicio Bresciano Cassani
Pastore
Cavani Miccoli

Even with all the players left at home, Zenga still has quite a bit to work with. Cavani and Miccoli both have 3 goals apiece, while Pastore (touted as the next big Argentinian thing), has a couple of assists. Sirigu may be the second choice keeper (having only started 3 games), but he has only conceded one goal. Not bad.

Their back line is a bit depleted, at least that is how it looks to an outsider. Still, they have Danish wonderboy (and teen hearthrob) Kjaer who is doing quite well indeed. So well that there have been rumors linking him to Inter even (all quickly denied, though). All I can say is that he did a pretty good job shutting down Ibra last year (see above).

They do look quite fetching skipping down the pitch, hand in hand, in their lovely pink kits.

Everyone knows that Walter Zenga has only nerazzurri in his heart. All told, he spent 22 years with the club and he has stated more than once that his dream is to one day coach the team. He even likes Mourinho, saying:

The team coached by Mourinho has tremendous potential. I have maximum respect for the Nerazzurri but we have all the characteristics to play a great game with serenity. The most important quality of my Palermo? They have zero limits. There is no need to think about the past but only what is positive that has been built, of course I go to the San Siro to get the maximum. Those who take on Inter away often pay a steep price for the impact of the environment and playing with fear is not the way to get a result. What do I like about Mourinho? Everything, he is a coach who has won everywhere and deserves great respect.

Last year, the Curva Nord welcomed Zenga back to the San Siro with open arms, I wonder if they will be so happy to see him this time.

US

Mourinho has called up 20 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Motta, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Milito, Balotelli.

Sneijder is still out, and is likely to be for another week at least. On the up side, Milito and Motta are back (hooray), and according to Mou, will start tomorrow. I know that Wesely has become a very important part of the squad, but he is out and we have to make the best of what we have (which is actually pretty darn spanky when you think about it).

It looks like we will go back to the 4-3-1-2 with Deki behind Eto’o and Milito. Plus, Mou said today that he would change three or four players against Livorno, so I think this week will be a pretty standard lineup. Lucio was going to rest either this game or the next, and given that he has been called up, I’m guessing that he will sit out on Sunday. Assuming I am right (and it is always better that you do), the lineup may go a little something like this:

Julio Cesar
Maicon Lucio Samuel Chivu/Santon?
Zanetti Cambiasso/Vieira? T.Motta/Muntari
Stankovic
Eto’o Milito/Balotelli

Mou continued the love-fest with Zenga today, saying that he respects Zenga for the path he has taken in his career, and that the two of them had a great friend in common, presumably Inter, which made them friends as well. But no matter how friendly the two of them are now, “during the 90 minutes, he will be our enemy.” He later joked:

“It’s a drag, I like Walter, but I like to win. Tomorrow we will see if he is a true Interista and loose for us. If he wins, it will not go well, how can he train Inter in the future is he wins tomorrow? It’s like the players that score against Inter, how can they claim to be part of this team?”

Most of the rest of the press conference was about Mou’s rotation. He thinks that the Serie A schedule should allow for three days between matches because “between 48 and 72 hours is precisely the time fundamentally necessary to psychologically and mentally recuperate after a game.” The journalists also pestered him about Real Madrid’s shock 4-0 loss.

Samu took some time off on Monday to go to Barcelona and do some charity work. What a great guy!

What can I say. We are top of the table, even with a game in hand, but there is still a long way to go. We clearly have the talent to take on all comers, but not always the will. We are struggling with injured players, but so is just about everyone else. I know that Palermo are coming for points, and that belief is powerful, but there is a fine line between confidence and over confidence. Sometimes, when teams come to win they play just a bit too forward, leaving lots of room to exploit at the back. It is true, I am a bit worried about the game – it is tough to lose Sneijder and Z has something to prove – but I am always worried before a match. That is the way it should be. No game is ever a sure three points. And even if they are a little rusty after such long layoffs, it sure is nice to have Milito and Motta back

Mou said that everyone had been training well, and that means Milito has had plenty of time to reconnect with Eto’o (even if he has been in Barcelona for charity functions). Balotelli (who does not drive a Ferrari, no matter what Tuttosport says) is finding his form and even Vieira has not been completely terrible. We are playing on home ground and I fully believe we are the better team. The question is, can we actually deliver on all that promise? I think we can and I am cautiously optimistic about tomorrow.

FORZA INTER

Oh Mario, I know you are trying to be all tough with your new friends, but you are just too damn cute! You just make me giggle.

Well, each of us can answer those questions on our own. At the moment I will just answer the question, “What the hell happened on Saturday?”

Well, not a lot. The game itself was a snoozer until the last 15 minutes or so when Julio Cesar and the ref made things interesting. Julio left his line to contest a 50-50 ball and wiffed. Julio, the FSC announcer and I all thought that Julio also missed the player. The ref begged to differ. I don’t think that it was a bad call per se, the ref was in a no win political position. If he lets it go, the media – Berlusconi owned and all – and the supporters of Juve and Milan were going to rise up and protest. Actually, the Roma supporters would too, but who cares about them, really.

