FC Internazionale Milano

[Thorin]

Kuzmanović, Jonathan, Milito, Samuel

[SiamoNoi]

Nadajmo se da će Berardi biti raspucan.


Is Hernanes the Right Man to Save Inter?

Feb 5 2014



As Hernanes drove out of Formello for the last time, he wound down the window to sign some autographs for the Lazio supporters gathered by the roadside. The affection they showed him, even though it was clear he was leaving for Inter, choked the midfielder up. With tears streaming down his face, he offered a pair of boots as a token of his gratitude.

It was a touching moment. Hernanes claimed to receive 10,000 text messages from Lazio fans over the next 48 hours first begging him to stay then wishing him all the best in the future. So moved was he by them that he declared his intention to stop using the phone and put it on his mantle piece with his other trophies.

Owner Claudio Lotito wasn’t so lucky. He has instead been inundated with death threats. One disgruntled fan even called during a press conference that Lotito gave before the meeting of the league. In a piece of showmanship, he put him on loudspeaker. How upset Lazio supporters were at losing Hernanes only served to underline what a fine player Inter are getting. But is it really such a good move for them?

Viewed from a certain financial perspective, no it’s not. Hernanes was in the final 18 months of his contract at Lazio. He’d been offered a new one but the indications were he wouldn’t sign. So by selling him now for €15m with another €5m due in performance-related add-ons, Lotito is getting top dollar for him. It’s a lot of money for a 28-year-old like Hernanes. It’s expensive too for a club like Inter, where we’re led to believe money is tight.

Many questions are being asked of them. For instance: what happened to Inter needing to sell to buy and to new owner Erik Thohir’s guidelines for recruitment? Didn’t he recommend Inter sign players aged 26 or under with resale value and that they be given deals of no more than €2.5m a year tops? Hernanes’ is thought to be more than €3m per annum until 2018. Surely a player like Jorginho - 22 and available to co-own at €5.5m - would have met Thohir’s criteria better.

The lack of coherence at Inter is exasperating. Remember only the previous week they were so determined to sign a striker that they offered one of their few difference makers Fredy Guarin to rivals Juventus in exchange for Mirko Vucinic, only to pull out amid fan protests. Did Inter then go and find another forward, satisfying that identified need? No. Instead they went all-in on Hernanes, a player they could have signed in 2010 for less money and to a cheaper deal.

So why didn’t they then? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, after two years of promises to the player and to his family, Inter used their one non-EU slot on Philippe Coutinho, who lest we forget they gave up on this time last season. That meant in order to register Hernanes, they’d have to park him elsewhere for a year, like at Chievo, an idea they explored which didn’t sit well with the player. Second, timing was an issue. Inter needed to sell to buy after the treble and only cashed in on Mario Balotelli in August by which time Lazio had pulled off quite the coup in beating more illustrious competition to Hernanes’ signature.

Typical, Inter eh. Oh well, it’s better late than never. After all, Hernanes is the kind of player Inter need. Their midfield lacks quality, and no more so was that evident than in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Juventus in the Derby d’Italia.



The contrast between Juventus’ midfield, comprising Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo and Inter’s of Saphir Taider, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Mateo Kovacic was stark. Very stark. Look at it this way: Juventus’ trio has scored 19 more goals this season and has also assisted in nine more, they make on average 55.8 more passes per game, 3.4 more key passes, 3.5 more shots and 3.7 more tackles. There is no contest.

The context, however, is that the midfield Inter put out on Sunday isn’t their first choice. Its organiser Esteban Cambiasso was out injured. Guarin wasn’t in the squad, apparently unable to concentrate in training amid the transfer speculation surrounding him over the last fortnight. And Hernanes wasn’t registered in time because the banks closed at 5pm on deadline day so the guarantees Inter required couldn’t be supplied until they opened again on Monday.

A central midfield made up of the three looks quite promising on paper, even if there are reservations about Cambiasso’s ability literally to ‘run’ a game and whether Guarin can get his head straight again given he’d already started thinking of himself as a Juventus player. There are other options too.

Alternatively, coach Walter Mazzarri could seek to replicate what he did at Napoli: just swap Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik behind Edi Cavani for Hernanes and one of either Guarin or Ricky Alvarez behind Rodrigo Palacio.

That’s not to everyone’s liking. Some would prefer Hernanes to play like he did for Sao Paulo, in front of the defence, directing the play a la Pirlo. Others would prefer it if Kovacic was allowed - Mazzarri permitting - to grow into that role in light of his talent and how they invested €11m in him only a year ago. Also, Hernanes has established a reputation in Italy for operating further forward, usually between the lines of midfield and attack where his dribbling ability [he averages 1.6 per game] allows him to create space for himself to shoot [on average 2.5 times per game].

Of course, we’ll have to wait until the weekend to see where Mazzarri deploys him. Without a win in 2014, only Livorno, Chievo and Sunday’s opponents Sassuolo, who Inter beat 7-0 in September, have taken fewer points since the turn of the year. With that in mind it’s no understatement to say that Inter need the player known as the Prophet to be something of a revelation.

