By Riccardo | 28th January 2010 |
What an Advert for Seria A, anyone who watched the Derby this weekend, will be singing Seria A’s praises .. the game was played at a high tempo and with all the emotion and heart that I’ve ever seen any Derby played ..
The loss of Ibra and Kaka was much talked about at the start of the season, it’s safe to say the 2 names NEVER came up last night and the were not missed in the least!
That speaks volumes for the way these two teams played!
As the first time these two teams have met this season, many were talking up AC and their chances, After a phenomal form that AC have been showing and Inter’s workman like results, many believed or maybe hoped Milan would win and set the Seria A up for a fantastic finish! But as the first game all that we saw is how far superior Inter is to their cross town rivals.
This game indeed was legendary and I’m sure deserves Inter’s Ultras to come up with a song about being down to 9 men, conceding a penalty and still winning 2-0
Since Calciopoli which knocked Milan and aided Inter, Milan have been chasing Inter and in Seria A the Red and Black team have been far off the pace, 4 years on they need to be closing the gap, but if anything under Mourinho Inter showed they’re smarter and harder working than they’ve ever been.
This was game on a few weeks ahead and in the build up there were the usual expected mind games taking place, Moratti saying he is afraid of Ronladinho, Gattuso saying he would be happy with a draw and Galiani saying Inter must be considered favourites .. all these to an extent turned out to be true! My favourite was Inter were complaining they don’t have midfielders, with Cambiasso, Muntari and Thiago Motta all Injured .. all 3 played.
Jose played his 4-3-3, which has been mocked and ridiculed since his arrival in Italy, he has used it sparingly in the derby it worked!!
Javier Zanetti
Esteban Cambiasso
Sulley Muntari
The 3 midfielders Captain Zanetti, Cambiasso and Muntari were excellent together!
In defence EVERYONE is happy to see Santon back, a bit rusty but I’d say he did a good job facing a much more experienced David Beckham. Chivu was not as missed as in the last 2 games !
In attack Pandev and Milito were amazing to watch and had Sneijder stay on the field, few would argue that the score would’ve been bigger than the 2-0 it finished on. When Eto’o returns it’ll be interesting to see which combination Jose prefers .. In my opinion the Cameroonian should be benched but then I’m very brave ..
For AC they’ve been knocked out of the Italian Cup only 3 days later, lets hope Leonardo can rally his troops beacuase its not as bad as it may look, they need to remember they still missing Pato in attack, and the defence was HORRIBLY HIT without Nesta, Silva has been good, but without Nesta helping him he looked out of sorts, with the Veteran Italian expected back soon the Milan fans will breath a big sigh of relief. However the other veteran Italian Favalli should retire .. he isn’t good enough to even be a squad player for Milan.. harsh but honest, Milan don’t have a squad as rich as Inters and today it showed both missing key players in defence and attack, Inter was sufficiently covered, Milan not. This is what I see as being the difference
Once place Milan don’t have a problem is the midfield, they had a hard time of it but still managed to create plenty of opportunities which the strikers were part unlucky not to convert, and part just brilliant defending by Lucio, Samuel and well Inter.
So 9 points clear few would bet against Moratti’s dream team from taking what would be their 5th straight title. Saying that a win in Florence will see Milan only 6 points behind Inter and if they keep winning, who knows! My money’s own Jose.
Ok the rest – the derby wasn’t the only talking point over the weekend.. Roma travelled to Turin to play a Juve that’s lost 5 in the last 7 .. not good if you a relegation candidate nevermind a Title hopeful!!!
Roma took advantage played well and an injury time winner from Riise, saw Ranieri take 3 points in Turin – maybe if he did that more last season he’d still be there.
And Ferrara watch his team drop 4 points below 4th Place Napoli!! His time must be short now, I’m almost sure his last game in charge is against Inter in Thursday night’s Italian Cup Quarter final.
Parma also continue their poor form losing 3-0 at home against relegation fighters Catania the direct battler Bologna kept the gap by winning 2-1 away against high flying Bari! In fact Udinese and Livorno both loosing are now facing danger!!