Anyhoo, there were still two other goals scored that were not handed to anyone from a ref. Yep, those would be the goals that Inter scored. This brings me to my Inter player of the game:

Highlights after the break

Stats Home team first

Shots (on Goal) 9(4) 13(6)
Fouls 16 22
Corner Kicks 6 3
Offsides 4 1
Time of Possession 62% 38%
Yellow Cards 2 3
Zanetti 139 continuous games played
Zanetti 476 appearances ties Facchetti for 2nd in team history
Attendance @50,000

I think that last stat is pretty significant. We are one of the best, if not the best, attended football teams in Serie A. Consider that attendance is up from last season as well. Not only is gate revenue up, but so is sponsorship. Not too long ago Nike and Inter unveiled a 10 year deal starting in 2010 that will net Inter over 12 million Euros a season. No other club has such a sponsorship deal with Nike. Some of you may also have noticed the Herblife signs in the stadium this past weekend. That is also a new sponsor this season. Add all this to what could be a new stadium deal and Inter are looking very financially stable for the new UEFA rules governing clubs’ finances.

Pagelle:

Julio Cesar: It had to happen, I guess. The best goalkeeper in the world for my money had an off day and conceded an iffy penalty. Until then, he had a clean sheet despite a good chance here and there. 6.0

Maicon: Maicon is developing a nasty habit of trying to dribble up to 3 guys at a time, losing the ball and then stopping or dogging it back on D. I thought that he had better games. 6.5

Lucio: Here’s my thing. He had an iffy deflection off of his foot. If he doesn’t make that deflection of the ball, then it’s a goal for Catania, so kudos on the interception. However, he’s going to make my hair turn white. 6.5

Cordoba: In an earlier post I have said that Inter are lucky to have the depth at CB to be able to put him back there. He had a nice game. 7.0

Chivu: I am losing confidence in Chivu in yet another barely average game performance. 6.5

Zanetti: There is a temptation to grade the last 3 years of continuous play here. But for the game, he was solid, selfless and commanding. He laid a hell of a tackle right before the half that I thought was a message that he didn’t like the sleep walking. 7.0

Vieira: Wasn’t this the guy that was complaining about playing time? He did okay, which at his age and physical ability probably says more about Catania then it does him. By the way, I think that he’s in the best shape he’s been in for years. I still don’t like him. PS. he blew a 24 karat gold chance at a goal… argh. 6.5

Muntari: If there were only 3 players running and making an effort on Saturday, then Muntari is definitely one of them. Here’s a guy who was booed a month ago, and he played his heart out, even when most looked like they wanted to go home. I really like his attitude and the way he scored only shows why that attitude was important. He was pressing forward, pressuring Catania and trying to feed Eto’o. Good Karma could only come of all that. 7.5

Sneijder: I gave this guy a hard time, but he has showed a lot of heart. I said in the comments that he should have been subbed off at halftime to rest. I understand why he was kept on, though, he was one of the few who didn’t show up to get paid and nothing else. 8.0

Balotelli: Mario played a decent game, but I didn’t think that he played great. He might be one of the few attacking players in Italian football who can keep possession in the attack and wait for help or get the foul. He reminds me a lot of a young – more skillful – Toni. 6.5

Eto’o: Another one of the few who worked hard all game. Even on his gimpy foot he looked like he wanted to score more than anything. I like the attitude. I would have liked him to score too. 7.0

Krhin: He was robbed on the foul called against him. That was a hell of an effort. The few times I have seen him play he reminds me of an energizer bunny type. A midfield dynamo, if you will. He always seems to make a cunning pass in there too. He intrigues the hell out of me. There are rumors surrounding his departure. I am still laughing at those. He won’t go anywhere if we don’t want him to. 7.0

Stankovic: We will see more of him since Sneijder is out. I hope he got all the rest he needed… He was average on Saturday though. 6.5

Materazzi: Marco was put in just to get some game time in. I don’t think that Mourinho thought that Marco was going to seal the victory. I am extremely nervous that Mourinho is trying to get Marco up to game shape to use in a Champions League game. Not a good thought. 6.5

Analysis

This looked very much like a tired team that played midweek and wasn’t interested in going up against Catania. The first half was wonderful. It wasn’t a sharp exhibition, but it was dominating. The second half was another story. It was sloppy and really just a bore. It’s not a big deal. You can’t expect a team that played a tough, good team and left the field thinking that they deserved more and were eager to prove themselves to get psyched for Catania. I can’t even get myself up to write about it…

However, with Sneijder, et al. injured and a high flying, surprising Palermo coming to town, I think that we are in a boat on a certain creek without propulsion. Palermo looks, as always, unpredictable. The difference is that the highs this season are very high. I don’t know which Palermo is coming to town, but I am worried about which Inter is gong to show up. We might need to play the shell game and go for points in this one.

FORZA INTER

See, Zanetti gave him a special shirt and everything.

