A little background…

Early this summer, there was some speculation that Sneijder would be offered as part of a deal for Maicon, but according to Maicon’s sleazy agent, no offers arrived. Inter, still interested in the player, asked if he was available and was quoted a price of €25 million. Inter decided to look elsewhere. Sneijder’s agent even said a move to Inter for Wesley would be impossible: “Coach Pellegrini considers him a key player for Real and he is not allowed to leave the club. He remains in Madrid.”

For his part, Sneijder has continually said that he would like to stay in Madrid and fight for his spot. He did concede at one point, though, that if he did decide to leave Madrid (which he never would), Inter would make a nice option. He said that he thought Mourinho was a good coach and was flattered that Mou considered him his first choice for a trequartista.

Well, it now looks like Sneijder doesn’t have a choice. According to sources, he is being forced out. FC Inter News has a particularly tawdry tale to tell (my translation):

Real Madrid has put Wesley Sneijder’s back to the wall: either accept the transfer to Inter or else run the risk of spending the season off the squad. The coach of “merengues” Manuel Pellegrini and the Director General of Casa Blanca Jorge Valdano met in Dortmund this morning, where Real will play this evening against Borussia, and spoke with the Dutch Fantastista. The coach has opted for the iron fist: Sneijder, like Van Der Vaart, is no longer in the plans of the ex coach of Villareal, and he has kept [Sneijder] off the list of those convened for this evening’s friendly against Borussia Dortmund. In addition, the club has already made it known to the player that upon return to Spain, he can no longer train with the team. Ouch.

The situation is truly a “separation in house” and is becoming increasingly asphyxiating for Sneijder, who does nothing to conceal his nervousness to the point that, reveals Sport Mediaset, in training today, according to some witnesses, was a couple of times close to brawling with some of his companions. The player, however, continues to show some reservations about the move to Inter because of some questions related to the recruitment. Reservations that perhaps will soon dissolve, considering also the fact that he has virtually been cut from Real it could at the end become for him decidedly counterproductive, especially in the year that brings the World Cup to South Africa. Inter, strong in agreement with Real, is waiting. In the end, it could be a matter of days, or even hours, before the desired “yes” arrives for the transfer of Sneijder to the Nerazzurri.

Ok, I admit it, I wanted him – or at least I want a talented attacking midfielder – but not like this. I dont want a mopey guy forced out of a team he loves who thinks of us as a nice idea. I want someone who actually wants to come to Inter.

For lack of a better phase, I want them to want me.

At least the price has come down, now they only want €15 million. Poor guy.

FORZA INTER

Inter 1 – 0 Bahrain

We might as well start with the good news: Inter beat the Bahrain National team 0-1 with a goal from (get this) MANCINI! Yep, after stating that he would not leave Inter this summer as he wants to show everyone what he can do, he finally did something! And with his huge forehead no less:

After the game he said: “I have worked intensely all summer to show that I can still be useful and that the real Mancini certainly isn’t the one of last season.”

As for the rest of the game, try as I might I cannot find any more highlights. If you are really interested, you can read the live commentary from the game. All I can really gather from it is that most of the attacks originated in the midfield and Quaresma saw a lot of the ball.

According to Mourinho, the game was good practice for home games, saying: “We experienced a situation that will occur frequently at the San Siro — playing against opponents who line up 11 men behind the ball.”

This was Cuchu’s last start for 4 to 6 weeks.

INJURY UPDATE

For those of you who dont know (how could you not know?!), Cambiasso was injured during our game with Juve for the Trofeo TIM. He was diagnosed with a a lesion of the external meniscus in his right knee. He has undergone arthroscopic surgery and the operation was a “complete success.”

It is thought he will be out about a month and a half, so wont return until somewhere towards the end of September. Looking at our schedule, that means he may well miss six games: Bari, Milan, Parma, Cagliari, Napoli, and Sampdoria. Milan and Napoli will be particularly tricky without Cuchu.

Cambiasso’s injury also means that Vieira will likely stay at the very least until Christmas and that Inter will have to step-up their efforts to land a new trequartista. Stankovic (who usually plays that role for us) is our best Cuchu substitute, but if he is needed farther forward, that leaves Vieira as the next option. Mou tried Patrick out in Cuchu’s spot for the Bahrain friendly and Baresi said after that match:

“Without Cambiasso in midfield we have deployed Vieira, who has done very well. Now we have one more week of work to decide who to use in that role during the first day of the championship. Also Quaresma, as an internal [midfielder], moved well.”

Speaking of options, another interesting development is that Krhin has gotten more play time. He was brought in both during Trofeo TIM and for the second half of the Bahrain game. Now, it could be that with Cuchu out, we are desperate for midfielders, or, it may be that he has managed to impress Mou. I haven’t seen the Bahrain game and only watched the Tropheo TIM on a tiny little feed while at work so I dont have much of an impression of Krhin. I suppose the real proof will be if he is allowed to play for Inter in a real game (ie Serie A or Coppa Italia).

