Inter draw in opening friendly

So there was a friendly today. After having some of the players already back for pre-season training for a few days, Roberto Mancini had arrainged a friendly for his players against WSG Wattens. The match was a pretty laid-back affair, and it was really no surprise that the game ended in a draw.

Mancini started the game in a 4231 formation which included Cristian Ansaldi (who still hasn't been officially signed), Juan Jesus (who could be on his way out the club), Stevan Jovetic, and Mauro Icardi. Both sides had a couple of chances in the first half but neither was able to open the scoreline. Halftime made it very clear how relaxed the atmosphere around this game was as the interval was extended for the players to pose for selfies with fans and sign autographs.

The Inter manager changed his entire lineup and switched to a 442 formation, but the team was just as sluggish in the second half. Rodrigo Palacio and Andrea Ranocchia both had good chances but an error by Dodo also gave Wattens a golden opportunity to steal the match. The final whistle blew at 0-0 and neither side seemed all that dissapointed.

Mancini spoke after the match and revealed why his team seemed so lackadaisical during the friendly. He said that the players had been pushed a lot in training so far since they had been back so he had told them not to push themselves too much today to avoid picking up any injuries. This makes sense since they just arrived for pre-season training a couple of days ago. I doubt Mancini learned much from today's friendly but he will be expecting much more from his team in later pre-season matches.