
Originally Posted by
xandru
just as I promised. il post my articles here...
______________________________________________
Adriano : the crisis goes on….
…Over 200 days without scoring a goal
After having made a name over the past few years, Adriano seems to have transformed into another football player, which no one knows. A player, who could find the net against such clubs like Juventus, Milan, Roma, Valencia and all the rest, now (with all the respect to the teams) finds it difficult to even create something against teams such as Catania, Empoli, Cagliari and all those minor teams. It makes you wonder what’s happening. Inter fans have been waiting for a goal from the Brazilian for over 200 days now, a truly alarming statistic for a striker of his calibre.
The man who set personal records at Inter, scoring 10 goals in 10 games in one Champions League season beating Crespo’s record, getting the first ever Inter hat-rick in Champions League action and scoring a tally of 21 goals in 21 games at a certain point two seasons ago. Adriano bagged about 40 goals in two seasons (2003-2005), which was quite what put him amongst the big strikers. On the 21st of December 2005, after having given an early lead to the Nerazzurri Adriano collided with Empoli defender Raggi and from there onwards we witnessed the downfall of such a talent. Very poor performances followed from there onwards, with Mancini starting to prefer the Cruz-Martins couple upfront. The season went on and it wasn’t until 11th March of the year after until Adriano grabbed a goal against Sampdoria. His last goal of the season came against Villareal at the San Siro, 18 days after the Sampdoria encounter. Those two goals were literally what were left from Adriano to Inter. Since then things haven’t changed, in fact, they have worsened.
The summer crept in and the transfer campaign indicated what Inter were up to. Inter acquired the services of Ibrahimovic and Crespo. A supporting striker and a pure centre forward. Many said that Adriano would gamble a place with Crespo with Ibrahimovic partnering one of either two. But they were wrong; seeing that Adriano is not a pure centre forward it would be useless to put him with Zlatan. On the other hand, putting Adriano as a supporting striker wasn’t any good since he kept dropping to a midfield position. The Ibrahimovic-Crespo couple functioned well, with the Argentine being top scorer up until now with three goals. The pressure on Adriano is mounting, just like his weight, which is up to 99kg. His runs can clearly show that his physical form is far from good. After having recuperated from injuries, both Recoba and Cruz were able to play against Spartak Moscow. They combined perfectly with Cruz scoring 2 goals and Recoba providing the balls. Mancini, having his five strikers at his disposal for the first time in the season, realised it was the right time to release Adriano for a break.
Adriano will undergo a personalised training programme to recover physically and psychologically. Inter will welcome back Adriano in about a month where he is also expected to come back at a weight of about 90 to 92 kgs.
The media is considering this release as a prelude to a January transfer, as L’Imperatore is visibly unhappy at the San Siro and could no longer be considered indispensable for the side. Adriano’s preferred destination seems Real Madrid either in exchange for Ronaldo or else in the expense of the departing Cassano. Others suggest that also Man Utd are tracking the Brazilian.
Adriano has the qualities to return to the player he once was, it is up to him now to decide what he is going to do. Inter have been behind him all the time, giving him a lot of playing time in order to find his form. Adriano may be an enigma just like Recoba, and no Inter fan wants to see that again. The only thing left for Inter to do is hope that their desperate attempt to try and save what they invested, pays off dividends.
Alex Attard