TRANSFER ROUND-UP

Here we are, half-way through August and the only Inter player with a contract to leave the squad is Jimenez. (How soon we forget. Maxwell also left. I have flushed Ibra from the bathroom of my heart so he doesn’t count.) There were nibbles for Mancini (who turned them all down), Obinna actually had a place at Napoli before he screwed that up over image rights, Rivas will never leave, while Burdisso may end up at Roma yet. Vieira had at least one concrete offer (from Birmingham) which he turned down, and may have gotten a couple more before the month was out (Marseilles was maybe interested). As I said, he looks set to stay now. As for the others on the sell list, there is still interest in Obinna from Everton and now Genoa. Roma want Burdisso on loan but he wants a permanent move (at least if you believe Goal.com, that is).

As for our desperate attempt to fill the gaping hole in our midfield, we still have a big fat nothing. Sneijder is still supposedly our first choice (whether he likes it or not). Apparently, Inter are ready to offer Real Madrid 7 million euro now for Sneijder on loan with a 13 million buy-out at the end of the season. Real have countered with the idea of 9 million now and 9 million next season and we take him now – no loan. Inter’s idea of the no-loan option spreads the 18 million euro payout over 3 years: 9 now, 6 next year, and 3 the year after that. Now, the only problem is how to convince Sneijder to leave Madrid?

FORZA INTER

I will leave you all with this little hors d’oeuvres to whet your appetites:

Last year Milan took us out on penalties.

What: TIM Trophy, Inter – Milan – Juve
Where: Stadio Adriatico, Pescara
When: Friday, August 14, 8:30pm local time (11:30am pacific, 2:30pm eastern)
How to Watch: RAI may be broadcasting this in the states (anyone?) or you can find a stream: MyP2P, Justin.tv, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net

The Tropheo Tim has been contested between Milan, Juventus, and Inter since 2001. According to the know-it-alls over at Wikipedia, Inter has won 5 times while Milan have hoisted the trophy the other 3 times. Poor Juventus, they have no Tim Trophies at all. Given Milan’s shocking preseason and our patchwork lineup, this may be their year.

SQUAD

Mourinho has called up 22 players:

Goalkeepers: Toldo, Julio Cesar*, Orlandoni.
Defenders: Materazzi, Rivas, Samuel, Chivu*, Santon*, Caldirola.
Midfielders: Stankovic*, Quaresma, Motta, Vieira, Krhin, Cambiasso, Obi, Mancini, Crisetig.
Strikers: Milito*, Balotelli*, Alibec, Destro (Milito was called up for Argentina but didn’t play.
Whoops. Thanks everyone for the correction.)
(* = played for national team this week; italics = youth player)

As you can see, a quarter of the squad is a youth player. In addition to Obi, Krhin, and Destro, Mourinho is bringing three new guys: Luca Caldirola (Italian youth international), Lorenzo Crisetig (Italian youth international), and Denis Alibec (Romanian youth international). If you are interested in learning more about these new young prospects, Inter has posted nice little profiles of them (here).

Why all the youngsters? Well, Mou is not writing off the tournament, but with the trip to China and then international duty for many of our starting squad, there was no other choice. Mourinho said:

“It will be a chance to try a few young players and see them up against important opponents, and it will be a good opportunity for those who have played less or those who didn’t play against Lazio in the Super Cup game, like Materazzi, Samuel, Vieira, Mancini or Quaresma. For them, and for my work also, it will certainly be a good opportunity. After, I expect to have everyone for Sunday’s game (against the Bahrain national team) in Austria, the last friendly test before the start of the championship.”

“… with the rossoneri and the nerazzurri, there are never any friendlies, no one wants to look bad.” – Ciro Ferrara

THE GAME

This tournament is triangular with three 45 minute periods: this year Inter will play Juve first, then the loser of the first game will play Milan, then the winner of the second game will play the winner of the first game. If the score is tied at the end of 45 minutes, the game goes to penalties. Confusing, isn’t it – and we haven’t even gotten to the scoring. If you win you get 3 points, unless you won on penalties, and then you only get 2. Plus, if you lose the game on penalties, there is a 1-point booby prize awarded.

Basically, I expect both Juve and even Milan to beat us this game. Wait, before you all start throwing things at me, hear me out: We are at half strength while Milan would really like to win at least one pre-season friendly and Juve wants to show they can challenge for the scudetto this year. They all have an axe to grind while Mourinho seems pretty happy with the progress the squad is making and would just like to make it to the season opener with a full team at his disposal. Of course everyone always wants to win every time they take the field, but I dont think anyone is going to cry if Milan or Juve walk away with the trophy this year. Meh, maybe we will come in second this year instead of dead last. That would be nice.

Dont forget, there is still the game against the Bahrain national team on Sunday.

FORZA INTER

Honestly, does this person really look old enough to be playing professional football?!? Rene looks to be about 12 in this photo. Yikes

At this point, I think that the team that we have right now is more or less (pleeeeeeeease let it be less) the team that we are going to start the season with.

Allowing for the fact that there will most likely be a proper season preview of our Fab 30 (!?) up some time closer to the season opener, instead of looking at players now, I would like to – although it’s wildly speculative and may be subject to radical change – take a look at the team’s strategy and tactics.

