Inter - Liverpool (16 Feb 22) [0-2]

RickyMaravilla'sRightFoot said:

Yeah I’m not throwing in the towel before a ball has even been kicked.

We’re clearly the underdogs and I don’t give ourselves a high percentage of going through but it’s not 0. Keep it tidy in the first leg and it’s all to play for in the 2nd leg.

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I don't know man, really struggling to see this Inter going to Anfield and getting a result, let alone progressing, could happen, but realistically not very likely.
Plus the fact that the second leg is at Anfield is a massive disadvantage.

ataturk5 said:

Fck me, at last, some positivity! NO WAY in the world do I see this being a walk in the park tie. The negativity on here is unbelievable, it's really surprised me tbh, it's Inter Milan ffs, not some no mark club

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Well, we are simply being realistic. We are definitely not ready to beat a team like Liverpool and the timing of the game is awful. We are having hard time in Italy, two key players are missing the game (I don't believe that Inzaghi would risk Bastoni), so the chances are very slim.

We're fucked.

When we first drew them I was quietly confident, but not anymore.

I'm praying that we wont experience what Roma fans experienced in that famous ManU-Roma CL quaterfinals 2006. Thats how I feel about this tie.

They didn't play so well today, I'm more full of confidence now it's getting closer, going to be a great game. 2-0 would be lovely on the night, I can see it too.

They will play much better in CL, that's for sure.

CafeCordoba said:

They will play much better in CL, that's for sure.

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Works both ways though doesn't it.

Generally, when these European upsets occur it is the result of one or a combination of factors including getting caught on the counter, a moment of individual brilliance from a skilled player, a defensively resolute team performance, or simply rising to the occasion.

From what I've seen, this team is utterly devoid of any of these things.

We have ZERO pace. If you timed every single player of ours in a 100m sprint, our squad would be in the lowest 1 percentile in Europe. Teams do not need to fear us hurting them on the counter because we are utterly incapable of doing so.

Likewise, we have such little flair in this squad that the chances of us creating something out of nothing is exceedingly slim. At any moment in the game, Salah can beat his man with drop of a shoulder and curl one into the far post. Who is even capable of that in this squad? Sanchez? Calhanoglu?... Lmaotaro?

The last two games against Milan and Napoli (even for moments against Roma) have also shown a worrying decline in our defence. Much of that is on De Vrij who looks fucking finished but Skriniar was putting on his own clown show at Naples too. Moreover, the trend is that under Inzaghi, this team can not simply close shop and defend a lead. The inability to counter attack certainly contributes to this. Regardless, every time this team has tried to defend a result, it has failed. The less said about Handanovic the better.

Finally, the mentality.. just lol. As I've pointed out ad nauseum, this team lost their mental edge when Conte left and the proof is in the pudding.

We've played 9 games across the league and CL against the big teams. 1 win, 5 draws, 3 losses. That is utterly pathetic and incompatible with a team aiming to be champions.

If you analyse closely, it gets even worse. In numerous games we dropped points from a winning position (Milan twice, juve, Atalanta). We also played our full-strength team against an injury ravaged Atalanta (yet failed to win or even score) and lost to a Milan B team missing both their first choice defenders, plus Ibrahimovic and Rebic.

That indicates to me that this team can not lift their game in the big occasions. Every time this abysmal big game record is brought up, someone argues that we dominated Milan or juve or Real Madrid for 45 or 60 minutes. Even when we do dominate for long periods of the game, what is the fucking point if you just shit your pants and can't hold your nerve until the end? That is the literal definition of being chokers.

I'll watch the game - as I have every game this season and as I did every game during our 9th place finish under Stramala - and I'll hope and support the team as usual, but the evidence is not in our favour. I see nothing wrong with acknowledging the evidence and basing my expectations upon it.

You can't call it evidence when it's your opinion. We've conceded the 2nd fewest goals in serie a (20) so I can't get on board with people shitting on our defence all the time, speed.. we have perisic Dumfries who can easily get counter attacks going, mentality? You're talking about a team who just won the scudetto so it's there.

I'm not trying to disagree with you or anyone but it's your opinion and I have mine so it's not factual nor do you use statistics in your analysis. However I concede your post is very fair and well written and I have no problems with your opinion.

Maybe we do get beat and beat easily, at least I never lived the moment doom and gloom with the light turned off, I'll be showing up for the occasion and living in the moment that our Inter are in the knock out stages where they belong and I will be believing we will win right up until the final whistle in the 2nd half, when it's all good and done I'll be proud either way.

