Europa League: Inter 0-2 Hajduk Split, Nerazzurri go through on 3-2 agg win
The second leg of Inter’s Europa League qualifier against Hajduk was played at the Giuseppe Meazza last night and unfortunately I was unable to watch it. I can’t really comment on the performance but from what I’ve read and heard it wasn’t great (or even good) by any standard for Inter, but we have to remember we haven’t really had much of a preseason this summer and with our new coach and playing style we aren’t going to be perfect straight away.
The result though yet again highlights the problem I’ve been going on about for over a year now, our defence just isn’t up to the job and needs strengthening above all else! Walter Samuel created Hajduk’s first goal last night by giving away a penalty, as I say I didn’t see it but I’m guessing it was a repeat of what happened so many times last season when he was fairly beaten by his opponent and made a silly mistake just because that’s all he could do to stop him. Hopefully this will serve as a lesson to Stramaccioni that Samuel should only be considered as a back up for younger defenders.
The other point that seems to have been evident was our lack of fire power up front with having no real alternative to Milito as the striker, this like the defender issue needs addressing in the last few weeks of the mercato or there is no way we can take advantage of the misfortunes facing AC Milan and Juventus if our own issues aren’t fixed. I was hoping that Longo was going to show he was ready to step up to the first team but from what I’ve seen so far the great form he showed for the Primavera is almost non existent in the first team.
There is still a lot of work to do for Stramaccioni and the Inter management in the next few weeks but hopefully these issues can be resolved before we face Pescara on the first match of the Serie A season. As for the Europa league we’ve managed to progress through to the playoff (luckily!) and now face Vaslui on Thursday 24th August in Romania and a week later back at the Giuseppe Meazza. Again this seems like a tie that the Nerazzurri should walk through but when you consider they’ve just knocked Fenerbahce out of the competition coupled with the disgraceful performance we showed last night we have to take them seriously and not presume it’ll be an easy win.
BARI, ITALY – JULY 21: Javier Zanetti of Inter in action during the match between FC Internazionale Milano and FC Juventus as part of the TIM preseason tournament at Stadio San Nicola on July 21, 2012 in Bari, Italy.
One positive before I finish was that Javier Zanetti was still bossing the pitch on his 799th appearence for the Nerazzurri and the night before his 39th Birthday! The guy is a machine and I’m so proud to have had him in our squad and leading the team for so long! What a legend!