This isn’t intended to be a lecture, it’s just a fun exercise about how I see the club being run on the manager level and the hope is that people will jump in and give their 2 dinari. Mourinho is a good manager, I think, but there are lots of ways to run a team.

First of all I would like to say that this didn’t come out of thin air. I am familiar with an author – I am sure that many of you are too – named Jonathan Wilson. He wrote a book about his view on the evolution of formations in football called Inverting the Pyramid. It was a so-so read and Mr. Wilson sometimes writes articles for the Guardian Uk. The most recent one that I read, talked about – as usual for him and one of the reasons I don’t particularly rave about his book – English tactics. But it made me think about Inter and here we are.

Strategy

Before we can decide how we are gong to conduct war each week, we need an overarching doctrine. In my opinion, Mourinho, to my knowledge, has never come out and declared his manifesto on the perfect team. But judging from what I have seen last season and some anecdotal evidence I think that he has 4 basic tenets:

We will defend. Mourinho’s offense comes from the defense although it’s not necessarily the traditional counter attack that lovers of calcio are connoisseurs of. Mourinho’s defense starts in the midfield and it starts in the attacker’s side of midfield, if possible. See also, Inter’s goal against Monaco this preseason is a perfect example of what Mourinho’s idea of perfect defense does.

We will possess the ball. Mourinho’s will is to limit attacks on his team by not letting other teams have the ball very long, or often. To do this every band, or level, of the team from the attack, through the midfield and even the defense must be able to pass the ball and keep possession. This more than anything else was the reason for the quest of Carvalho and the acquisition of Lucio. Mourinho likes having someone to pass the ball from the defense up or from the field back – reliably.

We will control the center. Mourinho likes the 451 formation. Why? Consider this; the only 442 based formation he plays puts two players up the spine of the field – kind of like the 451. In Chess and in football the basics are the same: either control the middle, or do not allow the opponent to. The opponents are then forced to work the flanks where there is less risk for us and it’s less likely that our opponents will have dangerous players there. Consider, in all of our rivals in Serie A, the most dangerous players (Ronaldinho, Pato, del Piero, Amauri, Totti, Vucinic, Gilardino, Miccoli, Floccari, etc.) are located where on the field?

We will use the width of the field. Ever wonder why a player like Maicon always seems to be running all alone down the sideline? It’s a given that if we glut the middle of the field with players in an attempt to control it, then our opponents will be forced to do the same. It sets up an attack from the outside. Here’s a better question – with all the raw talent on this team, why is it that the fullbacks are our most dangerous outside threat? That’s always bugged me a little.

Tactics

Tactics aren’t necessarily synonymous with formations, in my opinion. Rather, it’s the combination of a formation’s responsibilities with the correct deployment of players. Mourinho likes to use a base 433 – which we should all know by now isn’t necessarily 4 across the back, 3 across the middle and 3 across the front. For Mourinho, it’s more like a 451 or 4321.

From last season, the three formations that Mourinho played are:

They were fine formations to use and they all had some common attributes. We defended well; we controlled the center of the field in most games and we used at least 4 midfielders, 3 of which were defensive, which means that we kept the majority of the possession in most of our games.

But we couldn’t use the width of the field very well in the 451. Last season, we had 4 players with experience as outside midfielders/wingers – Stankovic, who spent his whole career before becoming “Mourinho’s Summer 08 Project” as an outside attacking right midfielder; Figo, who has always been a winger; Mancini, who was a winger with Roma and Quaresma, who has played as a winger his whole career. We also have the very versatile Mario who is always asked to play some forward position besides striker. Despite all these attacking players, with all their experience as wingers, our best option for the outside attack was still our fullbacks – Maicon and Santon /Chivu/Maxwell. We did a little better later in the season by moving the wingers back a bit and closer to the middle but allowing the fullbacks, who were still our best option going forward from the outside, the room to maraud up the sideline to their hearts’ content.

This season Mourinho has decided that we are going in with a 442 rhombus from the start.

There will have to be a shakeup in the roster for this to work.

We don’t have Figo to play the winger/playmaker anymore. And we will need to displace a midfielder in order to accommodate another striker – which one? Also, what do we do about Santon? Is he our best option at left fullback? Is Zanetti still? Which combination of midfielder goes best with the 442? Does anyone actually think that we have seen the last of the 451 or the 4321?

Is this our best 11 in the 442?

Cesar
Maicon, Samuel, Lucio, Santon
Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari
Stankovic
Milito, Eto’o

Or is this our best 11:

Cesar
Maicon, Lucio, Chivu, Zanetti
Stankovic, Cambiasso, Muntari
Balotelli
Milito, Eto’o

I am going to get killed for this one, but the notion has to be faced sometime.