Last year, this tie saw the return of Inter legend Walter Zenga to the San Siro. He got a warm welcome home from the fans (always nice to see), and his Catania gave us a real run for our money. This game also saw histrionics from Tedesco (and the subsequent red for Muntari), a very rare goal from Quaresma, and a phantom Balotelli goal. Highlights:

THEM

Catania do not have a very good record at the San Siro. Granted, the sample is quite small (only 14 games in all competitions), but Catania has not won a single game in Milan, and only drawn one. In fact, according to the fun facts Inter’s web page assemble before each match, Cataina have only won one match in their last 37 away games (10 draws, 27 losses). Yikes.

With three goals, Takayuki Morimoto is Catania’s top goal scorer.

Catania has made sort of a mediocre start to the season: last week’s win over Cagliari was their first of the season. They had managed to draw the previous four, though, so maybe they were just warming up.

Anyhoo, Catania’s new coach Gianluca Atzori has brought 23 players (practically the whole team) to Milan:

Portieri: Andujar, Campagnolo.
Difensori: Alvarez, Augustyn, Bellusci, Capuano, Marchese, Potenza, Silvestre, Spolli, Terlizzi.
Centrocampisti: Biagianti, Carboni, Delvecchio, Izco, Ledesma, Llama*, Moretti, Pesce, Ricchiuti.
Attaccanti: Martinez, Mascara, Morimoto, Plasmati.

*I can’t help it, every time I see his name that is all I can think of. I know, I am a huge geek.

La Gazzetta thinks Atzori will play a 4-3-2-1:

Andujar
Potenza Spolli Silvestre Capuano
Izco Carboni Delvecchio
Mascara Martinez
Morimoto

And who would I be to disagree?

Atzori says they are not afraid of Inter (they always say that), but they know it will be a tough match. There are three points up for grabs and apparently Catania want some, if not all, of them.

Our wacky outfield Brazilians. JC will be so upset he missed the portrait.

US

Mourinho has called 18 of our guys:

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Chivu, Santon.
Midfielders: Stankovic, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Mancini.
Strikers: Eto’o, Balotelli, Arnautovic

Although Mou told us that Milito and Motta (Motta especially) would be back for Catania, it seems it is not to be. The doctors say they are still unavailable and now we can add Cambiasso to the injury list as well. I am trying not to think about this too much or about what it means for the lineup tomorrow. Vieira gives me heartburn. Eto’o is still in some pain but, as Mou said, if he could handle the Kiev game, he can handle Catania. You will notice that Samuel has also not been called up. Not to worry, he is just being rested. Cordoba will play with Lucio this time, and, in turn, Lucio will be rested for either the Palermo or Livorno games. It is interesting to see Arnautovic on the bench – I doubt he will get any play time though. Quaresma is still on the outs, I bet he will finally leave this winter (and I so wanted him to be good).

Tomorrow’s match will be a bit of a milestone for both Maicon and Zanetti. If they play (and why wouldn’t they), Maicon will make his Serie A century while for Zanetti, it will be his 476th league appearance for Inter. That will put him in joint second place (along with Giacinto Facchetti) on the all-time list of Serie A appearances for Inter.

As for line-up, Mou is not quite sure what he will play. When asked if he will continue with his Christmas tree or move back to the diamond midfield, Mou said:

I would love to know how to play against Catania but I dont know, Catania will not know how I play. I dont know why I will not tell the press or even someone who would tell you, because this happens often. The team will know who will play an hour and a half before the game.

Oh Mario, why do you always make everything so hard for yourself?

So there you go, no help there. Mou even tried to muddy the waters a bit more when the journalist asked if, in light of his good performance against Genoa and the fact that he didn’t play midweek, Balotelli was a little closer to Milito and Eto’o in the hierarchy. As near as I can tell, it was a bit of a round about way of asking if will Mario play. Mou said:

Right now we dont have Milito, therefore it isn’t possible to do certain things because I dont have a choice: if I want to play with two players in attack, I line up Balotelli and Eto’o. If I want to play with three, I choose Balotelli, Eto’o, and Mancini. This this situation, Balotelli will always be on the field if we play with two or three forwards. This does not mean that he is already a phenomenon just because he played a fabulous game. Truth be told, he played a fabulous game and after performed a poor week of work.

I value a player for what he does on the field, but also for the work they do throughout the week, every minute that we are here to train. I always say what I think and what the player is worth I say, Mario has played an outstanding game in Genoa, absolutely exceptional, but this week he worked very poorly.

But apparently that doesn’t mean Mario wont play. Ever the pragmatist, when faced with the very question, Mou replied: “I have no other options, I will play the strongest.”

Not exactly a glowing recommendation. Right now, I have no idea who Mou will play. La Gazzetta thinks we are going back to the diamond with Eto’o and Balotelli, but given Samu’s foot problem, Mou may also decide to only play him for part of the game. I will say, Mourinho seems pretty fed up at having Milito and Motta still out. I am too. We really could have used them against Kiev… but we are letting that go… deep breaths… calm thoughts… moving on.

