Radja Nainggolan

[Ronaldo]

If Nainggolan arrives than great but if doesnt i wont be beating myself. I know everyone says we need a defensive midfielders but for me an attacking one is important. IMO, our biggest problem is creating chances for the strikers. Im fed up with useless long balls from the defense to forwards. We need someone who can deliver the ball to the forwards. Yes, we have Guarin but he is, one, inconsistent, two, only one attacking minded midfielder is not enough. What if he stops performing or gets injured.

Yes, with Nainggolan our defense would be more stable but he wont be able to take our strikers out of isolation and that for me is the main problem.

 

[Pajo]

Lets agree to disagree then. I'd say every team need player like Nainggolan.

 

[.h.]

what is pretty much inherently true is that you win nothing whilst conceding 57 goals a season, no matter how many you score.

I've always been in favour of fixing our defense first. I dont give a fuck about our attack until that is sorted.

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I'd also rather have isolated attackers than isolated defenders. Isolated attackers need to get lucky once or twice a game (as we saw last season), and its something we're capable of. Even the worst inter we put out last year managed to score a few goals.

Isolated defenders need to get lucky every time. And the worst inter we put out last year shipped quite a few goals.

 

[JJM]

Cellino said he ain't selling 9ggolan to Roma because they first talked with the player and now they sent him a ridiculous offer.

but watch our clowns fuck this up nonetheless

 

[northx57]

I think all scenarios have been covered in the last few days:

Nainggolan to Roma is done
Roma is very close to signing Nainggolan
Roma has no agreement with Nainggolan
Roma has the advantage over Inter for Nainggolan
Inter is meeting with Nainggolan
Nainggolan to Roma is done
Cagliari rejects Roma's offer
Signing Nainggolan will be hard for Inter
Thohir will help Inter get Nainggolan
Nainggolan to Roma is done
Moratti says there is no battle between Inter and Roma for Nainggolan

Every transfer saga turns into a fucking circus.

 

[Ojap]

what is pretty much inherently true is that you win nothing whilst conceding 57 goals a season, no matter how many you score.

I've always been in favour of fixing our defense first. I dont give a fuck about our attack until that is sorted.

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I'd also rather have isolated attackers than isolated defenders. Isolated attackers need to get lucky once or twice a game (as we saw last season), and its something we're capable of. Even the worst inter we put out last year managed to score a few goals.

Isolated defenders need to get lucky every time. And the worst inter we put out last year shipped quite a few goals.

It doesnt work like that... Having a proper offense and midfielders who can properly hold onto the ball, pass and move it forward greatly helps with taking pressure of the defense.

Part of the reason we conceded so many goals last season was exactly our offensive movement and transition phase was a complete disaster, there was no real threat so the opposing team could just hold a very high defensive line without much danger. No matter how good defensively your players are they will concede if they are overrun for 90 minutes with very little proper offensive play to relieve pressure and allowing to reorganize.

Last season we scored the lowest amount of goals we have done since the 00/01 season and back then the league only had 18 teams.

You cant just "fix" the defense by hauling in more defensive minded players, to fix the defense you need to fix the offense.

 

[.h.]

It doesnt work like that... Having a proper offense and midfielders who can properly hold onto the ball, pass and move it forward greatly helps with taking pressure of the defense.

Part of the reason we conceded so many goals last season was exactly our offensive movement and transition phase was a complete disaster, there was no real threat so the opposing team could just hold a very high defensive line without much danger. No matter how good defensively your players are they will concede if they are overrun for 90 minutes with very little proper offensive play to relieve pressure and allowing to reorganize.

Last season we scored the lowest amount of goals we have done since the 00/01 season and back then the league only had 18 teams.

You cant just "fix" the defense by hauling in more defensive minded players, to fix the defense you need to fix the offense.

I disagree. Infact, simply wrong.

Look at all the best teams in history. Arsenal and Liverpool in the 80s, Inter in the 60s, etc. They are all built on top class defenses.

The reason why our defense was so poor last season was the lack of cover from defensive midfield. From the Tottenham game (where 2 of the 3 goals conceded were in some way Cambiasso's fault) to later games where people like Gargano had just given up, the lack of defensive cover in midfield was the issue. A few brainfarts every now and then from the defense in itself, but otherwise.

Tony Adams once said "At Arsenal, if you were good, you learned how to defend 4 v 7 and keep a clean sheet."
As Bobby Moore said, "If you never concede a goal, you're going to win more games than you lose"


Our defensive midfield coverage was FUCKED last season. Transition doesnt actually matter - look at us under Mancini - if you have enough defensively capable people in midfield. Mourinho's single most important aspect of his game was the defensive aspect.


Defense comes first from midfield, and after, the defenders. If your first line of defense is your defense, then you're already fucked.


A proper DM, first, and then we can worry about the offensive phase.


