Another Draw For Inter

This was another Inter game that ended in frustration, irritation and dismay. A draw against a strong team like Atalanta is not a result to turn your nose up at. But the results leading up to this one and the circumstances with which we got this result has irked me.

Summary Of The Match

In terms of the flow of the game, I felt a draw was a fair result. It could have been worse for us as we were on the ropes after we conceded the equaliser. We could have even conceded a penalty late in the game but had a lucky escape. Both teams matched each other with the respective defences coming on top. For Inter, in tight matches such as this, the team has to win it by hook or crook to be considered serious title contenders. There are games where we will not play well or be evenly matched but we got to learn to squeeze out a win. We failed to do so again.

Our Attack

Chances were at a premium in the game for us. We scored with our first attempt on target. It was also the best moment of Lautaro Martinez’s game. He has not been in great form and his general performance was in keeping with that. Christian Romero had the better of his duel with him and he struggled to keep hold of the ball. An injury he picked up during the warm-up probably contributed to that performance too. I felt his strike partner, Alexis Sanchez played better. He was busy but he was not in his best form yet.

Our Defence

At the other end, I felt at long last, we looked solid at the back with our first-choice defensive trio back together. There were some shaky moments thanks to the quality of Atalanta’s attackers. But the goal we conceded was irritating. I felt Aleksei Miranchuk was moving away from goal and had we pressed him harder either through Alessandro Bastoni or if Bastoni received some help from a central midfielder, we could have stopped him from taking the shot.

On the point of that shot, astonishingly we have now conceded from 50% of the shots we have faced on target. Samir Handanovic, our captain has been a fantastic servant but was unlucky to find himself in our banter era teams. He has saved us a lot in the past but he looks off his game. A lack of competition could be another reason for it. If the manager starts to place his faith in Ionut Radu and rotates them, it could improve his performance. Or he could just be on a decline. I feel as soon as next summer, signing a younger goalkeeper should be on the agenda.

Our Form

One win in eight matches is just not good enough. It is indicative of the stuttering start to the season with most of the results, draws. Some mitigating factors have been the profligacy of our players, mistakes made in defence, injuries and absences due to COVID and the lack of a pre-season. You sense a lack of stability as well. Antonio Conte has been under fire from the fans and the press for the start we have made. We were expected to challenge for the Scudetto but it has been painted as we are a long way off it. I don’t feel we are. A good run of wins should bring us right up there. All the team needs at the moment is to click into gear, catch form and grow into confidence. I will cover Antonio Conte in a different article.