Article 71 — Inter Crumbles (AGAIN!)
Inter crumbled in an extra-ordinary and remarkable fashion last night in a 1–2 defeat at home to Bologna last night. You can watch the highlights below:
At full-time I sank into my sofa seat, feeling devastated. Is it the first time Inter has had an inexplicable collapse in a game in my time as a fan? No. I can trace its occurrence back to the “Galaticos” era. But still that embarrassment, heart-wrenching, heart-breaking, ground shaking feeling was like it occurred for the first time ever.
For the entire first half and a good portion of the second half, Inter were on top of the game and dominating the visitors but we only had one goal to show for it. A one-goal lead is always fragile, at any time a team can concede a goal to let their opponents back in and that is just what happened last night.
There were a couple of mitigating factors as to why Inter couldn’t score more than once. The first would be the performance of Bologna’s Lukasz Skorupski in goal. He denied Ashley Young in the first half, Antonio Candreva and Alexis Sanchez in the second half, Lautaro Martinez from the penalty spot in the second half and Roberto Gagliardini from the follow-up. I would name him as the Man Of The Match because he was really the difference between Bologna losing by a heavy margin and winning. To add to his heroics, there was a piece of equally heroic defending too from Bologna’s captain Danilo to deny Martinez a clear shot on goal in the first half.
The other factor would have to be our own profligacy in front of goal. We started the game very sharply, passing very slickly and closing down hard from the front. As the game went on especially in the second half, the passing got looser, the through balls were over-hit and the crosses were not accurate. The corner deliveries too lost its potency. In the first half, the corners didn’t result in a goal but they were dangerous enough to suggest that we could get one right soon. We were also not accurate with some of our attempts adding to the frustration of the Inter faithful.
We scored six against Brescia in mid-week and could have at least got two or three today but we ended with only one goal. Over at the other end, Bologna created a chance against the run of play at the end of the first half. Riccardo Orsolini raced through but was denied by a superb Samir Handanovic save. In the second half, I knew that Bologna would be more aggressive than they were in the first half from knowing Sinisa Mihajlovic’s personality and character and they were. Musa Barrow unleashed a fierce shot that crashed off the post to fire another warning at us.
From the first period of sustained Bologna pressure, we failed to clear our lines and Musa Juwara equalised for Bologna. I really like Roberto Gagliardini but it becomes tough to defend him after the freak miss against Sassuolo cost us three points and his fresh air-shot gave Juwara the chance to shot at goal. Samir Handanovic has been brilliant for us since we signed him, saving us in many matches and even winning us points. He saved a lot today as well to keep the score down but should have done better to keep out Juwara’s shot.
Juwara, the 18-year-old Gambian forward was a thorn in our sights since his introduction as a substitute. His pace and direct running cost us a lot of problems. He has an amazing back story of arriving in Italy four years ago on a boat and being legally adopted by the coach of the team he was playing for. Juwara is pronounced in the same way as Juara which in Malay means Champion. Rather inevitable then that he would have the impact that he would have in this game.
Bologna’s equaliser came when they were down to ten-men after Roberto Soriano’s surprise sending off. I can only deduce that it must be for something he said that the referee didn’t like. Juwara’s presence also meant that Inter too were reduced by ten men when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for collecting two yellow cards. As Inter threw caution to the wind and pressed for a goal to take the lead again, we lost our shape and that allowed Bologna to counter-attack and score the winning goal through another Gambian, Musa Barrow. Bologna had more chances to score on the counter and was more likely to score a third rather us equalising if not for Handanovic’s interference.
Antonio Conte, the world’s most expensive coach, is risking an underwhelming end to a promising season. He had his share of the blame in this defeat. He waited until Bologna equalised to bring on his first substitute. It was clear for all watching that the players we had were tiring as the passes were being misplaced and the pace in our play had dropped. Martinez has been out of sorts recently, possibly having his head turned by attention from Barcelona or just in poor form. Whatever the case, on present form, I hope Barcelona would have second thoughts now of signing him again.
Romelu Lukaku who had given us the lead capitalising on Martinez’s unlucky attempt off the post returned the favour by allowing Martinez to take the penalty. I know he did it in the hope that his strike partner would score and get some confidence and belief back. Martinez took it like a player short on confidence and missed it. It was to be one of the pivotal moments of the game. Had he scored and with Bologna down to ten men, it could have taken the wind out of the visitors’ sails.
Martinez should have been one of the first players brought off, his overall play wasn’t too bad but it was clear that he was not at his best. With Inter chasing a second goal and even a third one to make the result safe, Sanchez who had played so well against Brescia should have been brought on earlier. He could have replaced either Martinez or Christian Eriksen. Eriksen had another below-par performance, he appeared in a now you see me, now you don’t manner.
Typically, the two wing-backs will be taken off for the effort they put in a demanding role. Because Victor Moses was unavailable through injury, Conte resisted in replacing Candreva on the right until much later in the match. Ashley Young has been great going forward but can be suspect in defending. Cristiano Biraghi has either started in his place or come on as a substitute for him which is what he did today but the best option I felt was sat on the bench, Kwado Asamoah. Asamoah can defend very well, has the experience, might not attack as well as Young but is decent going forward. Only on the bench due to a contractual situation. What a pity and what a waste of a quality player.
For some reason, unbeknown to me, Nicolo Barella was not in the starting line up or on the bench. I wish I knew and I think a lot of Inter fans wished for the same. It’s no coincidence that the two games Barella has not played in since the restart, Inter has dropped points. There was still the presence of fit-again Matias Vecino on the bench even if Barella was not there. Vecino should have been brought on earlier for Gagliardini to give the midfield some fresh legs. It was very obvious that Gagliardini was tiring. I can’t understand the hesitation of Conte in introducing the substitutes to look at closing out the game. It shows a lack of faith in the players he has in his squad.
Conte has to take his share of the blame for not positively effecting change in the game. When he did make substitutions, it was too late for most to make a positive difference. When push came to shove, he threw on Sebastiano Esposito too, a welcome sight after being confined to the match for all the matches since the restart. Had he been given more game time, he could have made a difference. Again we suspect a contractual situation to be the reason for his banishment to the bench.
Inter this season has an appalling statistic against them. We have dropped 18 points in Serie A from winning positions. For a team with the ambitions of being great again, that is far too many points to drop from a winning position. Add to that, the two games in Champions League that we lost from a winning position, you would have 24 points dropped across all competitions and qualification to the knockout round of the Champions League compromised.
If Inter has serious ambitions of achieving success again and dethroning Juventus, we cannot lose points from a winning position. It can happen once in a blue moon and that is as much as it should go. For a manager as experienced, focused and driven as Conte, he should have cut it out after the very first time it occurred. Very obviously, Inter has a psychological problem. Working on the team’s psychology falls on the onus of the manager and Conte has failed in that regard. He has to look at himself and his coaching staff to find an answer to this. Possibly the club has to hire a sports psychologist to work with the squad.
Giuseppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio have built a great team with signings and sales over the last three seasons. Conte had a huge moan after losing to Dortmund on the lack of experience of the players. He had another moan at not getting enough signings after another game that we dropped points in. I have seen Inter with far worse squads and at that moment, the quality of the players and it’s squad depth is not the reason for our downturn. Instead of having a public moan, he should have analysed and rectified the issue causing this inexcusable mental collapse.
At our best, in the first half of this season, we were getting praised by everyone which shows what we are truly capable of. Once again, we have faltered in the second half of the season, a pattern all too familiar with Inter fans. At the start of the season, Conte vowed to bring an end to the Pazza Inter days but he has evidently failed. Conte spoke to the players for an hour with Marotta at the end of the game last night. I really hope his words worked to give the players a kick up their backsides and wake them up. As a fan, I am hurting inside and I want to see a strong positive response from them like it really matters to them. Possibly Inter is one of those sides suffering from the absence of the fans in the stadium but a champion team doesn’t need excuses such as that to fail to perform.
We are NOT a champion team. Conte spoke to the press about the players playing for their futures and that applied to himself and the coaching staff too. I still feel he is the right man for the job. We need to start being successful in Italy first before looking at Europe. As it stands, we have lost both shots at a domestic silverware. Conte is a league specialist and it is in that terrain that we are faltering badly in now. He doesn’t have a good European record and there is always time to break that. Would that be this season? We shall see. For now, the team has to get back on their feet. We look safe for qualification to the Champions League next season but it is not an improvement to finish third or fourth with this squad. We should be aiming for at least second. Over to you Inter to prove yourself to us.