I believe in Inzaghi to deliver and he's more than exceeded in his role already this season, lest we forget the sheer embarrassment of this forum when kimi Conte kaku left...

I just hope every Inter fan watches the game in happiness and a bit of self believe in our team

RE the defence, perhaps I am judging what I've seen harsher than you are but I feel the stats are revealing, and not in a good way.

Out of 24 games, we've kept 10 clean sheets. Not bad, but those have come against Genoa (H), Empoli (A), Udinese (H), Venezia (A), Spezia (H), Roma (lol. A), Cagliari (H), Salernitana (A), Torino (H) and Atalanta (A).

That's only 3 clean sheets against teams in the top 10. The others have come against the three newly promoted teams, plus other relegation shitters like Genoa and Cagliari.

But it's the eye test which gives it away for me. Even before that reputation-ruining performance in the derby, de Vrij had been atrocious all season. Skriniar and Bastoni have also had shaky moments, like getting owned by Venezia's Henry of all players. I can't remember one good defensive performance against a big team this season. Maybe the second half against Napoli this week was OK?

The team simply does not look defensively solid. For me that's very visible in the way we win balls, close space and defend as a unit.

Is there ANYONE here who would feel comfortable about us sitting back and trying to defend a narrow, 1 goal lead for more than like.. 5 minutes? Even Torino and Venezia came to San Siro and made us sweat.

Anyway though, I'm not expecting a rout against Liverpool, but I'm expecting a near exact repeat of our first leg against Real Madrid. Same scoreline too.

I have watched this team for a long time, through good and bad and have never given up on them. The whiny defeatist mentality here sickens me. There is a reason games are played on the pitch and not on paper. Watch the game, support your team and enjoy the good times. If we win great, If not we move on to the next one.
I don't get people writing lengthy manifestos on how we suck and are sub par. It's your team support them.

Solid win 2-0 we would have with Hakan and De Vrij scoring and seeing us posessing the ball up to 60%

Whether you like it or not, we're getting hyped for this one!

I think Vidal will play because he "knows" how Thiago Alcantara plays.

i've said it before that here at FIF there is no significant difference between pessimism and optimism. most FIFers are already quite resistent with pain and gloom. we here enjoy both happiness and depression. if Sheriff can beat Madrid, why cant we? i know they got lucky but we are not Sherrif.

we are going to the next stage

Come on folks we know the drill, anything could happen if we didn’t have Vecino or Gags in the lineup. So one or both starting there’s no way in hell or any dimension that we get a positive result here.

CL big game’s relies heavily on controlling the midfield, and with mindless and slow players like these fuckers we’re 100% doomed.

I don't see us beating them tbh. Maybe a draw at best especially without Barella and Bastoni.

tanorini said:

Having Barella suspended for two games really fucks us, that in addition to de vrij terrible form. Should have attempted an appeal for Barella.

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What would you argue? There is clear evidence of the punch. There was no feasible defence.

ADRossi said:

You can't apply transitive properties to football. Just because Milan did decent against Liverpool doesn't mean we're equipped to, despite the fact we're more talented than Milan. Liverpool is a bad matchup for our tactics.

The kryptonite of a 3-5-2 is having pacey wingers who excel in the wide areas of the final third. They'll be matched up against slower CBs or defensively deficient wing backs. Addition, Liverpool will dominate possession and we don't have players good enough at dribbling or counterattacking to take advantage of moments when they lose possession. Milan, meanwhile, have guys like Leao, Kessie, and Hernandez who perform best in these situations.

What are we good at? We're good at holding possession, gradual build up play, and scoring from set pieces. If we had drawn a club like Atletico or United in the KO draw, I'd be licking my chops. Conversely, I would pick Milan to get routed by both clubs.

It's all matchup dependent. I'm not trying to paint some doom and gloom picture, of Liverpool being the best club in the world. They aren't. It wouldn't be some Greece 2004 miracle if we beat them. But it's going to be a harder path than the "STFU, we're winning" fanboys are making it out to be.

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Bingo.

They've got a lot of attributes that counter us really well, that's what scares me.

Stefan said:

What would you argue? There is clear evidence of the punch. There was no feasible defence.

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we were kinda lucky to not get 3 tbh.

You don't argue the facts, you try to reduce the ban to a 1 game. But anyways doesn't matter now.