Inter Milan 1-1 Palermo - Player (and Manager) Ratings

You know what would be really really good from time to time? Watching Inter win a football match. I'm not asking much, right? We could, and we should, have won against Palermo on Sunday, but a bit of unluckiness, some tactical confusion and not enough cold blood when finishing allowed Palermo to go back home with one, precious point.

While reading the following ratings keep in mind that they come from a highly biased person who has his own point of view, which also happens to be the truth, always.

(All ratings are 1-10, where one equals Ranocchia on drugs and 10 equals Champions League's Final Milito)

Player Ratings

Handanovic, 6 — He mostly watched this match like one of the supporters in the stands and he could do nothing on Rispoli's deflected shot that resulted in Palermo's goal. He made a spectacular, yet not perfect, Neueresque save and he was always ready when the opposition tried to score.

D'Ambrosio, 5.5 — He improved a little from his not-so-good performance against Chievo, but he was too inaccurate with his passing to earn the passing mark (no pun intended). He almost earned a penalty during the second half with a well-timed run inside the opponent's area. His hair and beard get a 10 as usual though.

Miranda, 6.5 — Miranda is the only reason why Inter do not concede 3-4 goals per match. He displayed all his solidity once again and he also almost scored with two impressive headers.

Murillo, 6 — Much more unpredictable and unreliable than his colleague Joao. He delivered a good performance nonetheless, coming really close to score with a header just like the Brazilian. The yellow card was the only negative note for him in this match.

Santon, 5 — This summer we wondered why three clubs turned down a deal to buy him and this game was a good reminder of why they didn't want him. With Erkin almost out of the door, FdB was forced to make him play and that was the only reason why he was chosen by the coach. Slow, sloppy and unable to create anything even with lots of space in front of him. Totally useless. He set up Rispoli for the shot that resulted in Palermo's goal, but it's hard to blame him for that.

Medel, 6 — De Boer had some fun experimenting with his role in this match. Gary was given the green light to attack and cut inside the penalty area at will and almost scored twice thanks to this new, more advanced, position. He sure has the right timing to do it, but he lacks the quality to finish inside the box. He reminded me of Cambiasso, even though I'm sure Cuchu would have scored both times if he had the same chances of the Chilean.

Banega, 6 — He wasn't at his best. He wasn't in his most suitable position. And despite that, he was the only player who was effective when we needed to set up maneuvers and fend off the opponent's pressure. He tried to ignite Perisic on a few occasion with well placed long balls like he did against Tottenham, when the Croatian scored our only goal. He has grown since the Chievo match and I can't wait to see how dangerous he can be when the whole team finally start to click.

Kondogbia, 5.5 — He didn't play a great game, apart from some incredible touches that left the defending players scratching their heads trying to figure out how he managed to avoid their tackles. Too careless with the ball and too many sloppy passes to be a factor on the offensive end. He ran a lot and that affected his last half of the game, when he was understandably tired, thanks also to Santon's terrible performance.

Eder, 5 — I almost didn't notice he was on the pitch in the first half. His match started when he switched flanks with Candreva, subbed in for Perisic. The right winger role isn't the most suitable for him, neither is playing on the left, even though he can be much more dangerous on that side. He should be playing right behind the striker or as falso nueve but I don't know if De Boer is willing to change formation just to allow him to play there.

Perisic, 5.5 — By far the most dangerous of the three forwards that started the match. He still isn't in top shape but he already knows how to put pressure on the opposition and his speed and ability in one on one situation make him a scary presence even without the ball. He and Banega could be the dynamic duo we needed to score more goals and play more exciting football.

Icardi, 5.5 — He scored the goal and...he didn't do much else. He still can't get involved in the development of the maneuver and he also wasted some good chances because of poor first touches. He needs to do way better than that if he thinks he deserves a pay rise, or he will only deserve boos from the stands.

Subs

Candreva, 6.5 — He was the spark that turned our offensive switch on, forcing the opposing back line to camp inside their area and provided the assist for Icardi's headed goal. He sometimes kept the ball too much in his feet, but if he can play like that for at least 70 minutes, Inter made a very good deal signing him this summer.

Miangue, 6.5 — First senior appearance for the Belgian youngster that had the not-so-hard role to replace Santon. He was by all means better than the Italian and who knows if De Boer will use him as a regular starter from now on, at least until Ansaldi is out with a knee injury. Fun fact: Miangue had the second best top speed (32.08 km/h) of the match for Inter on Sunday, with the only Perisic (33.35 km/h) who was faster than him.

Coach

De Boer, 5.5 — He is still trying to find the squaring of the circle with this squad, and he will need more time to understand what he can get from each and every one of his players. We need to be patient and understand that he can't take over a team and make everything go in the right direction overnight. We already saw some of his signature tactics in play on Sunday, like the high pressing on the opposing back-line or the fluid position of the players on the pitch.