Lautaro Martinez

William

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Don't be upset. Some are waiting for Inter to lose the title so they start blaming Inzaghi for it and claim "iT WouLd hAve nEvEr haPpEnEd uNder CoNtE"!
It probably wouldn’t have 🤣😂 look at what he’s doing with that shitty Tottenham team!! But, I will say we’d have no other trophies cause he’s poor in knockout tournaments 😜
 

Il Drago

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Dzeko is 36 years old, he never should've been the starter. And he was kind of expected to deteriorate, just maybe not this rapidly.
Lautaro on the other hand was/is supposed to be the star striker entering his prime. I get your point, it's just unfair to place the burden of failure on Dzeko. It's clear to everyone that his body can't do it anymore. But Inzaghi calls the shots and it is what it is.

It almost upsets me that we won the supercoppa/coppa because it protects Inzaghi from much deserved objective criticism.
How exactly is it unfair on Dzeko when he's the forward with the most minutes on the pitch? Inzaghi treated him as a starting forward so he will be judged accordingly.

For all his weaknesses, Lautaro has scored 21 Serie A goals. Lukaku scored 24 last season. The problem isn't Lautaro didn't score 25-30 goals (let's be honest, if he could he wouldn't be playing at Inter) but the fact there was no serious contribution from the other forwards.
 

dax21

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How exactly is it unfair on Dzeko when he's the forward with the most minutes on the pitch? Inzaghi treated him as a starting forward so he will be judged accordingly.
It's exactly Inzaghi's treating him as such that ground Dzeko to the bone. Maybe "unfair" wasn't the best choice of words, but when you stake your fortune on a 36 year old striker because he was free and then deem him to be the starter, maybe your expectations need to be calibrated. Just because Inzaghi thinks that Dzeko can be decisive in a scudetto run, that doesn't mean I have to agree let alone blindly believe that decision too.

For all his weaknesses, Lautaro has scored 21 Serie A goals. Lukaku scored 24 last season. The problem isn't Lautaro didn't score 25-30 goals (let's be honest, if he could he wouldn't be playing at Inter) but the fact there was no serious contribution from the other forwards.
See, this is why I'm growing to dislike stats. Out of those 21 goals, how many were braces against bottom squads? How many matches without goals at all, and how many in a row? But here too I blame Inzaghi more than Lautaro. I appreciate that he as a retired striker wants to indulge his strikers and support them through thick and thin and that is on a man-manager side of things pretty admirable... but it also directly contributed to our current situation. Him refusing to bench Lautaro during his winter/spring dry spell, and also refusing to bench Dzeko during the second half of the season is far more to blame than some Radu howler or Lautaro's statistical inability to hit 35 goals or whatever arbitrary number someone likes.
 
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Salernitana goals (4) can be considered useless. We were always winning them whether Toro was playing or not. But other than those matches, I'd say Cagliari home brace is the only useless two goal match (we were always winning that too even though he scored the winner). Empoli home and Cagliari away were not useless braces, important goals in matches we absolutely needed to win, specially the Empoli ones.

I'm not really seeing other useless goals than those 6 from him this season. I'd say other big goal tally (20+ goals) strikers score at least as many useless goals.
 

Jusef

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Objectively, the only real criticism that can be made against Lautaro are his penalty misses.

Inzaghi has to take blame for continuing to field an ineffective strike partnership. I believe the Lautaro-Dzeko failure is not speculative but real.

Also believe that Inter’s direct rivals would love to have a striker like Lautaro but for some reason is undervalued here.
 

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But the coach and Lautaro himself realized he's not good enough penalty taker so the responsibility was shifted from him to Calhanoglu. Can't respect enough Lautaro for accepting that. More proud guy wouldn't have done so. But Lautaro is Inter guy, he's more interested in winning than his own glory.
 

NimAraya

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I was also frustrated with Inzaghi starting Dzeko as a starter way too many times, but considering the state of our other strikers I'm not sure the outcome was going to be as different as some of you assume if Inzaghi was going to prefer Correa and Alexis over Dzeko (when they were match fit).

All our 4 forwards were under a lot of criticisms over the season. Every single one of them was asked to be benched by the fans. But the fact is they were all what Inzaghi had and he had to choose between what was available for him.

From a statistic and performance point of view it's hard to pick which one between Dzeko, Correa and Sanchez deserved to start alongside Lautaro; although Lautaro himself was underwhelming in several matches and fans wanted him benched.

At the end of day I think blaming Inzaghi for the failures because he preferred this striker to the other, when all 4 of them were criticized for their performance and lack of goals is unfair.
 

