Nerazzurri start 2012 with a touch of class
First of all I’d like to wish all my readers a Happy New Year, and what a start to the year Inter had last night! Before the winter break the Nerazzurri found their form in the last four games of 2011 ending with the fantastic 4-1 thrashing of Lecce in December and then came the winter break, two weeks without a match that for me seemed to last for a lot longer but my main concern was that the great form we found would be lost with the lack of matches and momentum.
I shouldn’t have worried though because as it turns out, Inter actually managed to improve further during this time and started 2012 with what was undoubtably their best performance of the season, the game had everything from goals galore, moments of great skill, even when Ranieri brought on his substitutes they were the right players and most importantly we kept a clean sheet. All in all it was the perfect game for Inter.
Ranieri started the game a bit more adventurous than his usual 4-4-2 formation and fielded a 4-3-1-2 seeing a return of the Trequenista position in our formation, with our number one Julio Cesar in goal we had the usual defensive line of Lucio and Walter Samuel as center backs with Maicon and Yuto Nagatomo on the flanks as fullbacks/ wingbacks. The three-man midfield was made up of all defensive midfielders in the shape of Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso and Thiago Motta with Ricky Alvarez in the Trequartista role behind our strike pairing of Pazzini and Milito.
FIRST HALF
So Inter’s new year started at 19:45 GMT on the 7th January and within a minute Parma were on the attack with Sebastian Giovinco getting the first shot on goal but it was easy for Julio Cesar to get to. Just a minute later Inter responded when Alvarez linked up well with Motta who setup Pazzini whose shot ended up wide of the far post.
Inter’s first corner of the game came on the fourth minute which Alvarez swung in to be met by Samuel’s head but the defender failed to get any power in to his header and the shot was saved easily by Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante. Our young Argentine playmaker Alvarez was playing fantastically throughout the match and it was one of his crosses that broke the deadlock on 13 minutes as it found Milito in the box who flicked the ball home at the near post, meaning that ‘il Principe’ has scored in two consecutive games after his goal against Lecce before Christmas.
Just two minutes later Ricky sent in another dangerous cross which this time found Pazzini who miss hit his shot sending the ball way over the bar. It didn’t take long for Inter to double their lead though when in the 18th minute Milito took a shot that was deflected out of the box but Motta ran on to it connecting beautifully sending his low left footed shot in to the bottom corner of the net.
Giovinco had the opportunity to half the Nerazzurri lead almost straight from the restart as ex Inter player Jonathan Biabiany’s cross found him in space but the forward’s header could only be directed wide. He had another chance on 29 minutes when Inter conceded a free kick but Julio Cesar dived to keep the ball out of the bottom corner.
Parma had another wasted chance in the 40th minute when Francesco Modesto messed up his shot from another Biabiany cross. Just a minute later Parma were punished for not taking advantage of their previous chances as Milito claimed his second goal of the game as he headed home a Maicon cross making it 3-0 for the home side, which is how the half ended after no added time.
SECOND HALF
Surprisingly for Claudio Ranieri no changes were made during the half time break and after the interval Parma came out determined to fight the inevitable with Giovinco looking the most likely Parma player to get the chance. But Inter were in no mood to give them a consolation goal and ten minutes after the restart the Nerazzurri played a wonderful counter attack with Milito playing in the ball behind the defence for Pazzini to connect with making it 4-0.
Two minutes later Ranieri made his first change which obviously had next week’s Derby della Madonnina in mind as he brought off Cambiasso giving on loan youngster Andrea Poli his second appearance in the Nerazzurri shirt. In the 64th minute Julio Cesar came off his line to deny Graziano Pellè, who replaced Modesto ten minutes earlier.
Soon after Milito’s temper flared as he was elbowed by Jardim Brandao but the referee was having none of it and play continued. In the 71st minute Parma’s most dangerous player Giovinco popped up again to send a low drive goalward only to see it go wide of the post. Then two minutes later Inter’s captain Zanetti succeeded where Parma had failed for the entire match as while trying to clear a through ball he managed to put it past Julio Cesar and in to the back of the net, though his embarrassment was saved by Massimo Gobbi being called offside. This made ‘il Capitano’ smile and he promptly apologised to the Interista in the stands and received applause in return.
