Posted on Wednesday, 22nd February 2012 by Ogo Sylla
Internazionale take on Marseille in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16. However the Nerazzurri are coming into this came in the worst of forms, especially compared to their opponents. Indeed, after the wonderful run of successive wins, which culminated with a derby victory against cross-town rivals AC Milan, Ranieri’s side has only mustered a solitary point from their last five outings. On the other hand, Marseille are unbeaten in 2012 and indeed their last defeat goes as far back as November 19th [against currently second-placed Montpellier].
Both teams have been on coincidently similar trajectories however until recently. After seven matches played, Marseille sat at the bottom of Ligue 1 & Internazionale were in the relegation zone early on in the season as well. After such calamitous starts – and yet another change of coach for the Nerazzurri – both teams strung along an impressive run of wins to skyrocket up their respective tables and within contention for the once seemingly unattainable Champions League places. However Internazionale blinked first.
There are both easily identifiable reasons for the Nerazzurri’s poor recent form while others are less tangible and more abstract to explain. For the concrete, we must first point out that Internazionale’s poor form is coincident with the sale of Thiago Motta. In effect the team has struggled defensively since the departure of the Italo-Brazilian as the Nerazzurri has conceded a staggering 13 goals in their last five games, that is to say eleven more than they had in their remarkable seven-win streak. Another issue is the return of Wesley Sneijder and the lack of form of Diego Forlan.
It has been a difficult season for the Uruguayan, plagued by injuries & having only disputed a handful of games for his new club. Coming out of a hellish last season with Atletico Madrid when fitness was also an issue, the Copa America winner seems to still not be over his injury nightmare today, having only recently made his return on the pitch after a lengthy lay-off. In fact the Copa America could have very well played a role in the Uruguayan’s fitness problems, having not gone through the proper pre-season conditioning and expected to make an immediate impact. Finally, coming into a team where morale and performances were not at their best would be all the more counter-productive to his getting back to his best level.
As for Sneijder, the Dutchman is going through yet another injury-stricken season, which is nothing new for him in fairness. Furthermore, Sneijder seems to have mentally clocked out with the want-away playmaker having [seemingly] angled for a transfer all throughout the summer mercato. System-wise, Ranieri is struggling to fit the Dutchman into his 4-4-2. In effect Sneijder looks less comfortable behind two strikers and is not generous enough to provide the defensive efforts required from him by his coach.
In terms of the intangibles, the mentality has again become an issue for the Nerazzurri. When Gian Piero Gasperini was still in charge, the players never seemed behind the Italian coach and didn’t perform in the best of professional attitudes. In recent weeks, this poor mentality seems to have crept back in. Once again I would like to point towards the departure of Thiago Motta. Ranieri, who had managed to rally the dressing room, was strongly against the sale of the midfielder.
There is a very important and established hierarchy within the Internazionale squad and the rest of the players probably reacted poorly to seeing their teammate leave them. The poor management of the club also exacerbates this [since the departure of Jose Mourinho] and leads me to believe that much of this team has lost the grinta that once made its strength. Old legs and lacking motivation is what is plaguing Internazionale today. Ex-players often say that once that Champions League anthem is played, that they are able to sublimate themselves and that recent form nno longer burdens them; however, I am not convinced the Nerazzurri will be able to simply turn the switch back on that easily come the trip to the Vélodrome.
Of course Internazionale are a very experienced team and they could very plausibly come and get a positive result against Marseille. These are two teams that have very similar styles in that their strengths lay the solidity of their defensive organization, the athletic & physical attributes of their players, and the ability of their forwards on the counter-attack. Of course, the Nerazzurri had done well so far in the Champions League where they had been performing despite their poor form in Serie A. However the problem is different today. Internazionale had an issue of continuity and struggled for consistency, in the sense that they always followed up a win with a defeat and vice-versa. Today however, that problem no longer exists. Internazionale have found some consistency, but it is unfortunately the issue that they are consistently poor.
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I am a huge AC Milan fan and have been in love with the team ever since their thrashing of Barcelona in the ’94 Champions League final. Since that day I couldn’t get enough of the Rossoneri and soon fell in love with all of Serie A. In fact it was my dad who instilled in me the love for the sport where I would get tales of the great European Cup finals from all periods of time as my bedtime stories. My idol has been the great Paolo Maldini and his departure from Milan was a very emotional moment for me. I am loving writing about my favourite league. So hope that you will all follow my writing in this new Calcio adventure I’ve embarked on, as well as following me in my Milan and Football worshipping on twitter @RossonerOgo_3.
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Tags: Champions League, Claudio Ranieri, Diego Forlan, Internazionale, Olympique de Marseille, Thiago Motta, Wesley Sneijder
Posted in Features, Inter | Comments (2)
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February 22nd, 2012 at 4:23 pm
If you were Ranieri, would you change the system or the player (with regard to Sneijder)? If he’s the limiting factor, it has to be one or the other, n’est pas?
February 22nd, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I’d change the player. As I’ve always said, basing an entire squad [esp. without Eto'o now] around – albeit a very good playmaker – such a particular & injury prone player is not most viable solution. Better to stick to your system & trying to fit him in as pragmatically as possible IMO