Back to Balotelli:

According to Mou, Mario’s problem is generational: kids today don’t want to work hard and wait their turn, they want everything now. He also hinted that Mario’s pushy brothers weren’t helping the matter much either as they think too much about money, saying:

“A boy of 19 or 20 years, who has balanced parents that dont think about money, who has siblings that follow his life without disturbing anyone, who has an agent who brings tranquility and proper care; a boy who has the desire o work and to drive a little care and does not think about a Ferrari or a Bentley or the cars that 30-year old players who earn 5 million a year drive, this is the exception and a miracle. … I realized that this is probably a generational problem and it is very difficult, at this time, to find a 19 or 20-year old player who already thinks like a man. It means finding the exception.”

So, there you go, those young whippersnappers are just too darn big for your britches. I am sure all the Liverpool rumors aren’t helping matters either.

As for the race ahead, Mourinho said much of what he usually does (”We will face a team of tough players, tactically strong and very well prepared“), pointing out that although they have had all week to train instead of playing midweek like we did: “…we are leaders and usually, in home games, we have a result that we like and it is with this objective that we will face this game.”

Lets hope he is right, because I really dont see Siena putting much of a dent in Juve (sorry Siena). Bologna’s new coach bounce may be enough to actually hold Samp, but I think any more than two dropped points is unlikely. If we want to hold our place at the top, we have to come out swinging tomorrow. We should be able to score – especially given that we have 10 players up on the board – but I am a little worried about our defense. I know we (along with Fiorentina) have the best defense in the league, but it still feels like we are conceding too many goals – especially at home (3 of the 5 goals we have conceded have been at home), and especially given the level of experience and talent at our disposal.

So, what do you all say, a comfortable win and a clean sheet?

FORZA INTER

and because I still shake my head in wonder every time I see it:

What: Inter v Dynamo Kiev (Group F – Matchday 3; Uefa Champions League)
When: Tuesday, October 20, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific; 2:45pm eastern)
Where: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro, Milan
How to Watch: Fox is showing it live (what a shock!), you can find a stream (MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net), or for $9.99 you can watch it live through UEFA (it is only $1.99 to watch it after the fact).

Bobo got the winner last time – who will it be tomorrow?

This is actually the third meeting between these two teams in Champions League. Inter met Dynamo in the group stages of the CL during the 2003/4 season. We drew the away game while a late goal from Bobo Vieri allowed us to take all three points at home. For those interested in trivia, UEFA has kindly assembled a whole list of interesting Inter v Dynamo fun facts (for instance: did you know that Dynamo’s coach Gazzaev was the coach of CSKA when Inter beat them both at home and away in the 2007/08 group stage? I didn’t!). Anyway, there are too many for me to go into here so follow the link if you are interested.

Shevchenko scored 14 times in all competitions for Milan against Inter. I hate him.

THEM

First, let me say it is really difficult to find info on the Ukrainian League. ESPN doesn’t have any coverage so I have really had to dig for what little tidbits I could find. In other words, dont expect much here.

Valeri Gazzaev has brought 19 players I have never heard of and Sheva to Milan:

Goalkeepers: Bogush, Rybka;
Defenders: Betão, Yussuf, Almeida, Khacheridi, Magrão;
Midfielders: Vukojević, Aliyev, Eremenko, Mykhalyk, Husyev, Ninković, Kravchenko, Harmash;
Forwards: Shevchenko, Milevskyy, Kravets, Yarmolenko, Zozulya;

They left two starters home with injury: goalkeeper Shovkovskiy and defender Ghioane.

FC Dynamo Kyiv are currently at the top of the Ukrainian table with 28 points after 10 games. They are unbeaten, having won all but one of their games. In fact, a quick look at the results table on their web page shows the only loss they have suffered this season in all competitions is the game they played against Barcelona. It is also the only game they failed to score in. As for goals, Dynamo have scored 28 goals and only conceded 6 (in 10 games) so they definitely know how to hit the back of the net (interestingly, the Kiev fans have predicted the game will end 1-2 in their favor).

[insert theme from Rocky here]

US

Mourinho has called up 22 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Quaresma, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Eto’o, Suazo, Milito.

Saturday Mourinho said that both Milito and Motta would be unavailable for this game. Today Mou said that there is a “small chance” that Milito will be available – Motta is still a no (although he will be back for Catania). As for Eto’o, he is on the list and he trained with the team – I think he is more likely to start over Milito. Plus, there is always Suazo.

He looks ok to me.

Both Samuel and Cambiasso came off during the Genoa game as a precaution. Both are on the list (and in the training photos) which makes me super happy. Marco is also on the list, and although I highly doubt he will see the pitch, the thought of him against Sheva makes me all kinds of nostalgic for those derbies days of old. Well not the losing, but… well, I am sure you all know what I mean.

