The belatedness of this post had nothing to do with me sulking and everything to do with me having computer problems. Nobody would have faulted me though if it had been the former, as Udinese did it to us again. The Fruili outfit put in a fine performance at the San Siro on Wednesday which, combined with a poor performance from a depleted Inter, was enough to bring our much-talked about 17 game winning streak to an end.
I’m really not sure you can get that upset at this result seeing as how it was overdue. Inter lacked their trademark dominance of the midfield, mainly a result of yesterday’s midfield lineup consisting of 3 wingers and a central defender because of injuries/suspensions. This really prevented the Nerazzurri from finding any rhythm, and it showed with the number of errant passes. We enjoyed a lot of the play in the first half but were completely unable to put enough passes together to threaten the goal. In the second half, Udinese scored an incredible goal and then came at us with a flurry, but right afterwards Inter seemed to settle down a little bit.
There might be a little complacency setting in as far as the Serie A slate goes. I think we’ve seen that in the matches since the one-week suspension. Not to make excuses, but the postponement of the huge match with Roma could have possibly led to a bit of an emotional letdown. Also, I know how much we all talk about "one game at a time" but it’s almost inhuman not to be thinking about the Champions League right now.
-Tons of nervous moments in this one on the injury front, with Solari and Maicon picking up ugly knocks that looked worse than they actually were. The Adriano injury, I guess, is bad news? Who knows at this point. It’s surreal that he can go from inept to on-fire and back so quickly. It almost disgusts me to talk about it.
-No harm, no foul however, as Roma also was held to a draw by Chievo. Totti saves them again
-Big thumbs up for Maxwell as the Brazilian can do no wrong right now and provided the game-tying cross almost immediately after stepping onto the pitch. He’s very in-form right now and might have clinched his place in Tuesday’s team.
- Moratti seems to think that the team will play better in Valencia with all the regular midfielders . Someone needs to tell him we won’t have all the regular midfielders. He also seems to think Mancini will do better next year. Didn't realize he supported Chelsea. Someone needs to scour these internet rumors more often.
- Not to put stock in anything Tribal Football says, but the Julio Cesar dip in form seems to be real and there were whispers at the bar from people who would prefer to see Toldo between the posts in Spain, at the scene of some of his best Inter performances and his famous red card.