Just before Zanetti’s mistake Ranieri brought on Phillipe Coutinho in place of the outstanding Alvarez who absolutely deserved the standing ovation he received as he left the pitch. With a quarter of an hour to go Julio Cesar proved he was still paying attention as he saved a wonderful volley from Parma’s Gobbi.
Then on the 76th minute Ranieri made his last change bringing on Marco Faraoni for Milito changing his formation to a 4-4-1-1, and just three minutes later Faraoni netted his first ever Serie A goal with an awesome dipping volley that just clipped the underside of the bar before going in, leaving Mirante with no chance of saving it. With Inter’s fifth goal all the fight left the Parma players and the last ten minutes became just a kick about for Inter, so after two minutes of added time the referee blew the final whistle on the Nerazzurri’s convincing 5-0 thrashing of Parma.
Inter 5-0 Parma (HT: 3-0)
Scorers: Milito 13 and 41, Thiago Motta 18, Pazzini 56, Faraoni 79.
Referee: Antonio Giannoccaro (Lecce).
Booked: Samuel 23, Galloppa 31.
Added time: 0+2 minutes.
Attendance: 47,326.
Lineups
Inter:
1 Julio Cesar; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 55 Nagatomo; 4 Zanetti, 8 Thiago Motta, 19 Cambiasso (Poli 58), 11 Alvarez (Coutinho 72); 7 Pazzini, 22 Milito (Faraoni 76).
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 23 Ranocchia, 28 Zarate, 30 Castaignos.
Coach: Claudio Ranieri.
Parma:
83 Mirante; 5 Zaccardo, 29 Paletta, 13 Brandao,18 Gobbi; 7 Biabiany, 4 Morrone (Pereira 60), 8 Galloppa (Musacci 68), 23 Modesto (Pellè 55); 10 Giovinco, 11 Floccari.
Unused subs: 1 Pavarini, 22 Palladino, 33 Santacroce, 80 Valiani.
Coach: Franco Colomba.
What can I say about this match apart from what a game! It was great to see the confidence and hunger for the win restored to Inter, all in all this was a fantastic game for us Interisti and as one of the Fox Soccer commentators (I had to watch the match on a live stream as ESPN thought Darts should be on instead) said it was probably our best performance since the treble winning 2009/10 season. Last nights match also sent a message out to all the title contenders that they shouldn’t write off the mighty Inter yet!
There were many positives last night It was great to see Milito netting a brace and looking more like the great striker he used to be, Nagatomo’s forward runs were fantastic and caused the Parma defence a lot of problems and of course Alvarez is just getting better and better every time he’s on the pitch and as I’ve said before he may not be the fastest player but in the Trequartista role that isn’t particularly important and his skill alone means he is going to become a truly important player for Inter.
There are of course a few things that need improvement firstly is the same old problem with our aging central defence which a few times did not have the pace to deal with a few counter attacks, though this will hopefully be improved during this transfer window if we can bring in a faster defender. Staying with our defence Nagatomo needs to work on his tracking back and fulfilling his defensive duties, going forward he is excellent managing to do on the left flank what Maicon does on the right but unlike the Brazilian wingback he takes too long to return to his position and when he does his defending is sketchy at best. Lastly concerns the guy who for me was the man of the match,
Ricky Alvarez, although his performance last night and in the last few games has been fantastic he needs to improve his strength as he is sometimes easily removed from the ball and also he needs to learn to make decisions quicker, I noticed last night that a few times his hesitation to choose a pass gave the opposition the opportunity to take the ball from him, though he is still only young and I’m sure that this will come with experience.
This win will have boosted Inter’s confidence considerably and I feel it has put us in the best position going in to next weekend’s derby against AC Milan, so now the squad need to work hard this week and give 120% next weekend to show our cross city rivals that we are still a threat to their Scudetto hopes.