FIVE ROUNDS FOR STRAMA
Moratti is angry. From Chievo to derby, Inter are under exam.
Although irritated, the president has calmed the coach, who in a handful of matches must find identity and results.
Appiano Gentile – Let’s get straight to the point. Question: is Massimo Moratti angry? Response: Yes, but he has asked Stramaccioni to be calm. Here is another question: is the bench of Andrea Stramaccioni at risk? Response: No. But the coach must shake things up, change insights on his football wisdom to have positive results in February. Yes it is true that the new signings cannot be some kind of magicians to get results after just two days of training but it is also true that precise, clear, constructive ideas are needed starting Sunday evening at 20:45 CET against Chievo. “We are not dead,” said Cassano: in five matches we will understand. Back to Moratti: the Inter president is angry but not disappointed. It means that he is irritated by yet another lost opportunity but still believes Stramaccioni to whom Moratti has asked for immediate resurrection.
Up or down Stramaccioni is a derby man because he has participated in two derbies and won them both. The next derby is scheduled for February 24 and that evening is when the period of reflection closes. If Inter are getting results and remain tight in the Champions League race, then it is all good. If not, who knows… Within this period that goes from February 10 to 24, there is also the double-header with Romanian Cluj in the Europa League. Through the next round, Inter can be gifted Tottenham and if they cannot go through, it would mean that a “titulo” (title) is gone. Recap: Chievo and Cluj at home, then away at Fiorentina and Cluj, finally Milan at home. Five games: up or down?
Get up Strama knows that this month is crucial and so do his players. Yesterday morning, the coach and players got together to say: “Get up!” Because they are Inter, because after the match against Siena this club does not need anything worse than that, because Lazio are just three points in front, and because Milan on Inter’s tail can and must create new stimuli. People say that perhaps Inter could have thought a bit more on a defensive reinforcement in January (but it is true that Silvestre refused two transfers), players and Stramacioni must become a single entity. Only the words of appreciation for the coach to be followed by the facts, evidence and constant concentration. It is true that there was a red card and it is also true that perhaps there could have been a penalty but when Strama says “the spirit of months ago is needed” it means that only facts and results matter.
More moves than counter moves An Inter fan asks: but why did other teams show organization in their game and Inter did not? Why so many changes in formation? Where is the team’s identity? It is the time to find that identity. One of Stramaccioni’s mottoes is that “if I sink, I will do it doing what I believe in.” He did that when he swapped Pazzini for Cassano by saying “I have chosen Milito.” He has ideas and now the players that he wanted (this is a sign of trust by Moratti): Kovacic is ready from first minute, Stankovic and also Milito are back, and Cassano is confident. But the long balls to the three strikers waiting for a miracle are not working any more. You need players who are quick, with their legs and their minds. You need to build good moves, looking at your tactics without getting tangled by counter moves. In the meantime, the bookmakers have launched an odd: 1.85 for the sacking of the Inter coach.
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10 years of FIFblivious:
That's all our midfield needs to get phickzed.