Serie A/Day 1 - Chievo vs Inter: Match Preview

[Frisko]

Inter kick off the 2004/2005 season on Saturday 11 September, 6pm CET, in Verona against Chievo.

The 2 teams have changed quite a bit since last season; Chievo have lost coach Gigi Del Neri, and Perrotta, one of the key players for them. Inter has changed a lot, especially in midfield.

Inter started the last 2 Serie A campaigns at the S. Siro, struggling both times: we beat Torino 1-0 in 2002/03 thank to a Vieri header, and Modena 2-0 in 2003/04, thanks to a gol from Vieri and a Materazzi free kick, but the goals came very late in the second half.

HISTORY Last year we won 2-0 in Verona, Vieri and Recoba the scorers. It was the 2nd game with Zaccheroni in charge, after the 0-0 with Roma in Milan. That was the start of a great period, during which Inter achieved 6 consecutive wins. It was a totally different story at the S. Siro: the game ended 0-0, during a period of total crisis: before meeting Chievo, Inter had previously lost 3 consecutive games at the S. Siro, against Udinese, Milan and Brescia, and 4-1 against Roma at the Olimpico.

In total Inter and Chievo have met 6 times in Serie A, with a very even outcome: 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses.

Inter away record during 2003/04: 8 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses.

Chievo home record during 2003/04: 5 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses.

Chievo is one of Vieri's favourite targets, he scored many goals against them.

Inter should look at this game with confidence. They achieved a great result at the S. Siro against Basel. Apart from Cannavaro, the transfers market has been perfect. Inter has a lot of choice in midfield now, lots of options, but they still managed to reduced the total amount of the wages by 40 million euros.

Stankovic and Adriano are the player to watch. They've been unstoppable in the pre-season, and they look like Inter's leaders, together with Capitano, of course.

PROBABLE STARTING 11:

TOLDO

J ZANETTI--CORDOBA--MATERAZZI--FAVALLI

ZE MARIA--DAVIDS--VERON--STANKOVIC

ADRIANO--RECOBA

There are some doubts though: Pasquale has been playing a lot in the latest friendly games. Still, Favalli started for Italy in yesterday's World Cup qualifier, so I expect him to start as LB.

Then there's Vieri: he's getting back to 100% form, but still I don't expect him to start, Mancini should play safe and let Recoba start. We must keep in mind that Inter will play at the S. Siro against W. Bremen on 14 September.

My Prediction.

We should win comfortably. We really need a good start, and we just need to do the same as we did against Basel in Milan: go for it straight away, attack them and get an early goal, possibly within the first 20 minutes. Then we should be able to control the game and seal the victory.

My Man of the Match:: I think it's going to be Dejan Stankovic. He's on fire, and with Adriano just back from Brasil, Stanko should be the star of the game.

We must watch out for...: silly mistakes in defence. We surely did some of them in the friendly games, and against Basel as well. Thank God Toldone was in great form.

Players I would like to see coming in as sub: Emre. I hope he can come on in place of Veron. I hope Kily will come in as well, since he's reported to be in good form after a very positive Olympic tournament.

 

[Gismo]

Nice Preview. :star:

 

[Fabio]

Nice preview Francesco,I might as well not make another post so here is my match preview:

Inter vs Chievo

The 11th of September is a very important day for Inter fans.The 11th of September is the day where Inters new quest for the scudetto begins,it is the day that months of preparation in transfers,pre-season training and friendly match come to its climax...

It will be the match where the first kicks of Serie A - and of Inters title campaign will be.Chievo vs Inter at the Stadio Bentegodi is sure to be a cracker of a match where a very competitive team in Chievo will attempt to unstable an Inter who will be pushing for trophies this season.

The fact that players with the calibre and talent of C.Zanetti,Vieri and Emre will most probably be left on bench is a statement that must strike fear into the minds of Chievo fans and players alike.And there are other several good omens for Inter too. Inters last season away record (8 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses) is better to Chievos home record last season (5 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses)meaning that on last seasons home and away form Inter are the favourites. Also Chievo Verona always seem to fall at the feet of Christian Vieri, the big striker loves to score against the Flying Donkeys – and he will be looking to get another goal whether he starts on the field or comes on from the bench.

To add to Chievos problems,the fact that they are still a relatively small resourced club means that they are also a selling club.This season alone inspirational manager Luigi Del Neri has departed from the club,star player Simone Perrotta finally moved - to Roma,Massimo Marazzina left to Torino,Giuseppe Sculli went to Brescia and others too have left.Arriving at Verona some players have too,Mario Beretta is the new man in charge,while Simone Tiribocchi,Sergio Marcon and Davide Mandelli will now play for the flying donkeys.

