Inter v Genoa – Liveblog

Damn, Roma just annihilated Cesena. Poor bastards.

Hey guys, i'm travelling in the morning and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it back home in time to LB the game. I will keep you posted as to what is happening.

Dont stress about it, Kirby. I am sure that between MAD and I, we can cover for you just fine. Have a safe trip.

Goalkeepers: 1 Julio Cesar, 12 Luca Castellazzi, 21 Paolo Orlandoni.
Defenders: 2 Ivan Ramiro Cordoba, 4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Lucio, 13 Maicon, 23 Andrea Ranocchia, 25 Walter Samuel, 26 Cristian Chivu, 37 Davide Faraoni, 55 Yuto Nagatomo.
Midfielders: 10 Wesley Sneijder, 11 Ricardo Alvarez, 18 Andrea Poli, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Joel Obi.
Forwards: 7 Giampaolo Pazzini, 22 Diego Milito, 28 Mauro Zarate, 30 Luc Castaignos.

Hmmm...no TM...a sign that he's on his way to PSG?

I think he picked up a yellow in the derby that's accumulated to a suspension this round. I hope he isn't going anywhere, I love that thug!

Ah good call, wasn't aware of that.

Yes, he is suspended, I hope we start with Poli and he proves to be consistent

Hmm, I'm reading that Samp want to sell off Palombo. Now that's one player who compares with Motta's combination of regista+mediano. Plus he has Serie A, CL and international experience. Anyone else like the idea of bringing him back with his old protege Poli?

Palombo isn't exactly world-class, but he's a damn solid midfielder who gives his all for the team. Definitely deserves a better club than Samp, since they seem to have no intention of even getting out of Serie B at the moment.

I'd certainly take him over Kucka et al.

Anyone else know what exactly this means for us, besides more money? http://www.inter.it/aas/news/r...

I hope it doesn't mean our shirt logo will now read Oknoplast instead of Pirelli. Pirellii has an infinitely cooler logo.

Lol, a polish company, last week i bought Oknoplast windows for my office, it would certainly seal my commitement to Inter even more.

Doesn't read like a new shirt sponsor. It looks like it's just another ad for home games.

This is the third new sponsor we've gotten in as many weeks. I think this is Angelomario's section of the business. Good news if he's scaring up some cash.

So hom much do we get from sponsers; how much do we get from Pereli?

According to the encyclopedia of footballing knowledge that is Football Manager, Pirelli pays us something like 3.5M per annum, which is ridiculously low compared to the reported 30M per annum Barca receives from the Qatar Foundation.

Swiss Ramble:

"Inter have enjoyed very long-term relationships with commercial partners, but this may have prevented them from taking up more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. Pirelli have been Inter’s shirt sponsor since 1995, but only pay €12 million a year. Similarly, kit supplier Nike have been partners since 1998, also paying €12 million a year.

To be fair, this compares favourably with deals at other Italian clubs: (a) shirt sponsors: Milan – Emirates €12 million, Juventus – BetClic €8 million, Napoli – Lete €5.5 million and Roma – Wind €5 million; (b) kit suppliers: Milan – Adidas €13 million, Juventus – Nike €12 million, Roma – Kappa €5 million and Napoli – Macron €4.7 million."

It goes on to say that there are only 6 teams in the world that make get 20+ million more per year and this means that Inter are in trouble financially.

I hope what you say is true. The term that spooked me was 'top sponsor', which is mentioned a couple of times in the announcement.

Interesting read... http://blogs.soccernet.com/int...

great...somehow I always felt that what I feel for Inter will at some moment stop or abate, but guys like this prove it doesn't have to

Thanks for this. I wouldn't have found it on my own.

Forlan is an amazing player, he is being unlucky with injuries. If he can get his consistency back, we can be a factor for the second part of the season. We gave Milito a season and a half to recover his mojo (deserved after the Treble), we can certainly give Forlan at least till the end of the season.

I hope the him going to Sao Paulo rumors are false, which I think they are.

Oh, and a very happy 19th to Inter heartthrob Lorenzo Cristeg. Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAAAAY LORENZO!

Coming up on the transfer deadline. We got Juan - it looks like he'll go to Novara if we sign two other non-EU types. But all I keep reading about is possible stuff for the summer. Anyone worried that we won't be able to help ourselves for the rest of this season? I think we are kind of okay for the moment.

The trouble is, we have sort-of adequate cover in each role, but not many that can step up and decide to turn a game on its head.

We did need an extra CB with Samuel, Frogman and Chivu being notoriously treatment-room-happy, and Cordoba being, well, old, to put it kindly. Juan needs to come here, not Novara.

I worry that we have a lack of real quality in the center of the park. Cuchu and Motta are quality players. Deki is effectively out till April and is beyond his quality years anyway. Poli and Obi are promising but raw. Obi in particular has started plenty of games and demonstrated exactly how raw he is. It isn't a coincidence that we started winning games when Motta came back and pushed Obi out of the starting 11. As for Zanetti, for all his glory, he has piss-poor distribution when played as a central midfielder, and should only be used as an outside midfielder or full back.

Sadly, if Kucka or Montolivo is all we can get, I'm happy to pass. I'd like to see us linked with (and get!) someone with real presence in the middle, like Hernanes. Spending the 20-25m that we had set aside for Tevez on Hernanes (and I'm pretty sure Lazio would value him at that much) would be a worthwhile operation, IMO.

