This season has seen many positives for Inter, the team is back at the top end of the table where they belong and the new, exciting, project is in full swing.
One other positive for the Nerazzurri is the emergence of the young Brazilian centre back Juan Jesus, who has gone under the radar to some extent, but nonetheless has put in some superb performances in an Inter shirt so far this season.
After arriving from Internacional in January 2011 he made a slow start to his Inter career where he only managed to make one substitute appearance against Lazio on the final day of the season.
After a poor start to his Nerazzurri career it looked as he was going to be another poor Marco Branca signing and seemed destined to be shipped back off to Brazil or spend years out on loan at smaller Italian clubs.
The likes of Bologna were rumoured to be interested in signing the youngster on loan, but some impressive performances in the London Olympics in the summer of 2012, seemed to convince the Inter management to give him a chance. Juan also feels the Olympics was the turning point in his short Inter career saying: “The Olympics helped Inter to note what I could do. They looked at me differently after that competition, they took more notice of my qualities. Now I just need to keep improving.”
Juan’s breakthrough came in the third game of the season when Inter travelled to play Torino. Many eyebrows were raised when the teamsheet was released and his name was in the starting line-up.
However, he put in a confident, assured performance, commanding the back line, which was a sign of things to come, as he become a mainstay in this new look Inter side and he has proven his many critics wrong.
The Selecao defender has helped solve the lack of defensive options for coach Andrea Stramaccioni. This area has been the most problematic for Inter over the last few seasons and has been continuously leaky ever since the departure of Jose Mourinho. Also with the poor performances of Matias Silvestre, Juan’s fine form has eased selection problems for Stramaccioni.
Juan has also slotted into Stramaccioni’s three man defence like a glove, playing on the left hand side of the three. His power, speed and the fact that he is left footed, make him perfect for playing on the left hand side of a three man defence. His occasional mazy runs have also drawn comparisions to his fellow countryman and former Nerazzurri defender Lucio.
Stramaccioni’s faith in the youngster has definitely been repaid so far . He has also proven even at the tender age of 21 he is capable of handling the big games, with impressive peformances against the likes of Juventus, where he was arguably Inter’s best player on the night, and Napoli where his assuredness was on display as he tore into Álvaro Pereira who was not slotting into the defensive line as he should.
It must not be forgotten that he is still very young and inexperienced but he has made a great start to his career at Inter. If he is able to stay fit and keep up his recent good form, Inter certainly have a potentially great defender on their hands. Also along with Andrea Ranocchia, Inter have the base for a solid defence in the coming years.