Il Drago

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Let's see teams Lautaro scored against:

Hellas Verona: 1 goal - 1-3 win
Sampdoria: 1 goal - 2-2
Bologna: 1 goal - 6-1 win
Atalanta: 1 goal - 2-2
Sassuolo: 1 goal - 1-2 win
Napoli: 1 goal - 3-2 win
Venezia: 1 goal - 0-2 win
Spezia: 1 goal - 2-0 win
Cagliari: 2 goals - 4-0 win
Salernitana: 1 goal - 0-5 win
Salernitana: 3 goals - 5-0 win
Spezia: 1 goal - 1-3 win
Roma: 1 goal - 3-1 win
Udinese: 1 goal - 1-2 win
Empoli: 2 goals - 4-2 win
Cagliari: 2 goals - 1-3 win

As for his runs:

5 goals in the first 6 matches, 5 goalless matches, 6 goals in the next 5 matches, 8 goalless matches, 3 goals in one match, 3 more goalless matches and 7 goals in the last 6 matches.

Let's see how it looks for Dzeko:

Genoa: 1 goal - 4-0 win
Bologna: 2 goals - 6-1 win
Fiorentina: 1 goal - 1-3 win
Atalanta: 1 goal - 2-2
Sassuolo: 1 goal - 1-2 win
Juventus: 1 goal - 1-1
Roma: 1 goal - 1-3 win
Venezia: 1 goal - 2-1 win
Napoli: 1 goal - 1-1
Salernitana: 2 goals - 5-0 win
Hellas Verona: 1 goal - 2-0 win

As for his runs, 7 goals in the first 9 matches, 6 goalless matches, 1 goal in one match, 4 goalless matches, 4 goals in 6 matches and just 1 goal in the next 10 matches. Dzeko started the season well but the more he played the worse he became and he has barely contributed in second round round. Just 5 league goals in 2022.

No one says Lautaro is perfect and our dream forward. We would all have liked him to be decisive in even more games. I raised the issue of his dry spells in a post few days ago:

Both Inter and Lautaro numbers look good but they don't tell the whole story. When Lautaro is in good form he's someone you can count on in attack. The problem with Lautaro is he's inconsistent and he has dry periods every season. That's when you need another forward to step up and share the burden in attack. Sadly we had none to do it in second round and that's when Scudetto was lost.

Sassuolo: 0 goals
Genoa: 0 goals
Torino: 1 goal
Fiorentina: 1 goal
Bologna: 1 goal

These were the matches where Scudetto was lost. No one stepped up in second round. Dzeko stats may look decent but since January he scored in just 4 matches. Correa hasn't scored since the doppietta against Udinese in October. Sanchez had just 3 goals since January. Defenders and midfielders contributed a bit here and there but none of them scored consistent enough.

It may sound ridiculous when we have the best attack of the league but we lost scudetto from attack. That's where we need to focus in the summer.

But for me Lautaro isn't the biggest problem of the attack. It's the lack of support from the other forwards. And my argument about asking from Lautaro to score 25-30 goals/season isn't out of love and obsession with stats. It's embracing reality. You need goals to win games. We're a team that usually doesn't get many goals from midfield. We're lucky Hakan ended up as good else the problem in attack would have been even bigger. But if the other 3 forwards don't have a big contribution then we basically demand from Lautaro to reach such high numbers. It's really that simple.
 

SiamoNoi

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I was also frustrated with Inzaghi starting Dzeko as a starter way too many times, but considering the state of our other strikers I'm not sure the outcome was going to be as different as some of you assume if Inzaghi was going to prefer Correa and Alexis over Dzeko (when they were match fit).

All our 4 forwards were under a lot of criticisms over the season. Every single one of them was asked to be benched by the fans. But the fact is they were all what Inzaghi had and he had to choose between what was available for him.

From a statistic and performance point of view it's hard to pick which one between Dzeko, Correa and Sanchez deserved to start alongside Lautaro; although Lautaro himself was underwhelming in several matches and fans wanted him benched.

At the end of day I think blaming Inzaghi for the failures because he preferred this striker to the other, when all 4 of them were criticized for their performance and lack of goals is unfair.
Well,maybe not but look at this:

Džeko played around 2500 minutes,Alexis and Correa both only around 900. I think we can all agree that like 900 minutes from Džeko should have gone to Alexis/Correa to see what we have there and is that combination working with Lautaro better. Inzaghi was too stubborn with Džeko and he was not that much better than this two that he is now having 1600 minutes more than they have after season is over. Sure,they had some problems with injuries but 1600 is still way too much.
 

NimAraya

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Well,maybe not but look at this:

Džeko played around 2500 minutes,Alexis and Correa both only around 900. I think we can all agree that like 900 minutes from Džeko should have gone to Alexis/Correa to see what we have there and is that combination working with Lautaro better. Inzaghi was too stubborn with Džeko and he was not that much better than this two that he is now having 1600 minutes more than they have after season is over. Sure,they had some problems with injuries but 1600 is still way too much.
Correa was out for 2 to 3 months I think. Not sure about how long Alexis was out, but we have to consider that when making comparisons about how much these 3 have played.