Up top, I'd still really like us to bring back Destro. Before its too late. He'd be a pretty reliable goal threat when Milito's ammo dries up again. I'd love for us to have a creative forward that could do what Zarate or Forlan were supposed to do, but I can't seem to think of any that are available right now.

"Kind of okay" is a bit concerning for me. 

Remember people, this is one strong season in Serie A. Italy has three tickets for the CL next year, while in fact four to five teams will fight it out between themselves for every point... even the direct clashes in the future Napoli vs Inter, Milan vs Juve, will bare a lot of intensity that could effect the safety of players. Also, the teams in the bottom of the league are quite close at this point... so come the final 5-6 weeks of the league and you'll see a different kind of games as you're aware and that kind of survival desire in threatened teams. We also have the Champions League games soon...

I'm not concerned about our Squad's mentality but the depth of the Squad is scary at the CB position. Our midfield is shaping up to be quite effective unlike the past year. The front line needs further support. So that's 1 defender & 1 forward.... and why not a midfielder.

It’s weird, isn’t it? At the beginning of the season, it seemed like we’d be needing winter reinforcements in just about every position imaginable. Then Lucio and Samuel regained their old alchemy, Milito decided he wanted to start scoring goals again, Nagatomo made huge strides, and guys like Poli, Faraoni, Obi and Alvarez all sort of raised their hands, like, “hey, we can play football too, you know.” Now you suddenly have Moratti willing to spend $30 mil on a superstar player, and the fans are all: “nah, we’re doing okay, but thanks anyway.”  Truly strange how quickly things turn around.
 
Agree that the one area in which we’re courting disaster is attack – the fact that Milito and Pazzini have learned how to play together is a testament to Ranieri, but it’s still not a natural or ideal pairing. I’ll be surprised if Forlan or Zarate end up being major factors for us, and Castaignos will be a beast in two or three years, but he’s pretty raw right now. Signing a young, quick winger or second-striker type would be very, very smart. Aside from that, yeah, I actually think we’re okay.

With our workload it sure would be nice to have another striker who can score a goal once and a while. Our two "back-up" strikers have proven pretty useless. It would be nice to get rid of one of them and bring in a better option. Who, though, I couldn't say.

I still think a natural winger would add to the squad. I would prefer someone who can cross from the left side so that our only crosser is not Maicon.

In fairness, Nagatomo has a pretty decent cross on him with both feet, but he's less prone to crossing than Maicon. Maicon has this uncanny knack of crossing the ball as soon as he gets a look-in, while Nagatomo has this uncanny knack of getting into a tight knot so he's forced to dribble or backpedal rather than cross.

I remember reading some whispers about Alessio Cerci, but I think he's a waste of space. Really, there aren't that many good wide players in circulation that are within our reach. I'd love for us to get one out of Bale or Hazard, but both are impossible over the winter, and a wishful possibility at best over the summer.

soo for those who saw the game:
what did we think of kucka? did you even noticed he was playing?

He definitely was a solid midfield player. Not extremely technical or creative, but definitely a box-to-box type. If Poli is like Motta (he is.) then Kucka is more like Cambiasso. Idk if he would ever see the field at Inter though.

More like Cambiasso? You flatter him too much. I thought he was pretty invisible, and only really started playing towards the end of the game.

I'd prefer to stick with what we have. Obi, Poli and Faraoni were really playing out of their skin. Poli, in particular, showed a lot of control over the midfield, and showed some good energy, steel and skill all over the pitch. The goal was the delicious icing on a very good performance.

I was talking style, not quality. The last sentence was about his quality lol

Well... I don't know. I guess I could agree that he is a defensive midfielder, but he seems more like a less-aggressive Eastern European Mariga than a Cuchu.

Either way, I didn't think he was worth half of Viviano's contract to begin with, much less so now.

From Maicon and Poli, two of the most eye pleasing goals you are ever likely to see. Great stuff from the youngsters.

Excellent game guys! Sorry I wasn't my usual devious self as I was too busy at work. Lol. FORZA INTERNAZIONALE!!!

What a nice showing by the Inter Babies. Ranocchia, Poli, Faraoni, Obi, Alvarez and Castaignos all had what I think are positive performances. They all worked hard and I was astounded how much energy a guy like Poli can bring! I want to see more games like this so that they can keep showing their qualities.

And the GIPATI today is..... No one! Yep, everyone thought CR would either choose Naga, Chivu, Milito, or Zarate. CR's line up is:

12 Castellazzi; 13 Maicon, 2 Cordoba, 23 Ranocchia, 4 Zanetti; 37 Faraoni, 19 Cambiasso, 18 Poli, 20 Obi; 10 Sneijder; 30 CastaignosBench: 21 Orlandoni, 6 Lucio, 8 Thiago Motta, 11 Alvarez, 22 Milito, 28 Zarate, 55 NagatomoYep. Chivu didn't even make the bench! Who saw that coming? I didn't .

This is almost exactly what I wanted, with the exception being Cordoba. Let's hope he doesn't make any crazy mistakes. Poli-Sneijder-Castaignos is mouthwatering.

I got the formation right. Is that close enough?

Also, Chivu picked up a strain during warmup. So it wasn't like he messed up or something.

Ah. Didn't know that.