Look at all the best catenaccio teams. Look at Mourinho's teams. Look at why Real Madrid failed so miserably after the sale of Makelele - teams have to be built on solid defensive foundations. And a solid defensive foundation is NOT just the two CBs, but rather, the DM you use with them as well.

Since Cambiasso's "fall from grace" we haven't had a great defensive midfielder. Gargano was fail, Mudingayi is mediocre and will remain so. Once we have the solid triangle CB-CB, DMC, then we can talk about the rest of it. We already have a good young regista, a good clinical striker and so on, and Guarin who is capable of performing...

 

[Wobblz]

If it was this simple and all black and white...

Mourinho's Inter had a machine-like defense and yet we had killer counter-attacks. One without the other wouldn't work and those examples you give aren't applicable to modern football this much. A solid defense is a great thing to have but in reality if the opponent can't smell the ball with the tiki-taka or you have a monstrous attack as Bayern have, even Juves midfield dynamism are much more important than having the best defense around. Simply because relying on the defense is a gamble in which the bad outcome means you conceded and that doesn't get you closer to winning games.

Actually we relied much on the defense previous seasons and it worked quite good in the beginning of this season, for example, Milan on the other hand bet on the attack and we all know how this ended. Provided both midfields are so-so, I'm not in a mood to make player-by-player comparisons.

The golden rule - offense is the best defense is still true.

 

[jmaster]

Are we signing this chinese player or not?

Could turn into new Palacio or new Paulinho

 

[.h.]

If it was this simple and all black and white...

Mourinho's Inter had a machine-like defense and yet we had killer counter-attacks. One without the other wouldn't work and those examples you give aren't applicable to modern football this much. A solid defense is a great thing to have but in reality if the opponent can't smell the ball with the tiki-taka or you have a monstrous attack as Bayern have, even Juves midfield dynamism are much more important than having the best defense around. Simply because relying on the defense is a gamble in which the bad outcome means you conceded and that doesn't get you closer to winning games.

Actually we relied much on the defense previous seasons and it worked quite good in the beginning of this season, for example, Milan on the other hand bet on the attack and we all know how this ended. Provided both midfields are so-so, I'm not in a mood to make player-by-player comparisons.

The golden rule - offense is the best defense is still true.

Sure, I agree, we had killer counter attacks, but our defense was the crux still. We conceeded 34 goals that season - less than one a match - and scored 75. Milan the year after conceeded 24, but scored 65 (less than Inter, who came 2nd. Same as Udinese, who came 4th, but conceded 43 instead of 24). In 2012 Juventus scored 6 less than Milan, but conceded 13 less to win by 4 points. Even last year, Juventus (71) scored less than Napoli (73) and Fiorentina (72) and equal to Roma (71), but it was the defense where they win (24 vs 36, 44, and 45 respectively)

A good team has always been built in the back.


Bayern this year conceded 18 goals..


Champions are defined by goals conceded, not goals scored.

The only except I can find to that recently is last year in the Bundesliga with Bayern conceding less than Dortmund, and Atleticdo this season with 31


Of course you dont win games without scoring - never saying that hasnt been true - but in defense you have to be lucky EVERY time. In attack you only have to be lucky a few times.

I'm, again, not talking about individual players in defense, but actually the crux to a good defense is a good DMC. We don't really appreciate this because we had Cambiasso - who is one of the most intelligent readers of the game in that position - for a very long time. Now he starts to be not so good, we start to concede by the bucket.

Like I said, Makelele @ Real is a perfect example of that, too.

http://www.thefalse9.com/2011/06/makelele-role.html

“We will not miss Makelele. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn’t a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres.”

From Perez

“Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?”

From Zidane.

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what he actually does, as well, is he complements the attacking side. They dont have to come back as much because they know they can trust the 5 defenders to take care of problems. that is why great teams train to defend with 4 players - you use the DMC to break up play, and if they get past him, you can defend the last few with 4. You dont need to defend with 8 or 9 (like we do), because you're a well drilled unit, and not constantly under pressure.

This is why Gargano was actually very close to what we needed. But his inability to pass the ball more than 2 yards with any consistency killed us, because theres no point having a great DMC who can break up play just to pass the ball back to the opposition.

 

[Wobblz]

You look at one side of the problem again.

How is the other team supposed to score when they're under constant threat themselves? That's why Bayern conceded so little - if you open up play against them you're dead. Put Silvestre and Granqvist in defense there and they still are going to win 99% of the matches they'd otherwise win. FFS Neuer did a training session by the post during a match so he doesn't freeze.

 

[.h.]

You look at one side of the problem again.

How is the other team supposed to score when they're under constant threat themselves? That's why Bayern conceded so little - if you open up play against them you're dead. Put Silvestre and Granqvist in defense there and they still are going to win 99% of the matches they'd otherwise win. FFS Neuer did a training session by the post during a match so he doesn't freeze.