For the record, MAD has predicted we will play the same line-up as on Saturday with Eto’o playing in place of Balotelli (it is official now!). For those of you who did not see the game, that means the lineup will be:

Julio Cesar
Maicon Lucio Samuel (Cordoba) Chivu
Zanetti Cambiasso (Vieira) Muntari
Stankovic Sneijder
Eto’o (Suazo?)

Mou gave very little away at the press conference today. When asked if Inter’s approach would change at all from the last CL game, he said no: [my translation]

“I will leave things to go naturally, the victory will come. I think it will come tomorrow, if it doesn’t come tomorrow, it will come in Kiev, if it doesn’t come with Kiev, it will come in Barcelona, if not in Barcelona, it will arrive at the house of Kazan, if it still doesn’t arrive with Kazan, we will go to the Europa League and win there, if we don’t go to the Europa League, we will all come home. [smiling] But joking aside, we will go forward with ease: the team has a great mentality, they are aware that tomorrow’s game will not be decisive, but it is important to me. With peace we can do anything, anything is possible, with the understanding that in football, it takes two minutes to go from paradise to hell and from hell to heaven. Like I tell my players, don’t read the papers too much when they write negative things about Inter, similarly, I advise them not to read the papers when they describe Inter as the best team in the world.”

As for if Inter’s 0-5 thumping of Genoa will inform on the coming game, he also said no: [my translation]

“It’s the same thing I said to the players Saturday night before going out and that is that the best way to prepare for the Champions was not resting, playing at 50 percent or to leave the important players on the bench, but to exit the stadium in Genoa with joy. The joy comes when you win and play well, obviously after that race the team was very happy and confident, every player did his job very well and I think that in these hours before the game against Dynamo the team is happy and, I repeat, in my opinion the best way to prepare for an important match is to be happy.”

Still, he thinks that Inter can give Dynamo problems and vice-versa, saying: “The match tomorrow will be difficult for us but not easy for Dynamo.”

“I came on the pitch against Udinese with a strange face? That is my face.”

Muntari (strange face and all) was much more decisive saying:

“We’re in good condition. We will play a good game and we will win,” he told journalists in the pre-match press conference. It’s true that Inter have had more difficulties in Europe than in league games, but we want to win at all costs tomorrow. These are three important points for us. We have the potential to do well. We haven’t won in Europe in seven games but we will start winning from tomorrow.”

So, where does that leave us? Well, I think in a much better position that against Kazan. We have recovered Sneijder and will be playing at home (always easier). Plus, I can’t believe the Ukrainian League is that much more difficult than the Russian one, so I suspect that Dynamo is about at the same level talent-wise as Kazan. Both are at the top of their respective leagues with a bit of a cushion. I think with Sneijder and without Balotelli sending off, we could have beaten Kazan and therefore I am cautiously optimistic about tomorrow. I know we are in a bit of a crunch up front, but I swear I read somewhere that Eto’o said he is feeling much better and will be ready to play (I just can’t remember where). Of course, that could be my subconscious planting false memories to stop me from worrying, but right about now, I will take any little hint of good news and run with it.

And since it had such a great result last time: Everyone think positive thoughts.

FORZA INTER

No nekid Samu this time, but how about fun with Matrix and Deki?

Anyhoo, in a game like this more than one person stands out. I have three Inter Players of the Game:

Highlights after the break:

Stats Home Team Presented First:

Shots (on Goal): 5(2) 13(6)
Fouls: 16 17
Time of Possession: 53% 47%
Yellow Cards: 2 3

Bonus Stat: Inter playing away: 11 goals for 2 against.

There isn’t much that surprises in the game stats. I worry that the cautions are amassing. The Bonus Stat is a little weird. 9 of those away goals were scored against 2 opponents. The ultimate reason I will get to later, but the practical reason is that teams are opening up against us.

I am not breaking my own rule on hubris by saying that we have a good team; I am just stating a fact. One would think that coaches as savvy as those in Serie A would organize their squads appropriately. That is, be cautious; hit on the counter – like Bari. But, Milan and Genoa have decided to play us as though we were a bottom half of the table club. As I said earlier, I may not believe that there is a Karmic Vortex that punishes hubris, but it sure feels like it sometimes…

Pagelle:

Cesar: He didn’t do much. He didn’t have to. What he did, kept a clean sheet. It’ll do. 6.5

Maicon: I don’t know if it was Maicon or Mourinho that kept him back to protect against the Genoa trident, but he pulled off an effective smart, tactical game, if not offensively spectacular one. That being said, he scored. This is the reason he’s better than Alves. 7.5

Lucio: He defended, he pressured, he intercepted and he attacked. Lucio was the steal of the Mercato and he’s the reason I have no sympathy for cash strapped Italian clubs who have trouble defending. Plus, it took him no time to become accustomed to Serie A. 7.5

Samuel: When he looked like he was injured, we all almost panicked. Why? Because he’s a damn good defender and he’s consistent, just like he was on Saturday. 7.0