Cesar
Maicon, Chivu, Samuel, Santon
Stankovic, Cambiasso, Muntari
Motta
Milito, Eto’o

Just for laughs, my 4321 with the current roster

Cesar
Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Santon
Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari
Stankovic, Balotelli
Eto’o

And I will leave you with some vintage Zanetti:

——————————————–

INTERNATIONAL CALL-UPS

We are moving into an international break and Inter have twelve players going out to play for their countries:

Davide Santon to Basel for Switzerland v Italy

Mario Balotelli to St. Petersburg for Russia v Italy (U21)

Ivan Cordoba to New York for Columbia v Venezuela

Cristian Chivu to Budapest for Hungary v Romania

Sulley Muntari to London for Ghana v Zambia

Nicolas Burdisso, Diego Milito and Javier Zanetti to Moscow for Russia v Argentina (poor Samuel, he never gets calle up)

Samuel Eto’o to Klagenfurt for Austria v Cameroon;

Julio Cesar, Maicon, and Lucio to Tallinn for Estonia v Brazil.

Most of them left directly from China to join their teams. In addition, Mourinho has given a few days off to Patrick Vieira, Francesco Toldo, David Suazo, Dejan Stankovic and Rene Krhin.

YET MORE FRIENDLIES

Yep, just when you thought we were finally finished with summer friendlies, two more pop up.

First, there is the Trofeo Tim on August 14 in Pescara. For those of you who dont know, the Trofeo Tim is a wacky three-way game between Milan, Juve, and Inter comprised of three 45-minute periods that Juve have never won (this could be their year, though). Considering the grueling travel schedule most of our starters have, this could be one that gets away from us.

Then, Inter play the Bahrain National team on August 16 in Kapfenberg, Austria. After that, all we have to do is buckle down and prepare to beat Bari on opening day.

Oh, and find a &*$&%#* TREQUARTISTA! Van der Vaart seems to be the favorite now.

FORZA INTER

I think that so far this transfer market has been very good for us because we are being extremely smart with our money and purchases. We have cleared out players for whom we don’t have any plans and we have bought players to fill specific gaps. We have also been very careful about how much we spend and how much we have coming in.

Outgoing

The first thing we did was clear out Adriano. I don’t write this because I don’t like Adriano as a striker, quite the opposite, in fact. I thought in those early days when he was teasing us with his obviously huge amount of skill that he was going to go down as one of the greats. He can pass. He can shoot. He can poach or he can dribble. What also became increasingly clear is that he can’t work hard and he can’t control himself.

So he needed to go. And this one wasn’t easy for me, but after this season’s antics and obvious drop in form/concentration, I have no rational problem with it – even if it means that a player that I had invested so much hope in disappointed me. Really, it’s almost a relief to have it done with.

We didn’t resign Cruz, about whom I and Johonna had already made our feelings known. To reiterate, I liked him a lot – and it’s rare that I say this – but not just as a player. I think that, like our president and most of the people he surrounds himself with, he’s a genuinely nice person.

We didn’t resign Crespo, another player that I held in high regard, if not on as personal a basis as Cruz. I have a lot of respect for Crespo. He was a world class player, he may still have a little left in the tank and I think that he will play well at Genoa for at least a year. But, it was finally time for him and us to part ways.

We transferred Maxwell out to Barcelona, which was just as well. Maxwell had become an issue both defensively and with Mourinho. Besides, we have 5 players who can play fullback – four of which are National teamers – currently on the roster already. I thought that Maxwell could be valuable as a midfielder as well, but it seems clear that Maxwell wanted to get paid more than he was worth. The squeaky wheel got replaced and in this case, rightly so.

The last player, as of this writing to be transferred out was Ibrahimovic. Out of respect for our mourning colleagues, I have, on purpose, written very little (at least compared to how I actually felt) about my personal feelings regarding Zlatan and how this transfer happened. I can put up with Zlatan’s on field antics during the season, he’s not as dirty as Zebina or as spoiled as Mexes/De Rossi. But his close season antics bug me no end. It did bother me, for example, that Zlatan/his scumbag agent was again making noises about leaving after his raise from an already incredible wage last summer.

And Zlatan was a hard player for me to form an attachment to. My father never let me forget that he was supposed to be a Milan player – that he changed his mind after Milan’s uncertain Champions League future. Plus, he never seemed to appreciate his teammates. Mario may not be the nicest guy around either, but the 18 year old playing for a big team like Inter doesn’t deserve to get a public tongue lashing just because he didn’t put the ball right at Mr. OffTargetAlltheTimeHimself’s feet. It’s in my mind that he wasn’t the greatest role model of a professional that Mario could have, either.

None of this is to say that I don’t think that Ibra is a great player. He is, hands down, one of the greatest of this generation. He is phenomenal, no ifs, ands, or buts. I just never become as attached to him as I have to other players on the team. And it doesn’t really surprise me that he’s gone so willingly, eager even, either.

Figo was on the team a relatively short time, but the outpouring of affection for him during the presentation of the Scudetto says louder than I can how much the team appreciated him. He was reliable when called on and performed as any professional would have. Plus, he pulled our fat from the fire quite a few times over the years.

It’s hard to say if Jimenez has great promise at this time of his career. It could be that the quite a bit less cerebral English game will suit him better.

Acquafresca, Bolzoni, Bonucci, Meggiorini, Fatic, Biabiany are all players that, on paper, left Inter this summer. Some might question the trade-off of Acquafresca and Milito, but I don’t, really. Milito has already proven to be professional and hardworking. Anyway, youth players have other uses other than playing, and that is to use as trade makeweight.