However on the black and blue side we have Inter a team whos pre season has gone very well bar one or two mishaps.With quality stars such as Nicolas Burdisso,Edgar Davids,Seba' Veron among others joining the team and the more unneeded players such as Okan, Lamouchi, Zicu, Dalmat and Ventola being sold or loaaned out,the team hasn't particular cut down the squad size.Instead it's just vastly improved its quality!

However arguably Inters worst sales were made in defence.Hard-as-nails defender Daniele Adani departed to near Brescia and the teams most high profile central defender - Fabio Cannavaro left to arch rivals,Juventus.These departures have left Inter with 5 central defenders.Basically 4 considering the hatred that many people have for neo-nerazzurri Sinisa Mihajlovic!

The two clubs who have a very equal record against eachother(2 wins each and 2 draws) will play in Verona at the Stadio Bentegodi,not a stadium that is well known for full crowds orgreat atmospheres the Bentegodi can still make for some intimidating matches against the big clubs:

The (probable) line ups:

Cheivo Verona(The Flying donkeys)

--------------------MARCHEGIANI--------------------
----MORO----MANDELLI----D'ANNA----LANNA----
--LUCIANO--DI DONATO--BARONIO--SEMIOLI--
-------------AMAURI-------PELLISSIER-------------

Internazionale FC(The Nerazzurri)

-----------------------TOLDO-----------------------
--ZANETTI--CORDOBA--MATERAZZI--FAVALLI--
--ZE MARIA--DAVIDS----VERON--STANKOVIC--
--------------ADRIANO------MARTINS--------------

However these tactics are not a rock solid conclusion because just 3 days after on the 14th of September Inter have a crucial home game at the San Siro against German Champions Werder Bremen in the Champions League. So if Mancini does take caution to some of his players, possible changes could be – Burdisso playing instead of Cordoba/Materazzi, Pasquale playing instead of Favalli, Emre playing instead of Veron and Vieri playing instead of Adriano. Although these options do seem unlikely, coach Roberto Mancini may want to preserve his star players for Tuesday.

Prediction:

An easy win by a two or three goal margin for Inter.Even though it seems quite drastic for the first match of the season,Inter easily have it in them and will unleash all their attack on the poor falling donkeys.This is a must win game for Inter because the other big clubs also have winnable games – Milan play Livorno and Juventus play Brescia.

Man of the match:

It's going to have to be Adriano because if we score quite alot of goals the Brazilian wonder will most probably be one of the biggest protagonists!

Beware of:

Chievo down the wings!With talents such as Luciano and Semioli storming down the wings,our fullbacks cannot be too careless,especially when they are on the attack.They’re not called the Flying donkeys for nothing you know?

Inters substitutes who could change the match:

We will have players such as Emre,Vieri and Kily on the bench meaning that if we are in any spot of bother it is not all over yet!



How was that?

Fabio 2

 

[Frisko]

I agree that we should respect Chievo. But hey guys, let's face it: we must not worry too much! If we are to challege Milan for the tiltle, we must win in Verona, and do it without problems. Take a look at our first 10 games in Serie A.

CHIEVO vs INTER
INTER vs PALERMO
ATALANTA vs INTER Difficult away game
INTER vs PARMA We're historically strong at the S Siro against Parma but this is no easy task
ROMA vs INTER We got hammered 4-1 there last year
INTER vs UDINESE We got beaten 2-1 last year, and same the year before
MILAN vs INTER No need to say anything here
LECCE vs INTER One of the most difficult away games (even if they have Zeman now )
INTER vs LAZIO We should destroy them
FIORENTINA vs INTER Hard away game

So you see, there aren't going to be many easy games this season. Chievo is a must-win game. We shouldn't underestimate them, but we must be convinced that we're much stronger than them. We gotta be the lions, and they're going to the zebras (hehehe nice one Frisko! :dielaugh: ).

I hope Martins will start Fabio, that would be great!

Brighi is at Chievo now, I'm not sure but I think I heard positive stuff about him? I think he's a former Gobbo?

 

[Gismo]

2 good Previews... Who´s next?

 

[Frisko]

How about you write a preview Gismo, you lazy thing!! :dielaugh:

 

[Fabio]

Yeah surely you're capable of writing a decent piece of text on the match!

