STRAMA, MAKE A MOVE (OR THREE)
Moratti gives confidence but “must react right away.”
One – Find an precise technical identity and to stabilize the team.
Two – Change formation. Without Samuel, it is better to return to the back four.
Three – Believe in Kovacic. Has a lot of promises, is already a part of future.
STRAMALEONTE
MORATTI INTERVENES
The president presses: less changes in formation, defense of four, Kovacic as starter.
Meeting between the president and the coach who admitted that it was a mistake playing Schelotto from first minute.
And then on Milan: “Balotelli’s brace with help.”
Milan – Stramaccioni cannot be touched. But now he must find, fix and adjust the chord. Massimo Moratti confirmed his anger for Siena and also for the coach but the Inter president started the Stramaccioni-project and does not want to abandon it now. Consistency. In the meantime, however, the Inter boss wants more stimulus, teaching, an identity of a winning team that should no longer be a patchwork of formations. Stramaccioni has been using a lot of different formations and now he needs a fixed system. “The confidence in the coach – said Moratti – is certainly still there. But you must work hard to solve these things. Must also be careful and defend the attacks, especially by those closest. Am I referring to Milan? No.” The many critics that Inter have especially after Siena match should serve as motivation to reactivate the Nerazzurri again.
How many times Inter have changed in the past month and a half. From left, the 3-4-3 on December 22 against Genoa (1-1). Then the 3-4-2-1 in Coppa Italia with Roma (1-2) on January 23. And the 4-4-2 on January 27 in Inter 2-2 Torino. Finally, the 3-4-1-2 in Siena 3-1 Inter on February 3.
Samuel and four The conversation that (after Siena) Moratti and Stramaccioni had was about problem analysis, to find the strength to restart the engine. The club first of all, must find a single unique identity, not to be a multifaceted team. In short: Inter must be the team that makes the first moves and not only waiting for the rivals to make their moves and then design tactical counter moves. In the last month and a half, Strama has made a lot of changes (albeit there were many injuries) but now what this club needs is stability. “Things are not going well – said the president – but the players, individually, are good and Stramaccioni, in whom I trust, is intelligent. If things do not go well, it is him the devil: he is learning. Now he must return and make this machine running again: just one victory would be enough to change everything. Pessimism is not needed.” In this machine, there is the question of defense. Three or four? The three-man defense is predominantly in the mind of Stramaccioni but the latest thought is to go back to a back four until Samuel is available again. Because Samuel is the king of three-man defense and the Argentinian would be able to provide protection and some of these allowed goals recently could have been avoided.
Mistakes and Schelotto The Inter number one on March 2012 picked Stramaccioni and with him, Moratti wants to continue going forward. “I had a chat with Stramaccioni – confirmed Moratti -. How did he explain the defeat in Siena? If the players described it as ugly then well… that explains it. We all saw the match, so let’s just say that we fell victim to the pace of our opponents. As for the rest, I’m not a coach so I can’t provide further explanation. The two from Eastern Europe did very well, but I have to say a bit less so from Schelotto. It wasn’t his fault however, as he hadn’t played for a month. He tried, but it’s not the player’s fault if he didn’t turn in the greatest performance.” Strama and Moratti talked about everything on the phone and the coach admitted the mistake of playing Schelotto from the very first minute. Mistakes that need to be learned. “Referee was a factor? In part, yes, but that’s certainly not what caused this defeat.” Using an excuse like this would make Inter look more bad although it is true that there should have been a penalty.
Champions and Kovacic In all of this, the Champions League is too important for the future of Inter: question of prestige, income, appeal for big signings in July. Meanwhile, Massimo Moratti also sees an Inter focusing and building around Mateo Kovacic, a talent that despite his young age of 18 years old is already wearing the number 10 shirt. Because the kid is worth it. “Kovacic is a very promising talent who is already playing at high level. He will contribute in building the future project.” And the resurrection.