So, I don’t have any real problems with those players we have transferred out. I acknowledge here, as I have elsewhere that I think that Ibra will be hard to replace as a player, but he will be easy to replace as a symbol of the team, as he really wasn’t one for me, anyway.

Incoming

I have already remarked in other places what I think of Milito, Motta and Lucio. To sum up they are talented, hard working and they have the potential to be a good fit.

Kerlon and Coutinho are subjects for another day, perhaps, as they are part of the team, but aren’t really. Kerlon is a forward, probably more of a winger and Coutinho is a very young Brazilian midfielder. Neither, I think, will see much time on this team this season.

Arnautovic, Deco, Sneijder or van der Vaart, which ever one, if any, comes to Inter aren’t here yet as of this writing, so I’ll leave this area blank. As of this writing, Real Madrid and Inter had reached an agreement for a loan deal w/ redemption for Sneijder (4 million Euros/18 million Euros). The player has not agreed to anything so, as of this moment, there isn’t a deal in place.

This leaves us with the very formidable Cameroonian, Samuel Eto’o. I don’t really want to get bogged down with too many stats or comparisons, really. Any comparisons between Ibra and Eto’o are as apples to oranges. They are different players, which I understand can be worrying as there was a comfort level with Iba. The bottom line is this, if the team of Eto’o/Milito/midfield can work, then we are going to do well. Like really well. Like really, really well.

Will we get service to him? Yes. Will he have chances to score for us? Yes. Will it be the same as at Barca? No. And that’s what people are going to have to get their heads around. This is not Barca. But, “not Barca” doesn’t mean “not good”. We are a more defensive team and we play a tougher, if less elegant, brand of football. That means that we will collect the ball and move it efficiently up the field. This also means that Eto’o and Milito will get chances.

Business

As far as the business end of the market goes we are far ahead of the pack. Milito and Motta together cost 16 million Euros in cash plus 5 youth players – which is a bargain really. The around 4 million for Lucio was paid for by the Maxwell transfer. Not only was Eto’o paid for by the Ibra swap, but he brought around 45 million with him.

In millions of Euros, all figures guesstimated:

Est. transfer money out: 16+4+20= 40 (Milito/Motta, Lucio, Eto’o)
Est. transfer money in: 4+66= 70 (Maxwell, Ibra)
Difference = +30

Est. wages outgoing: 8+3+3+3+1+12+3= 33 (Adriano, Cruz, Crespo, Figo, Jimenez, Ibra, Maxwell)
Est. wages incoming: 10+3+3+3= 20 (Eto’o, Milito, Motta, Lucio)
Difference = +13

According to these figures, even if Inter grossly overpay a transfer fee and salary for an attacking midfielder, then they still wouldn’t have spent a dime of their own money on this mercato and have actually decreased wages from a season ago.

To wrap this (too?) lengthy write up, I figure that we have 2 more low cost buys left in us: Arnautovic (which I don’t really see the point in having, really) and a possible loan for an attacking midfielder.

Then it’s on to Phase Two.

Keep these names in mind for Phase Two: Vieira, Rivas, Burdisso, Mancini, Kerlon, Obinna.

Allow me to leave you with this:

PS. When I was at Gillette stadium on Sunday, at half time they gave me a thrill and played this little song over the PA. However, I hadn’t seen Pazza Inter with 07-08 highlights before, so if it’s new to you, enjoy:

Inter took on AS Monaco today and we actually won! True, it wasn’t spectacular and everyone looked a little sleepy, but at least it shows that the team is beginning to gel. Plus, trophies are always nice (and this one is big and shiny). The game finished Inter 1 – 0 AS Monaco, with a lovely little goal from Milito (assisted by Muntari). Highlights after the jump.

Here are some “highlights.” The video is a little weird but the goal is thoroughly covered.

I know, the video is a little funky, but it was the best I could find. Milito seems to be finding his connection with the team and Julio Cesar is on it. With this win, Inter are 2, 1, and 2 for the preseason (did I do that right? 2 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses). Not a stellar performance but something to build on. And boy howdy, it could so be worse.

On the transfer front, Hleb decided he would rather return to the safety of the womb and has chosen to go back to Stuttgart instead of Inter. Meh. In the long run, it is probably for the best. Inter get 3 million more euro, Moratti will be forced to go after a more talented midfielder, and I dont have to remember how to spell his name (Aliaksandr – Yikes). Everyone wins. Especially when you take a look at some of the names popping up: Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Deco (Chelsea), and just today Pablo Aimar (Benfica) and Ivan Rakitic (Schalke 04). Rakitic has just injured himself so he may come cheaply, plus they may take Obinna in return. Pablo Aimar, on the other hand, is Argentinian and everyone knows how much we like our Argies.

So, take what you will from that. Inter desperately need a #10 and it seems Cassano is out of the equation. Time to look elsewhere.

As for me, I will be going up to the mountains for a few days so will be out of computer and, for the most part, cell phone range. I will be back Wednesday to wrap up everything I missed over the weekend.

Forza Inter

Welcome to the club, Samuel!