[arminz]

Olsen i oficijelno u Strømsgodset-u do kraja norveske sezone(9. novembar)..dje poslase momka majko mila

Taman kad cojk pomisli da bi Mazzari mogo kakav fin sastav izvest pojavi se Kuzmanovic

[Elki]

Olsen i oficijelno u Strømsgodset-u do kraja norveske sezone(9. novembar)..dje poslase momka majko mila

Taman kad cojk pomisli da bi Mazzari mogo kakav fin sastav izvest pojavi se Kuzmanovic

HAHAHAHAHAHAH taman hocu da napisem ovo hahahahahahah,ako kuzma dobije crveni u prvih deset minuta pojacat ce nas pravoo...

[arminz]

Tacno mozda bi bolje igrali sa deset igraca

[Thorin]

Mozda Berardi napravi i kod nas revoluciju kao i kod komsija.
Jer ako izvede retardiran sastav ponovo, definitivno bi bilo pozeljno da nas potope i da Eric uradi nesto i po pitanju trenera.

Prema zadnjim najavama pocinju i Kuz, Jonathan i Milito.

[SiamoNoi]

Ova najavljena postavka za veceras je toliko tragična i promašena da ako stvarno ovako istrče nisam siguran da ću uopće pogledati utakmicu.Mozda radi debija Hernanesa.
Ambrozije koji ima vrlo dobru sezonu u Torinu mu je na klupi dok su Nagatomo i Jonathan u prvoj,a obojica u očajnoj formi.Pa onda Kuzmanović ispred Taidera/Kovačića.Samuel koji ima 3 utakmice ove sezone igra centralnog stopera ispred Ranocchie.Milito naprijed dok je Icardi opet na klupi...

[10DelPiero]

Ova najavljena postavka za veceras je toliko tragična i promašena da ako stvarno ovako istrče nisam siguran da ću uopće pogledati utakmicu.Mozda radi debija Hernanesa.
Ambrozije koji ima vrlo dobru sezonu u Torinu mu je na klupi dok su Nagatomo i Jonathan u prvoj,a obojica u očajnoj formi.Pa onda Kuzmanović ispred Taidera/Kovačića.Samuel koji ima 3 utakmice ove sezone igra centralnog stopera ispred Ranocchie.Milito naprijed dok je Icardi opet na klupi...

Taj Johnatan ruku na srce i kad je u odlicnoj formi ne zna hodat a kamoli fudbala igrat, malo je rec da je vrlo losa kopija Maicona.

[Mago]

Handanovic, Rolando, Samuel, Juan, Jonathan, Guarin, Kuz, Hernanes, Nagatomo, Milito, Palacio


ojjjjjjjjjjjj Mazzarri kretencino. Pa koji je tebi qrac ? D'Ambrosio, Kovacic ili Taider,Ranocchia,Icardi ????? Mrs smradu jedan. Jbo ti Samuel,Johnny,Kuz i Milito svu familiju defektnu.

Ajmo Sassuolo !!!

[Tritolone]

Mislia sam gledat utakmicu i posli toga ucit ali sad je namjeravam preskocit. Ovo nema smisla vise...

[Thorin]

Berardi brate učini nas sretnima..

[sanjingr]

E moj Mazzari...konju

[vrebac86]

[arminz]

Nado sam se do posljednjeg momenta da ce nas ipak iznenadit sa sastavom..ne znam ni ja zasto, covjek definitivno nije normalan

ako ga ne otpuste prije, onda definitivno na kraju sezone mora ic..Thohir prica o mladom timu a u ove mazge od mladica igra samo Juan..ne poklapa se filozofija nikako i mislim da ce to Thohir rastjerat

Nadam se da je Sassuolo nabrijan da nam vrate za onih 0:7

[Biscione]

Ajd barem je našao "hrabrosti" da izađe sa 2 napadača, drago mi je što će uz Hernanesa igrati i Guarin (iako bih volio da igra i Kovačić od prve). Također bi bilo bolje da igra Taider umjesto Kuzme ali ajd barem ne igraju obojica jer jedan zadnji vezni je više nego dovoljan. Nadam se uvjerljivoj pobjedi od 2:0 ili 3:0.

[Interista02]

Jest da sutra ne bih mogo' otici u skolu od sramote, ali bih volio da primimo jednu petardu jer bi to značilo konačan kraj ovom majmunu.

[Biscione]

Jest da sutra ne bih mogo' otici u skolu od sramote, ali bih volio da primimo jednu petardu jer bi to značilo konačan kraj ovom majmunu.

Da znam da će dobiti otkaz i ja bih navijao za Sasuolo.

[Mago]

Kad vidim da Samuel hoce da posalje dugu loptu povraca mi se.

Fuj kako smo jadni...

[Biscione]

Nešto me ova netraja zeza, imal ko kakav dobar stream?

[arminz]

Guarin se jedini trudi, Hernanes neprimijetan do sad

Hernanes bi ovo u Lazio zmireci dao