Snarfalicious
Well-Known Member
- Jul 15, 2012
- 15,747
- 72,246
I thought it'd be beneficial to have a spot where we can talk about our upcoming opponent: Inter Milan.
I think we're all aware of what Inter has lost. Wesley Sneijder has moved on to Galatasaray so that he can play in Hell (this is a thing) and Philippe Countinho is now at Liverpool praying that he can taste the Europa League again next season.
But, Diego Milito, Inter's most consistent striker has been ruled out for the season due to a knee injury.
There's no doubting that's a lot of attacking talent off the table when they come to us.
But, Inter is still a talented side.
Goalkeeper: Samir Handanovic can be a pretty decent GK but from most accounts he struggles with that one very important characteristic in great goalkeepers: consistency. Still, I don't think he'll be bad as that joke that played in goal for Lyon against us.
Fullback: They have a few quality options. Javier Zanetti has been playing some RB this season. I don't think anyone would argue much if you stated his best position remains to be CDM, but at 39, the guy does have the veteran presence you want in defense. At LB there is Alvaro Pereira who's a talented speedster who is good at chipping in to attack. They also have Yuto Nagatomo, who while versatile in that he can play both RB and LB, is very very inconsistent.
Centerback: Andrea Ranocchia, Juan, Silvestre and Chivu (Maybe Samuel) will probably be the group from which their CB pairing will be chosen. From most accounts, Ranocchia has been the man in-form this season. Walter Samuel was a close second, but I do believe he is now out injured. There was talk he would return Feb. 24th, so that will be one to monitor moving forward. As for Juan, he's a young CB, much like Caulker in that he's got all the physical tools, but still prone to some costly mistakes at times. That being said, he's still a quality young player. Ranocchia has started Inter's last two EL matches. Juan started the 2nd leg against Cluj, and Matias Silvestre started the 1st leg. From a lot of the things I've read, there's still a lot of doubt about Silvestre and how much Inter can count on him to perform at the level he's capable of - also saw that they had 2 offers for him but he refused to leave in January. Chivu's the guy who wears one of those padded helmet things.
Midfield: Probably Inter's strongest position. Fredy Guarin is awesome. I'd love, love, love to have him at Tottenham. A true box-to-box type that is good at everything. They also have Cambiasso who is still a very good defensive midfielder. And, they have one of the best young midfield prospects in Mateo Kovacic who has played Inter's last two EL matches and done very well. Other options include Ricardo Alvarez (AM) and Walter Gargano (CM/DM) and to a lesser extent Joel Obi (CM/DM).
Attacking Front: Not having Diego Milito is big for us. We can afford to play our more mobile centerbacks and really match up well to what they do have. What they do have is Rodrigo Palacio and Antonio Cassano. Both are smaller players but incredibly crafty and plenty capable of finding space to exploit defenses. It'll essentially be like playing a couple of Luis Suarez'. It'll be a tall order to keep them in check, but it's going to be a hell of a lot better than having to defend these two with Kovacic and Guarin as well as the imposing Diego Milito. I think we really caught a huge break with Milito out.
What I'd expect to see in their Starting XI:
This might work more like a 4-3-1-2 with Kovacic and Guarin switching off linking the play from midfield to the attacking front. But, I'd expect some form of this starting 11 to be on the field.
Now, I don't pretend to know everything about Inter. Quite frankly, I prefer to watch teams like Sampdoria, Napoli, etc. when I watch Serie A. So, let me know what I missed, got wrong, etc!
I think we're all aware of what Inter has lost. Wesley Sneijder has moved on to Galatasaray so that he can play in Hell (this is a thing) and Philippe Countinho is now at Liverpool praying that he can taste the Europa League again next season.
But, Diego Milito, Inter's most consistent striker has been ruled out for the season due to a knee injury.
There's no doubting that's a lot of attacking talent off the table when they come to us.
But, Inter is still a talented side.
Goalkeeper: Samir Handanovic can be a pretty decent GK but from most accounts he struggles with that one very important characteristic in great goalkeepers: consistency. Still, I don't think he'll be bad as that joke that played in goal for Lyon against us.
Fullback: They have a few quality options. Javier Zanetti has been playing some RB this season. I don't think anyone would argue much if you stated his best position remains to be CDM, but at 39, the guy does have the veteran presence you want in defense. At LB there is Alvaro Pereira who's a talented speedster who is good at chipping in to attack. They also have Yuto Nagatomo, who while versatile in that he can play both RB and LB, is very very inconsistent.
Centerback: Andrea Ranocchia, Juan, Silvestre and Chivu (Maybe Samuel) will probably be the group from which their CB pairing will be chosen. From most accounts, Ranocchia has been the man in-form this season. Walter Samuel was a close second, but I do believe he is now out injured. There was talk he would return Feb. 24th, so that will be one to monitor moving forward. As for Juan, he's a young CB, much like Caulker in that he's got all the physical tools, but still prone to some costly mistakes at times. That being said, he's still a quality young player. Ranocchia has started Inter's last two EL matches. Juan started the 2nd leg against Cluj, and Matias Silvestre started the 1st leg. From a lot of the things I've read, there's still a lot of doubt about Silvestre and how much Inter can count on him to perform at the level he's capable of - also saw that they had 2 offers for him but he refused to leave in January. Chivu's the guy who wears one of those padded helmet things.
Midfield: Probably Inter's strongest position. Fredy Guarin is awesome. I'd love, love, love to have him at Tottenham. A true box-to-box type that is good at everything. They also have Cambiasso who is still a very good defensive midfielder. And, they have one of the best young midfield prospects in Mateo Kovacic who has played Inter's last two EL matches and done very well. Other options include Ricardo Alvarez (AM) and Walter Gargano (CM/DM) and to a lesser extent Joel Obi (CM/DM).
Attacking Front: Not having Diego Milito is big for us. We can afford to play our more mobile centerbacks and really match up well to what they do have. What they do have is Rodrigo Palacio and Antonio Cassano. Both are smaller players but incredibly crafty and plenty capable of finding space to exploit defenses. It'll essentially be like playing a couple of Luis Suarez'. It'll be a tall order to keep them in check, but it's going to be a hell of a lot better than having to defend these two with Kovacic and Guarin as well as the imposing Diego Milito. I think we really caught a huge break with Milito out.
What I'd expect to see in their Starting XI:
This might work more like a 4-3-1-2 with Kovacic and Guarin switching off linking the play from midfield to the attacking front. But, I'd expect some form of this starting 11 to be on the field.
Now, I don't pretend to know everything about Inter. Quite frankly, I prefer to watch teams like Sampdoria, Napoli, etc. when I watch Serie A. So, let me know what I missed, got wrong, etc!