I think that we are missing the forest for the trees at the moment. Yes, these individual trees are fabulous as I have said, but Inter Forest isn’t made up of only one tree, no matter what tripe the Juve, Roma and Milan idiots try to salve their own wounded egos with.

So, I wanted to take a moment in all the preseason prediction hysteria to focus on the players that will actually have a say in how many spaces we fill in our trophy cabinets next spring. I don’t think that I am out of line in expecting at least 1 piece of silverware.

This past Saturday, my wife and I watched Inter and Milan practice. Ibra wasn’t there of course, which highlighted how many gifted players there are for this team. It also gave a lot of insight on what people mean when they say that Mourinho trains differently than other coaches. It also showed me how hard some players work and how hard some don’t.

A quick overview and then a quick look at whom I noticed working hard.

First of all, the only part of practice when the players weren’t using the ball was the stretching. In complete contrast to the Milan practice, the stretching was organized, supervised and at the coaches command. This means that the single most important part of the practice was treated as such by the training staff, and I can’t tell people how happy that made me. As a former coach – at a much lower level – stretching properly and with the correct technique is the best way to keep players on the pitch. There’s nothing you can really do about knee ligaments or broken bones or freak accidents, but pulls, sprains, tears and overall fitness can be improved.

The second part of practice was a game of foot and hand passing with 4 teams in a confined area. It was a warm up and it looked like the players were all having a good time. More importantly, whatever the goal of the game was, they were working intensely at it. The coaches hovered around giving directions and restarting play whenever the ball crossed a line. Again, in contrast to the Milan practice where the players just ran back and forth a bunch of times. They did it on their own and without a whole lot of direction. Btw, after the game was over on Sunday, the young players on Milan had to run extra too, a lot. Even those who played had to run. It looked like it sucked big time – and it also looked like they weren’t too happy with it.

The goalkeepers were on the other side of the pitch than I was on so I couldn’t see really great but it was easy to see how they were training and who the best keeper was. The goalkeepers were using short bursts of activity to build explosiveness while slowly gearing up the difficulty. For example, the first goalkeeper up in the first drill had to move across the goal mouth while catching underhand throws. He had to move quickly in a short area but although intense, it was over quick for him. After the other 3 keepers had gone through the same drill he was up again, this time the ball is volleyed instead of thrown but it’s still right to him. The next time it’s volleyed harder. The next time it’s thrown to the side. Eventually, he has to stretch out in a full dive just to get a hand on it – all while moving across the line quickly getting up quickly in time to dive again.

When the senior goalkeepers rejoined the squad Belec and who I can only guess was Orlandoni moved to the other end of the pitch and continued training. I got a much better look at Belec. The kid is young by player standards, but by goalkeeping standards, he’s a fetus. He also lacks a lot of explosiveness at this point and he has poor technique. His feet rarely make it off the ground on the full out diving saves and he has a short range of effectiveness. He didn’t look incredibly instinctive or crazy either. A little crazy goes a long way for a keeper. I should also point out that both keepers got rounds of applause by the fans after their drills. It was obvious how hard they were working and they had the attention of everyone sitting behind the endzone and on that half of the field where we were sitting.

While the keepers were going at it, the team had some Monkey in the Middle drills right in front of the stands. It was obviously placed so that the fans that paid the extra fee for the tickets could get long extended looks at the team. There was some heckling and calling out that happened but it wasn’t real bad. There were a lot of Milan supporters but they weren’t the ones making remarks, I’m sad to say. Zanetti, Cambiasso, Chivu, Lucio, Santon, and Cordoba were amongst those who were right in front of me. The other two or three other groups were all to my right down the endline. The group immediately to my right looked like it had a lot of the younger guys. I remember seeing Obi Wan and Quaresma over there, I think.

The last part of practice was a scrimmage. I remember four things about this part of practice: 1. Quaresma was working his ass off 2. Mancini hit the ground about 4 times – once he needed the medicos 3. Marco left practice early – like really early 4. It was short but pretty intense. Practice ended about a half hour earlier than it was supposed to and then Mourinho and some players came to there stands area to sign stuff. I’m not really into that stuff so I hung back to try and get some photos. But the press of bodies to get stuff signed was like a horror movie doing a piranha scene. People had begun to line up on the fences way before practice ended to get good signing spots. I couldn’t get any photos of players or coaches – I tried to get Baresi but he was swarmed too – really super close up. But I had a good time regardless.

Okay, players who caught my attention:

Zanetti – Practiced hard and was always in the thick of things. He just looked like he was in control of things. Confident and in control – like during a game – that’s just how he is, I guess. And he just didn’t stop working…

Cesar – All the goalkeepers looked good in drills but there is just a quality that Cesar has that is hard to define. He has more range, more explosion and less extra movement. Physically, I don’t think that there is a better goalkeeper in the world. He needs to work on decision making, such as when to leave his line, and catching. Otherwise he’s great. But he could be better… and that’s a little scary.

Cambiasso – Three words describe Cambiasso: tireless, tireless and tireless. It was a minor miracle that he wasn’t injured last season, as he has been in every other year since he came to the team. If he goes down… we lose a lot.