Fabio 2

 

[Gismo]

Oh what the hell... I´ll do it the day after tomorrow. But only if you promise not to laugh at it if you don´t like it... :embarass::redface:

 

[Fabio]

Oh what the hell... I´ll do it the day after tomorrow. But only if you promise not to laugh at it if you don´t like it... :embarass::redface:

OK I won't!

Fabio

 

[Frisko]

I'm not promising squat! :dielaugh:

 

[Jimmy]

I will take a look at Gismo´s match-preview, and choose between these as the OFFICIAL match-preview of this site and Only Inter. Considering that Frisko did the Basel one, it would be the most fair if either Gismo´s or Fabio´s was chosen.

 

[Frisko]

Fabio and Gismo, since one of your reviews is going to be in the FI site, feel free to add some of the stats from my post to your posts if you like

 

[Gismo]

Sure, Frisko. Since my cat had a world record fever for cats (42 C) I won´t be able to play Billard. Hence freeing up some time today. But then I´m feeling a little sick myself too... I´d say there is 50% chance I will do it today.

And sure I´ll add the stats.

Jimmy, how many words are expected in a preview?

 

[Fabio]

I have now updated my preview,and Gismo my preview has 784 words!

Fabio 2

 

[Gismo]

Autumn has given it´s marvelous gifts again. And soon it will give us the season premiere of Serie A, the best league in the world. So many expectations, fears and anticipation is filling the air. The first game of them all will be Chievo – Inter. At Bentegodi stadium the Flying Donkeys will host Inter. Indeed a tough nut to crack for Chievo. But as shown in the past they never fail to surprise. However Inter´s squad, coach and staff are so much superior than Chievo´s that a win should be expected.

Last year Vieri and Recoba secured a 2-0 win at this very stadium. It was Zaccheroni´s second game in charge of Inter and was the start of an impressive winning streak. In total Inter won 6 consecutive matches in Serie A. At home Inter struggled and scraped a 0-0 draw. That was later in the season where the Nerazzurri had found themselves in a crisis.

In total Inter and Chievo have meet each other six times in the Italian top flight. Both teams collecting two wins each and two draws. Doesn´t get more equal than that...

Vieri simply loves meeting Chievo, scoring an ocean of goals against them. Bobo as we know him. The Monster is slowly getting into form and may very well receive some minutes against Chievo!

Coming into the game Inter has managed to find themselves in the finest club tournament of all: The UEFA Champions League. But it didn´t come easy... Inter barely managed a 4th place in last season´s version of Serie A. But Roberto Mancini´s Inter is a new one filled with optimism, determination and a beautiful game play. They easily qulified by beating respected Basel 5-2 in total. 1-1 in Switzerland and 4-1 at home.

So how will Inter play against the side from Verona? This is my bet:

Toldo

J. Zanetti – Cordoba – Materazzi – Favalli

Ze Maria – Veron – Davids – Stankovic

Adriano – Recoba

Bench: Fontana, Mihajlovic, Pasquale, Emre, Cambiasso, Vieri and Cruz.

Chievo is in many ways a very unpredictable side and shouldn´t be underestimated. Over the summer they lost profiles such as Perrotta and star coach Del Neri. But brought in some interesting young prospects from all over Italy. Expect them to try and surprise us. To be honest what I like about Chievo is their colors... This will also be Luciano´s vendetta and Semioli´s chance to show us what he can do...

Expected Chievo lineup:

Marchegiani

Moro – Mandelli – D´Anna – Lanna

Luciano – Di Donato – Baronio - Semioli

Amouri - Pellissier

So how will the game end? I´d say an easy win for Inter. 3-1 in the Milan sides favour. But as we all know anything can happen in soccer and especially against Chievo...

Key players: Stankovic, Recoba, Adriano, Toldo, Marchegiani, Luciano, Semioli and Baronio.

Inter vs. Chievo: Inter has basically revolutionized the midfield with 3 new faces: Ze Maria, Veron and Davids. Favalli has been important to ensure our LB spot. Chievo has also changed a lot, even their coach. Exactly like us... So indeed an exciting match to look forward to.

Only thing left to say: FORZA RAGAZZI!!!

 

[Jimmy]

Wow! How´s this for a preview. I´ll add Fabio´s to Only Inter when the hockey-period has finished. It won´t unclude the pics though.

 

[Fabio]

Thanks Jimmy!

Enjoy everyone! 2

Fabio

 

[Frisko]

Nice preview Gismo, good job! And remember, the more you write the better you'll get

 

[Gismo]

Thanx. :star: