[Zangari_Italia]

All right guys this post was originally posted in the thread 'This is getting ridiculous" and it didn't recieve any attention at all, and when I write novels like the one below I would like some sort of feed back. Now the post below is not meant to be snide but I really think this advice in it might help Inter out. Of course feel free to shoot this down.

I think perhaps Inter should spend money on defenders but not necessarily on ones who are young and have a long future ahead of them. I am talking about the older defender a player like Falcone, a Tedesco, someone like that, because Inter is completely devoid of old ex Italian International Defenders like the ones Milan and Juve have. I am not saying get these defenders I mentioned are as good as them but they provide experience and leadership as well as consistently good games (not consistently bad games). Get someone in who is 30 or in their 30's, but who still has some things to offer. Don't always go for the next Maldini or the next Nesta to fix your immediate problems but get a couple of those 30ish experienced Serie A defenders. They will help a lot. Their experience and leadership will provide sodility in the back line as well their experience will help develop the young 'next great' defenders Inter has. Their presence will also take the pressure off that defender to immediately produce in the tough Italian game.

As well play slightly less attacking, what I mean is make defending an art. Have most players back when the other team has the ball, win the ball and unleash a powerful counter attack. Protect your older defence with the partnership of C. Zanetti and Cambiasso. Make sure that everyone knows where they are supposed to defend and what there responsibilities are. I am not saying play Catenaccio but I am saying defend as a team. Every player must now where they are supposed to play and what there responsibilities are. So far this season Inter only defends as an individual not as a cohesive whole. Mancini must be the one to do this or he will always be a Zeman- that is a person who can play some orgiastic attacking football and come close to winning but never being good enough. You still will be attack oriented and play a possesion game but you will concede less and be more counter attacking which will leave your opponent with very few people in the back and Inter's forwards and attacking midfield will tear that defence apart.

You also will still have the best attacking left backs and right backs in the world and with a fully inform Coco that will just provide you with another option. And with those two experienced centre backs martialing the back line I envision that your midfield will be your greatest problem. (I also think your midfield is one of the greatest reason for your success in attack and your failure in the back). The players of your midfield must compliment each other not just in attack but as well as in defence. I am not saying get rid of the ones you have but I am saying buy some new ones that will compliment the focal point of your team but also that are able to rely on themselves to get the job done.

I apologize if this is similair to another thread, but I would like to hear your feed back on these statements I have made.

 

[Razman]

Well your suggestions are reasonable, but I dont think it will happen.

You say we lack a veteran Italian defender in his 30s.. Then what is Materazzi? Remember we had Cannavaro last season? He wasn't anything special, although his absence is felt, but its not like he was our savior. Now what would make an ex-Italian-International a good buy for us when not even Cannavaro was? Players like Falcone and Tedesco will flop at Inter, IMO.

As for playing less offensively, that's just not an option for Mancini it seems. He's so stuck on his attacking football that a defensive style is rather impossible I believe.

 

[Firdaus]

Great ideas, especially since we can't get possible miracle workers like Nesta or Stam. But players like Cordoba are extremely solid and although he has looked bad at times, he has always shown that he can be invaluable. The best solution seems to be to defend as a team. But as Razman said, that doesn't seem likely and might even throw everything off.

 

[A10]

I cant be sure if new players can simply fix the current problems.

Matrix+Cordoba used to be fantastic... couldnt imagine they would be considered shit.. just only in a few months. The change occured as Mancio stepped in and converted into a very attacking side.

Even our ever-consistent JZ had to suffer.. or rather to adapt to it. Its up to Mancio how to fix those problems.. are they suppose to be getting closer to the opponents or not, as and when counter-attack comes, and they usually do... when Cambiasso and partner start to move up to their semi circle.

 

[G. Facchetti]

One thing that really stoodd out in your post is that fact that we need to put a DM philsophy and attitude in our yes...DMs. With Mancio, he is focusing the DMjob on starting up the next attack, and often that leaves us with wide spaces and very vulnerable...We need to instill a defend ffirst mentality, and that means unfortunately, no Davids in a DM spot. CZis perfect. And Cambiasso is the only one capable b/c even though he attacks, he also is very responsible for his area on the pitch. He can do both at the same time. Mayber Davidso of old could do that, but he is totally offh is gtame.Lets give himsome timeto regain that form.

 

[G. Facchetti]

I would like to add that with those Dms, many say that we can'tstart up an attack as well. Which is one of Jack's points that we need a playmaker up front so that we don't rely on the DMs so much for our offense. WIth a palymaker, we MAKE THE OPPORUTNITY to have Dms back all the time, cuz a playmaker can run the show on his own.

 

[Zangari_Italia]

Razman to be honest I always thought that Materazzi is crap but is capable of playing good games at time, but just not consistently enough. Materazzi and Cordoba are mediocre at best, though they did have some good games every once in a while.
Cannavaro was injured at Inter and playing in a team with a bad defensive system. If you saw him today you would have seen the stop he had against Shevchenko. That was leadership and stepping up for his team. That is what I see a lack of in Inter's defence, and that is the leadership. Other than of course Javier Zanetti, but Javier Zanetti does not command the defence like a Falcone due to the position he plays.

Of course the most important thing that I think Inter should do is to play the pure defensive midfielders in a pure defensive midfielder role. That would ease up on the defence and perhaps the defenders you have now could be capable of handling attackers then. But to be honest I don't think they are capable of that, that is why I recomended getting Falcone or even perhaps Tedesco. Falcone being the better defender of the two. He wouldn't do the stops that Cannavaro can do, but he could command the defence and would be purely a stop gap measure before another talented player comes in. His experience would help that youngster and Inter could finally put this era behind them.

The defenders I have mentioned could quite easily flop but they are not the key to my suggestion and that is the DMs. I am not saying my suggestions are the final solution for Inter to win the Scudetto, but I am saying that these changes might turn a new page for Inter so that they can finally move on and win the Scudetto.

I would like to point out though that the likelihood of this happening is very close to zero and my understanding of football is very very amatuerish at best.

 

[Neil Down]

It´s a system problem, sure better players can improve the defense somewhat, but just like WalTer Samuel didnt fix Real Madrid all of the sudden, no new stars will fix our problems, Mancini doesnt know anything about defending, if he knew he would had done something by now.

 

[Zangari_Italia]

Now if Mancini is not fixing the problem is he the right coach for Inter? Of course it may be to early to tell.

 

[Abdul]

How was his record with Lazio and Fiorentina defence-wise?

 

[stefan9]

It´s a system problem, sure better players can improve the defense somewhat, but just like WalTer Samuel didnt fix Real Madrid all of the sudden, no new stars will fix our problems, Mancini doesnt know anything about defending, if he knew he would had done something by now.

He did improve it a lot. They haven't conceded nearly as many as last season. I would think Samuel has had a huge part to do with that.

 

[Mago]

How was his record with Lazio and Fiorentina defence-wise?

Not too good. (B).

 

[Zangari_Italia]

It´s a system problem, sure better players can improve the defense somewhat, but just like WalTer Samuel didnt fix Real Madrid all of the sudden, no new stars will fix our problems, Mancini doesnt know anything about defending, if he knew he would had done something by now.

Yes it really is a system problem but I really don't think that Materazzi and Cordoba or every other central defender that Inter has is a Scudetto winning centre back partnership. Of course I haven't seen enough of Burdisso.

I suggested getting Falcone because him coupled with a system change could help develop promising young defenders. Develop talented young defenders that would tighten up the back field and eventually win the Scudetto for Inter. Falcone would ease the pressure on the young defenders and alow them time to grow into their own and that would improve Inter a lot.

Of course the most important thing is the system change as Falcone at Inter without the system change would probably flop or marginally improve Inter's defence. However with the arrival of Falcone with a change of Inter's system Falcone would be a valuable addition and most likely a cheap one considering all the other expensive mistakes Inter has made over the years.

 

[Neil Down]

I pretty much agree with everything Zangari says, now the question is, how long should Inter give Mancini to prove he is capable of doing the right adjusments.

 

[Zangari_Italia]

Okay thankyou Your Royal Highness . To be perfectly honest I always liked Mancini I wouldn't want to see him get fired and lets face it I could be very wrong. I just don't think he is the right coach for Inter and I think another coach should be had. However I honestly don't think that Moratti is the right owner football wise for Inter to make these decisions of who the coach should be.

 

[davor_suker]

What about Igor Tudor??? Hes a defensive rock and was one of Juves best players under Ancelotti, but has been hampered by injuries and now hes out of favour with capello.

 

[Neil Down]

I really dont hate Mancini I just believe he is not ready for Inter yet, or he is not as good as advertised, I was not happy when Moratti chose MAncio over Capello, however I try to be ojective and I must say our new coach brought a more offensive Mentality and entertaining game to Inter which is good, but he has compromised our already weak defense in doing so.

I don´t like Matrix and all those here bashing Materazzi were the very same who criticized me when I said he wasnt as good, but our current system make every defender look bad and in some plays the flanks are completly exposed for 50 meter runs, some fans call this bad luck, I call it bad coaching.

I hope to see Inter win the Champions league, and if we continue to suck I know that in part will be thanks to players like Materazzi and pasquale, but also Mancini should had made a better assesment of the resources he had in the defensive front.

 

[The Sig]

How to fix our defence simple? Get rid of Mihajlovic, and player Cafe and Matrix at the back with El Cuchu infront of them. Problem Solved

 

[Zangari_Italia]

I agree with you Your Royal Highness Materazzi isn't that bad just plays in a bad system. He is of course not very good but that is just highlited by the system Inter plays. I hope Pasquale turns out to be allright but the just is still out on that guy.

 

[Razman]

This is turning out to be a great thread actually

It will be interesting to see how valid our points are by the end of the season.