Chivu: Chivu played well, if not spectacularly so. He was solid. 6.5

Zanetti: It was his toe poke tackle between the legs of a Genoa player that sparked a glorious pass from Sneijder to Mario for the goal. Plus, I don’t think that I have ever seen him so vocal. Zanetti made sure that he made his points to the ref and other Genoa players. 7.0

Cambiasso: Cambiasso is a great player to have in conjunction with an AM like Sneijder. He can collect the ball and pass it up to the forwards or 3/4ista relieving them of any defensive duties as he runs for 2. I was worried when he came out that 3 might not be enough to win. Plus, he was the catalyst for the first goal. 7.5

Muntari: See, this is how Muntari is effective. He collects, he hounds, he pressures, he energizes and then he makes an easy pass to someone else to start the offensive work and taking the odd long range shot. 6.5

Sneijder: What a great fit for the team, even if he didn’t see it at first. Mourinho did, and it’s paying off in spades – even if it’s early in the season yet. I don’t think he took one shot at goal, but all the work he did for others was excellent. 8.5

Stankovic: Wonderful game. He attacked and he defended. He made that signature, diagonal, slashing runs that he was famous for half a decade ago. He really ran his heart out. 8.0

Balotelli: He was a decoy out wide, he came back to the defense to defend, and he took a beating from the Genoa defense that was clearly frightened of him. He was the lone striker and managed to score a beauty of a goal – the same shot that Stankovic missed earlier and the shot that Ibra would always miss in seasons past which frustrated the hell out of me. 8.0

Vieira: Came on at half time and was adequate. Even he couldn’t mess up a perfect pass from Sneijder. 6.5

Mancini: Came on for Sneijder. Was adequate but lost the ball just outside the area because he was trying to juke 3 guys. If this game taught us anything it’s that we don’t need to do that anymore. Pass the stupid thing. 6.0

Cordoba: This is no reflection on Cordoba, but I was cursing when he came on. We need Walter Samuel. Thankfully we have the depth that allows us to utilize Cordoba. N/A

Mourinho: Who saw the 451 formation? That would be me. I called it on Friday, only I thought that it would be Quaresma instead of Deki due to international fatigue. I also said that I would be happy with a draw. I am happy I was wrong on those two accounts. But that shouldn’t dim the brilliant job that Mourinho did on Saturday. He motivated and prepared an injury depleted squad to go out and dominate a very good team.

Analysis

The short and sweet analysis is that Genoa – the professionals who should have known better – believed the hype that the media was spewing.

Inter was in crisis again, this time it’s an injury crisis. Mario was going to have to be used and he has already been painted as a poor player, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Mourinho, if we remember our press clippings, is a rubbish manager anyway – all the out of work managers/Juventini say so at least – so he wasn’t going to be able to create anything, right? Ibra is gone, and the Italian Media had been telling people that he was the whole team for three years. People, forgetting that this was the Italian Media talking, believed them.

And besides, Genoa was the better team anyway. Their own president said it, so it must have been true. Check out the players, coaches and fans during the game. They believed that they were going to put a pasting on us, just like Milan did. The press certainly thought so, judging from the near obits they were writing this past week.

The resulting media whiplash from this game will make some of us believe that we have a better team than we do. I suggest that you have a good time with the positive stuff that the media will give us – it won’t last. We will lose a game, or win one by a single goal and they will be trying to tear us a new one soon enough.

Just try to remember that we have a good team, despite the punditry.

FORZA INTER

On Saturday, Inter take the 1½ hour train ride (on the Intercity) from Milan to Genoa. This is no easy trip as Genoa have a long history of beating the crap out of us, especially at the Stadio Ferraris. Last year, Genoa were good, this year, they may be better. Due to our player exchange over the summer, there are players on both sides raring to show their old club just how good their new team really is. Both teams have their share of injuries but neither will let that stop them. This one is going to be scrappy.

What: Genoa v Inter, Matchday 8
Where: Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
When: Saturday, October 17, 8:45pm local time (11:45am pacific, 2:45pm eastern)
How to Watch: Fox Soccer Channel is showing this later Saturday night (8:30pm pacific, 11:30pm eastern). If you want to watch it live, it will be on ESPN360 or find a stream: MyP2P, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net.

As I said, Genoa has a pretty good record against Inter at the Stadio Ferraris. In fact, Inter pretty regularly lose this tie: of the 57 games played, Inter has only won 13 and drawn 21. The quick among you have already done the math – Genoa have beaten Inter a staggering 23 times. Yep. 23. Plus, they have a history of really slaughtering Inter. I am talking like 6-0, 6-1 (twice), and a smattering of 5 and 4 goal wins. Of course, most of that was in Genoa’s glorious past, but even in the 90s they beat us 3-0. Formidable sums it up pretty nicely.

Last season, Inter managed to beat Genoa and even keep a clean sheet (thank you Zlatan and Mario).

THEM

Pat Cook has stepped up and taken over the Genoa blog. Hopefully he will do a preview because I dont really want to spend a lot of time here.