Maicon – Maicon was notable for his appearance and lack of response that I heard for him. People went crazy when Cesar did anything. I heard people talking about him, but it wasn’t really happy talk. It was more of, “Oh, he bothered to show up?” I am happy he is on the team- and as a player he’s the best in the world at what he does – but at this point do I say that he’s a legend in the making? Or am I just marking time until he’s “no longer happy”?

Balotelli – I don’t think I can express how poorly I thought he trained. I think he walked through most of it, and I think he was just there until he was able to leave. Like several others, he was spotted watching Milan practice. I am now going on record and saying that as much native ability as he has, I can see Mario turning into Adriano in 5 years. I don’t think it was possible for him to look less interested in playing.

Quaresma – He worked hard, I have to give him that. I think he also wiped out Mancini once during the scrimmage. Quaresma has talent, confidence, ability, quickness and a certain amount of speed… he just lacks… something… I can’t even put it into words. A certain strength of will to dominate, perhaps?

The Coaches – I wouldn’t have thought that the coaches would spend so much time actually coaching. At this point you have to figure that they know the game, but the coaches were there instructing and talking to players about the game/stretching/warm down everything, including Mourinho.

Contrast this to the Milan practice, and the coaches mostly talked to each other. Leonardo spent the first part of the practice talking with Ronaldinho, who just came out for a half assed stretch and Maicon, who was finished practicing. The coached talked to each other and there were long stretches when the players where done with an activity and the coaches looked like they were still talking to each other.

Inter went from activity to activity. The only breaks were for water and then it was off to the next thing – which is what I expected from a professional team. I was, frankly, shocked at the Milan practice.

More Photos!

There was a lot of speculation on who these shadowy figures were. Some thought it was Moratti and crew. Some thought it was the Krafts. Some thought it was Uncle Fester.

Someone got a good line off on Mourinho and he acknowledges the touche with a wave

Chivu, Cambiasso, Santon, Belec and the guy who is cropped a bit to the right is Lucio

Got to love this group that was in front of me for a good 20 – 30 minutes.

I keep reading about how Juve are getting closer to us and I look at these guys and I just don’t see it…

The next group over to the right from where we were sitting. Obi Wan, Toldo, Cesar and Deki

The reason I don’t have more Zanetti photos? It wasn’t for lacking of trying, but the bastard just won’t sit still!

A rare moment…

The captain at work

Last one I’ll post, hopefully these weren’t too boring. The first thing that flew into my mind when I saw this picture was, “My god, they look like they could be brothers!” The second thing that came into my mind was, “NOOOOOOOO!”

The deal is done, Ibra is gone and Eto’o has agreed to Inter’s terms. Samuel Eto’o will sign a five-year contract worth 10.5 million euros a season, probably on Monday, and is expected to start working with the team on Tuesday. With him will come Hleb (whether he likes it or not, apparently) and a giant suitcase full of cash (45 million euros).

I admit it, when I first read that Ibra had left training, I was so mired in self-pity that I could hardly type. In fact, the shadow of doom had been falling on me for a few days. I knew that when I went to the Chelsea-Inter game, it would be the last time I would see Zlatan in an Inter jersey. But I am beginning to realize that I, that we, can get over this. We have had our hearts broken before. There was Ronaldo then Vieri – and if we can get over them, we can get through this. Hell, at least Ibra had the decency to leave the country; Bobo couldn’t even do that for us.

Now, I am not saying that it will be easy. Ibra meant a great deal to many of us, but the cold, hard truth is: he is just not that into us. We knew that last summer, but, like idiots, we thought we could change him… that he would see what a good, no great, thing he had going and would change his roaming ways. Well, as anyone who has ever tried to change a person can tell you, it didn’t work. All that is left is to pick ourselves up and go find someone better. Yep, you heard me, Better. Oh, and younger, too. Then to win like we have never won before. That will show him!

And just in case this wasn’t quite enough to drive you out of your mind. Maicon is pulling the old “we’ll have to wait and see” thing too. Of course, he is “happy to remain at Inter,” but he doesn’t sound all that excited. Like me, he is also worried about the overall competitiveness of the team, saying:

“Eto’o is a great player and we will do well. If other new faces arrive to build a strong squad, then we will be happy.”

So basically, we could be in for all this horror and heartbreak yet again. I hate this time of year.

And then there is Mourinho. He seems to have gone completely off his rocker. He has not had a single press conference since Milan. He has lost twice – IN A ROW – and no heads have rolled. And he is looking a little… well… disheveled.

“Ha Ha… What, me worry? (mumble dogface mumble banana patch)”

Is that the face of a “happy” coach? I dont think so. He looks as though he may be on the edge of hysteria. I think he is one bad signing away from a total melt-down. Either that, or he has decided that there is really no point so he might as well let his hair grow. Mourinho has to get Inter farther along in the Champions League or he will be branded a failure. And he has to do it with whatever Moratti gives him. I think that Real Madrid job is looking pretty cushy just about now. We so have to win this next game or I think he will start walking around with a shopping cart and muttering under his breath.

THE GAME

That’s right, this is a football team we are talking about – a football team that plays actual games!

