Frustration

I haven’t been annoyed watching a football game as I was yesterday in a very long time. Inter dominated every aspect of the game yesterday while creating chance after chance and still found themselves down a goal and in need of a comeback. The impressive 51 game unbeaten home record was looking at risk and god forbid the headlines had Rafa been seen to have squandered it. Looking at the stats of last nights game just shows how Inter dominated Sampdoria but as been the case when facing this team recently we just can’t get the win.

7	Shots on target	3
8	Shots off target	3
12	Fouls committed	11
9	Corner	1
1	Offsides	2
69%	Ball possession	31%

Let’s rant a bit about all the things that have frustrated recently:

• 10 – That is the number of goals we have scored in eight Serie A games compared to the 10 goals we’ve scored in 3 Champions league games. We need to start scoring a lot more in the league especially since the last few years we’ve always led the league in both scoring and defending.
• 7- Of those 10 league goals SEVEN of them have come from the devastating Samuel Eto’o. As impressive as that has been the rest of the team needs to start picking up the slack. Like all players he will slow down at some point during the season and at this rate its dangerous. If we had 17 goals and he had seven of them then I wouldn’t be worried, but when he scores 70% of our goals then we are in trouble.
• Maicon and Sneijder – Both were excellent last season. Both are still not in stride this season. Maicon takes too many naps on defense this year and they all lead to goals for the other teams or major chances like Pazzini yesterday. He also isn’t the offensive force we all know he can be. In the last few years when a game needs unlocking he had the power to do it. Yesterday he missed his chance to become the hero. Sneijder needs to sign his contract already so he can focus on football. Right now he isn’t the Ballon d’Or candidate that we love so much.
• Chivu and Baibainy – now that Pandev is healthy Biabainy role is of an impact sub. He works best when he has room to run in counter-attacking situations. When we have the ball his speed doesn’t do much and his dribbling isn’t quit there to get past defenders. Chivu also needs to sit on the bench and let Santon play more often. Although he wasn’t at fault for the goal, since he was fouled by Cassano, teams seem to target his wing all the time to attack us. That has to tell you something especially yesterday since all Sampdoria action came from his side.
• Injuries – We need the trainers room to start emptying out. In yesterday’s game after Pandev there was absolutely no options to throw in to win the game. Part of me wanted Materazzi to come on just so we can have a tall person in the box. I’m sure he would’ve scored that Maicon chance in the end. If Milito, Mariga and Motta are all healthy we would not be in this predicament. At least we’d have options because yesterday our bench looked very short.
• Set Plays – Why can’t Inter score from corners and set pieces any more? Only one goal has come from a set piece this season, the Lucio goal and that was from a rebound. This used was a strength of ours. Nine corners yesterday led to nothing. Free Kicks in the wall or sailed over every time.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom folks. Coutinho is growing into a fantastic footballer. Yesterday he was my personal Man of the Match. He had it all yesterday; dribbles, passes, shots. The boy just needs to score a goal and he will be flying. Lucio was also excellent by saving us on defense and creating lots of offense. Finally we need to admire the legend that is Samuel Eto’o these days who is playing at a level I have never seen in my life. He is so locked in that its just amazing. Lets hope he can do it all season because I would love to see what his totals are at the end of the season.

Forza Inter