According to La Gazzetta, Mesto is disqualified while Jankovic, Juric, Kharja, Crishito, Biava, and Papastathopulos are all injured, although Juric may recover in time for the game. They sit at fifth, just three points behind Inter. They have shown they have the talent to take on the big four by soundly thrashing Roma and holding Juve to a 2-all draw. Away from home it is different story, but, as we are playing this game in Genoa, that hardly matters. Basically, they are a good team with an excellent coach who have built a bit of a fortress at the Ferraris – they have yet to lose at home and I dont think they plan on starting Saturday.

Oh, and no matter what he says, Crespo is totally going to want to stick it to Mourinho.

Crespo may have finally found his groove in Genoa.

Genoa have a great scoring record and are on par with both Inter and Roma with 14 goals (Genoa, Inter, and Roma are the league scoring leaders). Unfortunately for Genoa, they have also allowed 11 goals (Roma and Napoli have the most goals allowed at 13 a piece). A quick check of ESPN’s handy chart showing goals scored and conceded by time shows that Genoa have a real problem in the first and last 15 minutes of a game. That half-an-hour accounts for 8 of the goals they have conceded. As for scoring, it appears that Genoa take about half an hour to get into the game, but then they score pretty prolifically throughout the game. So there you go – if we want to beat them we need to hit hard in the first thirty minutes, hunker down for the next 45 or so, then take advantage of their flagging concentration and score to score one or two more. Yep. That’s the ticket. It may not be pretty, but it may help us retain our spot on the table.

Mourinho has called up 21 players:

Portieri: Toldo, Julio Cesar, Orlandoni;
Difensori: Cordoba, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu, Santon;
Centrocampisti: Stankovic, Quaresma, Sneijder, Muntari, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Mancini;
Attaccanti: Suazo, Balotelli, Arnautovic.

When I see that, all I can say is YIKES. As expected, Milito, Motta, and Eto’o are all staying home with the hope that they will be ready for the Champions League game on Tuesday. It looks like it is time for Balotelli to live up to a little bit of that promise we always talk about. And Suazo, well… I am trying to remain optimistic. Both had adequate showings with their respective national teams. I mean, they didn’t shine but they weren’t horrible: Suazo got a couple of great crosses in against Trinidad & Tobago (one lead to the winning goal) while Balotelli, well he wasn’t sent off.

Mou was coy about line-ups in his press conference today, not discussing tactics at all. When asked point blank whether Balotelli and Suazo would start up front, he said:

“Both could start or neither. We played a great game against Juve in Pescara in the Trofeo Tim: we did well without attackers in that role, in the field there was Quaresma and Mancini….”

As for Arnautovic, he really must have been bad in last week’s friendly because a reporter asked Mou if Arna was actually struggling more now than he was a month ago. Mou refused to comment – which seems a little ominous to me. He may be another gamble that will just not pay off.

As for the game, Mou thought this game would not dominated by Inter, but a dialog between the two teams, saying:

I do not think that Genoa is a team that will allow his opponent to play 90 minutes in his midfield: it is too strong a team to allow their adversary to conduct the game how they want and with the pace they want. I believe it will be a question-answer and answer-question type of game, we play, you defend and vice versa: lake all the games against Genoa there will be a sort of dialogue, not a monologue. Int this sense Inter will be ale to defend ver well because Genoa is a team that, if you project in attack, can create difficulties due to thier speed and when we are ourselves and have the ball we will try to make goals. We are a team that almost always scores, throughout this season we have only failed to score against Sampdoria.

So dont look for long periods of possession from Inter. Instead, we will defend well and hope to capitalize on breaks. We will play gritty an ugly, gritty game, the pundits will complain, but that will be the only way we can win this.

Allora Raggazzi, I have to jet – we are going away for the weekend and the SO is engaging in some mental foot-tapping right about now. Everyone think positive thoughts – we are going to need all the good vibes we can get to pull this off.

FORZA INTER

I will leave you with a little Eto’o butt – that is bound to lift our spirits. Granted, it is Barcelona Eto’o butt, but I bet Inter Eto’o butt is very similar:

Just because we are on an International break doesn’t mean that I can totally slack off. True, there is not a whole lot to talk about, but those of you who have been around here for a while know I rarely let that stop me. Oh, and the picture has nothing to do with anything, I just liked the composition.

First off: International Call-ups

Thanks to the insanity of Maradona and some untimely injuries, we only have 10 players out of town these next two weeks (all times are local):

Italy U21: Mario Balotelli
— Italy v Bosnia Herzegovina (Mantua, Tuesday 13 October at 21:00)

Italy: Davide Santon
— Ireland v Italy (Dublin, Saturday 10 October at 20:00)
— Italy v Cyprus (Parma, Wednesday 14 October at 20:50)

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Maicon
— Bolivia v Brazil (La Paz, Sunday 11 October at 16:00)
— Brazil v Venezuela (Campo Grande, Wednesday 14 October at 18:00)

Slovenia: Renè Krhin
— Slovakia v Slovenia (Bratislava, Saturday 10 October at 20:30)
— San Marino v Slovenia (Serravalle, Wednesday 14 October at 20:30)

