sorry i just saw the link above, guardian sports
inter's season all over by Christmas - again
Morale is at rock bottom, star players aren't performing, and the club is already out of the race for the scudetto. Another typical season for Inter then, suggests James Richardson. It's all over for Inter, all over again. On Saturday night, an injury-stricken Lazio held Roberto Mancini's side to a fast-paced but goalless draw, signalling the end of yet another brave stab at staying in contention until Christmas. Coupled with the results from Milan and Juventus, who romped through their matches against Udinese and Livorno 5-1 and 3-0 respectively, the result left Inter lying 10 points off the pace and they, of all people, are not coming back from that. Sounds bold? It really isn't. While Mancini may still bluster about being "back in contention by Christmas", we've all been here before - the big summer signings, the impressive pre-season games, the slow decline as soon as the real season kicks in. Ruling Inter out is actually as daring as tipping a David to be the next Tory leader - so let's get ahead for once, and start writing Inter off already for next season. After all, it clearly doesn't matter who they buy over next summer, nor who is managing them, they'll either blow up or slowly deflate way before Santa comes down the chimney in 2006.
Dennis Bergkamp, Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, Roberto Carlos, Christian Vieri, Seba Veron, Luis Figo, Adriano; no man, not even Roman Abramovich has splashed out the money Inter owner Massimo Moratti has on his side, and what has this decade of stars achieved for them? One Uefa Cup. It's the same story for the managers; from Gigi Simoni - fired on the day he received Manager of the Year - to Marcello Lippi, a man who's won everywhere in his career, even at bankrupt Napoli, but couldn't shake the disease at Inter.
Mancini's continuing the tradition nicely. Here's a man who, brief move to Leicester aside, always seemed a smart cookie. But on Saturday he picked his knackered old chum Sinisa Mihajlovic ahead of snarling Walter Samuel at centre-back and, when it came to replacing Adriano in the second half, chose Alvaro Recoba when Julio Cruz was sitting right next to him on the bench.
To put this in its full ghastly perspective, Cruz is Inter's one in-form forward, scorer of eight goals so far despite starting less frequently than an Austin Morris/Leyland truck/Fiat 500. Above all, Cruz is the man who saved Inter's bacon just three days before in the Champions League, coming on and scoring two goals against Porto. Had Mancini forgotten that? WHAT IS GOING ON?
And that's not all (pause while writer takes pills and recommences). For while Cruz was saving the day last Wednesday, Recoba was storming out of the San Siro in a huff because the manager had used his last substitution. Instead of being told to stay at home, he gets to come on ahead of Cruz on Saturday, which surely can't help Inter's already fractured team discipline? To quote the Gazzetta Dello Sport, it's "inexplicable; an affront not just to football, but to ethics itself".
And it's not just the papers saying it either. Remember Veron two weeks back, after Adriano's unscheduled trip to Rio saw him turn up at the San Siro ten minutes from full-time? "While players do what they like we'll never win anything," predicted Seba - and they won't; not this year, and not the next either.
wow ....