No, I agree, pressure in possession is VERY important.

But with both the attack and defense broken, I want the defense fixed first.

As I said

I'd rather have isolated attackers than isolated defenders. Once the defense looks healthier (e.g. with a good DM), we can worry about why our attack is having problems.

 

[pencilpal]

We need a hard tackling enforcer in the defensive midfield, a Makélelé of sorts.
I think that's clear now.

Capoué, M'vila, Luiz Gustavo, Song, maybe even Álvaro Gonzalez for economy; these are all players we desperately need to be linked to.

Nainggolan, on the other hand, would be a great replacement for Guarin if we sell him, and we would even get some money back in the process.

 

[Pajo]

We need a hard tackling enforcer in the defensive midfield, a Makélelé of sorts.
I think that's clear now.

Capoué, M'vila, Luiz Gustavo, Song, maybe even Álvaro Gonzalez for economy; these are all players we desperately need to be linked to.

Nainggolan, on the other hand, would be a great replacement for Guarin if we sell him, and we would even get some money back in the process.

Really?

 

[pencilpal]

Really?

Of course the other names there would be much more favourable to have here at Inter, but I wouldn't say that Song is a bad player at all.

And remember the names on the list are not the point.

Rather, it (the point) was our need for someone to occupy the CDM position as a destroyer.

 

[Pharaoh]

Song is wildly overrated, laziest defender ever. I can't stand him, not even a true DM


Edit: and he would be horrible to fill that spot, we'd be just as lost as we were this year.

The reason why our defense got screwed last year was because we had to rely on cambi to move forward cuz he was the only one with a clue on what runs/movement to pursue, but the downfall was that he was too old and didn't have the pace/stamina to run back leaving the defense exposed

 

[homaru]

Song is wildly overrated, laziest defender ever. I can't stand him, not even a true DM

Song is a good player, but should not be played in a holding role. With his long range of passing and great vision, Song should be played in a regista role alongside a DM. I think that we should let Kovacic play in the regista role so he can progress as a footballer; we just need a DM to support him and protect the defense. Therefore, we shouldn't buy Song, because we would not play him in the role that he is suited for.

 

[Pajo]

Of course the other names there would be much more favourable to have here at Inter, but I wouldn't say that Song is a bad player at all.

And remember the names on the list are not the point.

Rather, it (the point) was our need for someone to occupy the CDM position as a destroyer.

I wasn't laughing about the players, some are great and some i haven't seen enough, i was laughing about Song, who's far from good defender, and yet, you mention him as a holding DM. He can be great DLP, or b2b, but definitely not a a DM.

 

[.h.]

Th problem I personally have is I dont know who I would suggest as a DM. Nainggolan is as close as I'm aware, sadly. But past him... I really dont know off the top of my head.

 

[Ojap]

Look at all the best teams in history. Arsenal and Liverpool in the 80s, Inter in the 60s, etc. They are all built on top class defenses.

The reason why our defense was so poor last season was the lack of cover from defensive midfield. From the Tottenham game (where 2 of the 3 goals conceded were in some way Cambiasso's fault) to later games where people like Gargano had just given up, the lack of defensive cover in midfield was the issue. A few brainfarts every now and then from the defense in itself, but otherwise.

Tony Adams once said "At Arsenal, if you were good, you learned how to defend 4 v 7 and keep a clean sheet."
As Bobby Moore said, "If you never concede a goal, you're going to win more games than you lose"


Our defensive midfield coverage was FUCKED last season. Transition doesnt actually matter - look at us under Mancini - if you have enough defensively capable people in midfield. Mourinho's single most important aspect of his game was the defensive aspect.


Defense comes first from midfield, and after, the defenders. If your first line of defense is your defense, then you're already fucked.


A proper DM, first, and then we can worry about the offensive phase.


Look at all the best catenaccio teams. Look at Mourinho's teams. Look at why Real Madrid failed so miserably after the sale of Makelele - teams have to be built on solid defensive foundations. And a solid defensive foundation is NOT just the two CBs, but rather, the DM you use with them as well.

Since Cambiasso's "fall from grace" we haven't had a great defensive midfielder. Gargano was fail, Mudingayi is mediocre and will remain so. Once we have the solid triangle CB-CB, DMC, then we can talk about the rest of it. We already have a good young regista, a good clinical striker and so on, and Guarin who is capable of performing...

All the best teams in history? Give me a break, Barca in recent years and the dream team in 90's? Bayern in the 70's ect ect?

Do you think Inter in the 60's would have been succesfull without the likes of Suarez, Jair, Mazzola, Corso ect ect All midfielders who were extremely good offensively and capable of scoring goals. Mentioning 60's Inter actually completely shows my point, you dont need to haul defensive minded players all over the pitch to do well defensively. You can have a defensive minded approach with very offensively capable players.

You view on the game is way too black & white.