Romania: Cristian Chivu
— Serbia v Romania (Belgrade, Saturday 10 October at 20:30)
— Romania v Far Oer (Piatra Neamt, Wednesday 14 October at 21:00)

Serbia: Dejan Stankovic
— Serbia v Romania (Belgrade, Saturday 10 October at 20:30)
— Lithuania v Serbia (Marijampole, Wednesday 14 October at 21:00)

Columbia: Ivan Ramiro Cordoba
— Colombia v Chile (Medellin, Saturday 10 October at 17:00)
— Paraguay v Colombia (Asuncion, Tuesday 13 October at 18:00)

Cameroon: Samuel Eto’o
— Cameroon v Togo (Yaonde, Saturday 10 October at 15:30)
— Cameroon v Angola, friendly (Olhao, Portugal, Wednesday 14 October at 20:30)

Honduras: David Suazo
— Honduras v USA (San Pedro Pula, Saturday 10 October at 20:00)
— El Salvador v Honduras (San Salvador, Wednesday 14 October at 18:05)

Holland: Wesley Sneijder
— Australia v Holland, friendly (Sydney, Saturday 10 October at 19:30)
(this one totally ticks me off. All the way to Australia! For a FRIENDLY! Crazy. He better not come back injured.)

Milito and Lucio were also called up but are too injured to go. Word on the Argentina blog is that Zanetti is in Buenos Aires anyway (and I think it may be true because he certainly isn’t in any training pictures) just to watch the game.

Personally, I think it is a bit of a tragedy that Pupi wasn’t even called up. The folks over that the Argentina blog have been saying that Maradona dropped him because he wasn’t “loyal enough” (whatever that means), but that seems so unlike Pupi. Even Cordoba thinks it is odd. He had a little interview with FIFA about his upcoming WQ Qualifiers where he was asked about Argentina’s struggle to qualify, Cordoba said:

..

“To be honest, I’m more surprised that Zanetti was left out of the squad than I am about Argentina’s overall situation. They can still qualify, but I’m sorry to see that such a great captain and genuine person like Javier won’t be involved. He wanted to be in the thick of it, he’s not someone who disappears when the going gets tough. He’s a friend and a role model to me.”

Man. I want Argentina to qualify because I think they are a great footballing nation, but I hope Maradona crashes and burns. No one treats my Pupi like that, no one (fist shaking).

What Next

Well, the days are getting shorter and here in Seattle I had to turn the heater on last night so it must be time for… MERCATO MADNESS

Yep, nothing screams International Break like stupid transfer rumors – especially given that the market doesn’t even open for another three months. So….

Now, I have nothing against Adriano, but if JC wants brains he may be going after the wrong person here.

Maicon’s agent is still harping on about all the huge clubs that want him. Last time it was Real Madrid, now it is Manchester United.

Susana Werner inadvertently brought down a media storm around when she made an off-hand remark in her personal blog that ManU had also been bombarding her husband, Julio Cesar, with offers. She has been quick to back peddle saying that she only brought it up because it means he is a good keeper and she is proud of him (fair enough). He has “denied everything” and Branca is working on a new contract for him. So, miniature made up crisis averted, whew.

Liverpool has apparently shown interest in Rene Krhin, but he has “no intention of leaving Inter” and will sign a new contract in the next few months. I have no problem with this – he is a promising young kid and I would like him to stick around.

Everyone that hasn’t gotten a whole lot of playing time yet is supposedly leaving in January (Vieira, Quaresma, Mancini, Suazo, Arnautovic). Ya, ’cause after ten games (counting supper cup) everyone can already see who will play the next 40 or so, right (estimating here, kids, dont rip on me for having the wrong number of total games)? Cripes. Funnily, the only actual player who has said they are thinking about leaving is the one of the bunch who is actually playing somewhat regularly (that would be Vieira).

Oh, and also now Muntari’s agent is supposedly in talks with Tottenham. I know he has had a couple not so stellar games, but I would hate to lose him after only one year. I quite like him.

And here is a little bone for MAD: according to a headline at La Gazzetta, Inter likes Gallopa:

MOVING ON

During these two “off weeks” Mourinho has a whole passel of youth players training with the first team. Everyone has been preparing for a friendly this Saturday against Piacenza (at the Stadio Leonardo Garilli in Piacenza on Saturday 10 October, 4pm local time). I have no idea if the game will be broadcast, but I will do my best to find out for you all.

Thiago Motta is working his little heart out (double sessions today), as is Milito (who wants be ready for the game against Kiev on the 20th), but despite their best intentions, probably neither will be back until November. Grrrreeeeaaaaat.

No word recently on Lucio but I dont think his injury was that serious.

Well, I guess that is enough to keep us all occupied for another couple days.

FORZA INTER

And I leave you all with the almost unbearable cuteness of Jose Mourinho at a “press conference” with children. It is in Italian, but here is a barely passable translation of some of it. Really, it is tons more lovely than they make it out to be.
Just watch: