Croatians Save Inter From Embarrassment

 We have seen this before. Inter dominates a match, creates chances, misses them and then concede at the opponents’ first shot on goal. The opponents would not be in the game at all before that. This pattern repeated against Parma who has the added reputation of being a bogey team for us.  

Missed Chances

Once again, I can only pull my hair in frustration at the chances we missed to score. The days of the free-scoring Inter at the start of the season seems like aeons ago. Ivan Perisic and Achraf Hakimi had great chances in the first half to take the lead but spurned them. In the second half, Hakimi missed with another header while Andrea Ranocchia should have done better with a free header. We won so many corners but only from one corner was there an attempt on goal, Ranocchia’s header that was well saved by Luigi Sepe.

Player Performances

It’s frightening to see how much Inter rely on Romelu Lukaku. Last season, Inter had goals from many different players and Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez shared the goalscoring burden. Martinez’s form has evaporated after the international break.

In Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez’s absence, Perisic was used as a striker ahead of a recognised striker in Andrea Pinamonti. He might have scored the crucial equaliser but he looks out of place in Antonio Conte’s tactical system. He is neither a left wing-back nor a striker despite his best efforts in both positions. Pinamonti came off the bench and from his performance, you can understand why Conte didn’t start him.

I wrote about Hakimi’s poor delivery in the final third in the previous match against Shakthar Donestk. Today he missed a couple of gilt-edged chances and couldn’t get the right service in the box again. On the opposite flank, Matteo Darmian didn’t offer much going forward and looks better as an attacking force playing on the right.

Christian Eriksen was a marquee signing but again he got only himself to blame for offering little to nothing to affect a change in the game. Inter’s game plan revolves around the service from the flanks. Eriksen was signed to offer something different as a playmaker, to unlock tight defences like Wesley Sneijder used to do. He is not performing at the level that is expected of him.

Nicolo Barella is not a natural playmaker but he plays better than Eriksen does in that role. Marcelo Brozovic came off the bench and made a telling difference with his goal and probing. Radja Nainggolan looks like he doesn’t want to be there and doesn’t feel the confidence and faith of the coach.

Stefan de Vrij was used in a different position as right centre-back and he showed that is not his best position. Both of Parma’s goals came after Gervinho got on his blind side. Gervinho was linked to Inter and he has been a thorn for us with Parma. We should have just signed him and got him on our side.  

Pressure Increases Further

Going back to the transfer market this summer, Inter made signings to appease Antonio Conte. These were ready-made signings, players in their 30s with experience. Inter fans generally were not thrilled by any of the signings made except that of Hakimi. I kept my faith that the coach can get the best out of the squad with the signings he wants. I preferred to keep an open mind on it but increasingly now it is showing to be a bad decision. Of all the Conte signings, Arturo Vidal is the only one who looks justified to have been signed but he doesn’t look fit enough to last 90 minutes. Conte gave the example of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and the number of years it took for them to be successful. But that doesn’t apply to Inter because Conte made signings this season that meant the squad was ready to win immediately.

At the start of the season, much was made of our squad depth but suddenly that is no longer relevant. We have been unlucky with injuries and player absences due to COVID-19. Some players are off-form and some shouldn’t have been signed. It is not Conte’s fault that the players are missing big chances to score but things need to change fast or the criticism and pressure will increase. This is not a squad built to win the Coppa Italia. It is built to win the Scudetto. Anything short of that is a failure.