I think Correa was the most likely candidate to challenge Dzeko for a starting spot, but IMO his injuries had a significant impact on Inzaghi's decision to put his trust on Dzeko more.

I agree though that Dzeko was still given too many minutes, but the state of the other two strikers, both in performance and their availability had a hand on it.
 

rfU

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But for me Lautaro isn't the biggest problem of the attack. It's the lack of support from the other forwards. And my argument about asking from Lautaro to score 25-30 goals/season isn't out of love and obsession with stats. It's embracing reality. You need goals to win games. We're a team that usually doesn't get many goals from midfield. We're lucky Hakan ended up as good else the problem in attack would have been even bigger. But if the other 3 forwards don't have a big contribution then we basically demand from Lautaro to reach such high numbers. It's really that simple.

Just checked legaseriea.it, no Milan forward or player is in the top 10 for goals. Only Leao is in top 10 for assists (sitting 10th). We're number one for goals scored (by quite a margin) and only conceded 1 more than Milan (although IMO we should've conceded less). Instead of blaming Dzeko and the others for a lack of goals maybe the problem was lack of game management by Inzaghi and some of the senior players. There's no reason for Tomori or Kalulu to be more composed in pressure situations than DeFry, for example.
 

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I think Inzaghi has done really well in the circumstances. Especially when you consider the lack of depth on our bench.

In relation to Conte, I feel that the dip of form we had for a couple of months may not have lasted as long and the team may have turned things around sooner due to the way he motivates the players. However, that is by no means a certainty and there is no escaping the fact that our players were absolutely gassed during that period.

The significant difference between this season and last season is that we were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage which allowed us to solely focus on the Championship. This season, we did not have that luxury nor did we have the depth to manage the Champions League and the Scudetto at the same time.

One crushing thought I continue to have is whether we were only a decent striker away from winning this Championship. For example, if our frontline had been adequately reinforced with a player that could play alongside Lautaro and Inzaghi could have relied on that player instead of continually playing Dzeko, whether things would have been different for us.

I guess that is something we will never know.
 
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if our frontline had been adequately reinforced with a player that could play alongside Lautaro and Inzaghi could have relied on that player instead of continually playing Dzeko
caicedo-scaled-e1605027142991.jpg
 

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For me, another turning point this season was the fact that we couldn't reinforce our squad during the january mercato, it's a big blow for us, had we recruits couple of reliable starter that can boost our team performance, we will have kill the league sooner and it will help us a lot, especially during that nightmare period
Either suning was too naive considering our league position at that time or they simply don't have the money to do it, I simply don't know
If inter fail to retain the title then suning play a really big big part in it, they need to reflect and apologize to the fans
 
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Puma

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Suning's failures are twofold: not adequately reinforcing the squad in the Summer and then refusing to add any players in the Winter transfer window. I think the worst part about these failures is that we did not have a reliable and contributing striker to play alongside Martinez (even though Dzeko had done well in the first half of the season) as well added depth in midfield with the departure of Sensi and the non-contributors sitting on our bench (Vidal, Vecino and Gargliardini).

Just so we are clear, I am not saying that Sensi could have contributed because his injury woes prohibit him from being a reliable replacement for anyone in our midfield. However, I feel that the decision to loan him out and not even consider bringing in a replacement (even on loan) was a mistake and ensured that we would only be able to rely on the non-contributors.

I think Suning looked at the league standings over the Winter break and felt that we were well and truly in control and there was no need to reinforce the squad in any way. And given they are broke, it did not take much for them to come to that decision. But I feel that decision provides insight into how little they know about football and how they grossly underestimated our opponents (Milan and Napoli) at the time. Which in itself was a huge error.

Do not expect anything from Suning by way of an apology or explanation. They only things you can count on are: their being tigharsed during the offseason; and the likelihood of future departures to balance the books with little reinvestment.
 

Jusef

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I think Suning looked at the league standings over the Winter break and felt that we were well and truly in control and there was no need to reinforce the squad in any way. And given they are broke, it did not take much for them to come to that decision. But I feel that decision provides insight into how little they know about football and how they grossly underestimated our opponents (Milan and Napoli) at the time. Which in itself was a huge error.

It appears the management and the manager made same mistake and the winter window was mainly used to plan for the following season rather then the second half of the current season.
 

bubba zanetti

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It probably wouldn’t have 🤣😂 look at what he’s doing with that shitty Tottenham team!! But, I will say we’d have no other trophies cause he’s poor in knockout tournaments 😜
Shitty team roflmao Kane and Son worth more than our whole squad lol
 
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