Race for CL: The Next 7 Weeks

[Bluenine]

Stupid Roma losing to Lazio (at HT) to ruin our weekend (Anderson with a good goal and an assist). Viola are also winning against Palermo.

But good game from Inter today. We played like a team, started the game off well, and did enough in the 2nd half even though we lost intensity. The teamwork is getting there.

1 W, 6 more to go! Forza Inter!!

 

[Bluenine]

Just to track progress of our 7 week opportunity to get back into CL race contention, after the first week, its going as per plan:

Note: The points in green are estimates, while the ones in black (shaded in sky blue columns) are actual points. The variance tells us how each team is doing compared to estimates from the beginning.

All contenders performed as per estimate, apart from Napoli who got 1 point less than expected. So its looking good for us so far, we are on track to be within 3 points of a CL spot by end of Feb. 1 week down, 6 more to go!

I will track our progress every week till the end of Feb over this crucial period.

 

[Bluenine]

Updated tracker:

Inter faltering, and while we have reduced the gap to 3rd place to 7 points in the last two weeks, we are actually worse off. That is because Napoli are performing better than expected, and now are expected to match Inter in the next 5 games. 7 points may be too much to recover in the final 14 games, specially because our run in is harder than Napolis'. If we don't win the next two games, this tracker may become pointless.

The only consolation, Milan are doing even worse than us

The next week's fixtures present another opportunity to gain on our rivals. Torino is not an easy game, but Fiorentina, Milan, & Lazio have tougher games.

 

[RubItAppianoGentile]

I don't think Napoli has an easy run in the next five matches. They'll play against Genoa (with Perrotti back) and against an in-form Sassuolo. Those games can easily be draws, given the inconsistency Napoli has had this season. You may think they are having a good run and bip bap... they draw or lose an unexpected game.

The difference is their inconsistency is the least of all the teams between 3rd and 10th place (that's why they are 3rd... duh). What we need, is to have good 5-7 game run and we catch up Napoli and Lazio. Will we do it?? Fuck no...

My realistic prediction: 5th place
My optimistic prediction: 3rd place
My pesimistic prediction: 7th place (even by being pesimistic, I am pretty sure we'll finish above Milan )

 

[Bluenine]

I don't think Napoli has an easy run in the next five matches. They'll play against Genoa (with Perrotti back) and against an in-form Sassuolo. Those games can easily be draws, given the inconsistency Napoli has had this season. You may think they are having a good run and bip bap... they draw or lose an unexpected game.

I am talking about Napoli having an easier run in than Inter AFTER the next 5 games. In the next 5 games, Napoli have more or less a similar run in as Inter.

 

[RubItAppianoGentile]

I am talking about Napoli having an easier run in than Inter AFTER the next 5 games. In the next 5 games, Napoli have more or less a similar run in as Inter.

Oh.. ok then, my bad.

 

[Aliano]

We will be in trouble to qualify for EL let alone 3rd spot.
This situation reminds me of 2 seasons ago when Ranieri left the club.We only need a miracle to reach 3rd place.Almost impossible.

 

[Kraits]

My realistic prediction: 5th place
My optimistic prediction: 3rd place
My pesimistic prediction: 7th place (even by being pesimistic, I am pretty sure we'll finish above Milan )

+1

 

[Black Knight]

How are things looking atm?

 

[.h.]

this thread is just beyond now.

6 wins out of 7, really?

 

[Bluenine]

How are things looking atm?

Well, I guess we don't have to wait till end of Feb... we are out of the race now.

Next season will be our season :chan:

 

[sanka]

Still we're -7 from the 3rd.

 

[JJM]

Still we're -7 from the 3rd.

-8 actually

 

[A.l.i]

We can't even win 3 matches in a row and want the CL.

 

[Bluenine]

Yes, and we will "only" be -10 down if Napoli win tomorrow. But these were the games where we had an opportunity to catch up, not fall further behind. It will take a fucking miracle for Inter to compete for CL this season now... only a 7-8 game winning run will do, and I just don't see that happening, specially when the tougher games come our way.

 

[A.l.i]

Yes, and we will "only" be -10 down if Napoli win tomorrow. But these were the games where we had an opportunity to catch up, not fall further behind. It will take a fucking miracle for Inter to compete for CL this season now... only a 7-8 game winning run will do, and I just don't see that happening, specially when the tougher games come our way.

The only hope is through the Europa League.

 

[Pajo]

I gave up. Better channel all the strength in EL, we MIGHT have some chance there if we play at our best.

 

[El Matador]

Not necessarily, the target was 17-19 points. If we win the next 4 games that means we've accumulated 16 points out of 21. That's not a bad return. It would also mean we have a 4 game win streak and a lot of momentum heading into the difficult games we have. At this point I'd be ridiculous and delusional to think we could actually pull a 4 win streak seeing as we can't even get a 2 win streak. But it's also the same for the players, they also have the same mental block that they can't win 6 consecutive points. Our next 2 matches are both home games. Winning them is crucial. That should set the benchmark for our champions league challenge. I know that it's farfetched now but there's still 18 games to play. If we can get a good run going(I repeat I know we haven't been able to in a long time) then it's possible. I'm very optimistic in the case of inter, but I will join your side if we fail to win the next 2 games.

We managed to identify our problems, we don't have a solid back line, we need a full back, and we need a midfielder. We managed to get Brozovic, who i'm sure we all don't know anything about. Lets just hope he turns out to be our guy. We can't really go across the forums calling someone mediocre without even seeing him play. He's highly rated in Croatia and he has a place in the national team at a young age and in a midfield that's difficult to break into. If we manage to get Murillo and a full back then I'm sure we can pull our asses out of this mess, especially if Shaqiri starts from here on out. Mancini also has to show strong character to bench one of Palacio or Podolski, they are both very useless on the same team.

Ofcourse there's also the Europa league, which I believe we have a good shot at winning if we somehow manage to compensate our promise for podolski(maybe with cash? idk) but we need Shaqiri. Lets just be optimistic man. I'm telling you if we fail to win the next two games then we start giving up. You saw what happened to us, most teams park the bus against teams like Inter etc.. so really anything can happen even Napoli can drop points from a random team if the same strategy is applied to them by smaller teams.

 

[Kraits]

Na, we still have some rubbish teamwork and mentality.. Although it's improving.. I am happy with 5th spot at the end of the season

 

[A.l.i]

Please delete this thread. Its embarrassing.