What: AC Milan v Inter Milan
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
When: Sunday, July 26, 5pm eastern, 2pm pacific
How to Watch: Live on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD, or find a stream (MyP2P, Justin.tv, Rojadirecta, Ustream, and ATDHE.net).

On Saturday, starting at 5pm eastern, Inter will have an open training session at the stadium. For those of you lucky enough to be attending, please take pictures. For those of you, like me, who are not, there is always you tube:

As for line-ups, well, I think we will probably see a little Lucio, some Julio Cesar, and a smattering of Maicon. Samuel and Deki are back training with the team so are probably available. Up front, we will have to rely on Milito and Balotelli. And then there is always Suazo and Destro. Whomever Mou chooses, I hope this time he is playing to win. I think the last couple games have been tinkering (plus maybe a display of Inter’s inadequacies directed back towards Milan). Hopefully, Mou will pull it together long enough to at least appear to care. We really need a win right about now.

After this game, Inter will return to Milan, and, on July 30th will take on Monaco for the Pirelli-Sky Trophy. What do you bet Eto’o makes his Inter debut in this game. After that, there will be a couple more days of training in Italy, then, on August 3rd, it is off to Beijing for the Italian Super Cup (against Lazio, August 8). Everyone think happy thoughts that we will have a trequartista by then.

Allora, per favore, abbiamo bisogno di una vittoria di Domenica e Milito deve segnare un gol.

FORZA INTER

Are we not men? we are INTER. Are we not men? We are I – N – T – E – R

This whole Maxwell deal has me very perplexed. He came to LA with the squad, he was training, looking happy, and then out of the blue, he is going to Barcelona.

According to Barcelona’s web page:

FC Barcelona and Inter Milan have reached the beginning of an agreement for the transfer of the Brazilian Scherrer Cabelino Maxwell Andrade “Maxwell” for a fee of 4.5 million Euros with an additional 0.5 million in variable payments.

Yep, you read that correctly – only 4.5 (or 5 if Maxi does really well) million Euro. Chump Change. Still, nothing is set in stone – note the phrase: beginning of an agreement. It could be that a player is coming back the other way. Who, you ask? I really could not say. Besides what I see during Champions League games, I dont know a darn thing about FC Barcelona. I just have to believe, though, that there is more to this deal than is being reported on because basically, if this is the way the deal stands, Inter just got hosed (estafados?).

First of all, Maxi is not perfect – he has some distribution problems and has been caught ball watching – but he is no slouch either. I know he was a bit pissy when Santon started getting a bit of play time, but I thought we had worked everything out. Inter had offered him a contract renewal and he seemed poised to sign. And now this. I am a tad flabbergasted. I know we have to trim four players from the squad, but shouldn’t we pick the bad ones to go (coughRivascough)? I wish him all the best, but wow, this is all so sudden. My question now is, does he play tomorrow or not?

THE VERY FIRST PRESEASON GAME

What: UCLA Bruins v Inter Milan
When: Thursday, July 16, 4pm pacific, 7pm eastern
Where: UCLA Campus
How to Watch: er… well, I will have to see about that. The Inter Channel is broadcasting so everyone cross you fingers for a stream (if you find one, post it). If not, there is always Inter Radio.

Yep, this is it, Inter’s first game of the 2009/2010 season (Hooray!). I dont know if anyone not subscribed to the Inter Channel will be able to see it, but I am happy the season has started (ish).

First off, Toldo will not be playing. He got a concussion on the first day of training and, while he looks to be ok, still needs to rest for a few more days. Since Julio Cesar is not in training yet (he and Maicon will not join the team until July 21 because they played in the Confederations Cup), that leaves Orlandoni or Belec in goal. Yikes.

That also has me a bit worried for the Club America and Chelsea games. Friendly or no, I want to win.

In defense, once again, no Maicon, and no Zanetti (on vacation until the 18th), so that means… I dont even know any more. The deal isn’t official for Maxwell yet, so does that mean he plays? Just in case? Will Mou play the squad he thinks is the best? Or will he throw in some of those members he would like to see go – you know, to show them off to the punters? He did say in his press conference that he would not play those who refused to leave (Vieira, I think he means you), did he mean it? Will everyone get a chance, or will he play it straight and make only three substitutions?

So many questions that I just dont have an answer for. So, how about this: who do YOU think Mou will play?

I would say this looks promising except for Mou clutching his head in the background.

After the game, the new kit will be presented at the Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Hollywood. Swanky. Sky and the Inter Channel will broadcast the event so there may even be a stream. I will be feverishly scouring the internet for one, so if anyone has something, post it please. Whatever the outcome, I will at least post pictures here as soon as they are available.

As for the upcoming World Football Challenge games: I know that many of you who frequent The Offside are going to attend at least one of these games. To help those of you who would like to meet up, I will post something up a couple days before each game to help you all coordinate. I have access to people’s email address so, if you request it, I can help you get in touch with one another without anyone having to broadcast their contact info over the internet. Whatever you all need, I am totally here for you!

FORZA INTER

Since I have no training pictures of Julio Cesar to share, here are some from the Bahamas where he is on vacation. The first is beefcake JC:

And now everyone all together: AAAAAWWWWW. I give you the very attractive Julio Cesar Family: