Can we honestly beat inter?

We were at our full capability that game though! He said they haven't hot there potential in any game this season. If 7 is still poor we're *!

 

Might seem a strange thing to say but they only made their 1st appearance in Serie A last season (just survived relegation). Inter beat them 7-0 last season as well.

It was a fluke result. Sassuolo tend to defend and play for the clean sheet but Inter scored early and were 4-0 at half time.

Bit like our game against Ross County, we were 4-0 and cruising without trying.

 

That's definitely playing at your best though. If they play like that and we p,ay like we play against County, who wins? Inter.

They are a better team than us but it doesn't mean we can't beat them.

 

We CAN beat Inter. Anything is possible. Do I think we will? No, were * *. In Europe this season we've struggle to keep possession, give the ball away to cheaply, have a manager who isn't to good tactically and makes baffling substitutions. And defensively we've been a shambles this season.

 

As I said before, I don't know a whole lot about your squad. Still, all the above is wrong, in my humble opinion, but that's just how it is though. Graig Gordon being on the level of Samir Handanovic is an astounding statement, and something I'd never thought I'd hear, but again, fair enough.
I assure you, if Handa was playing in the EPL or for one of the spanish giants, he'd be lauded as one of the best in the world, simply. But because of the lack of worldwide coverage, he's not.
Under Mazzarri our fullbacks (mainly Jonathan and Nagatomo) provided some of the best statistics for fullbacks in Europe - look them up if you want. Now there's a point there that could be made, that that was mainly because of the system and how much Mazzarri's way of playing relied on the wingbacks, but still...

Funnily enough, the thing Mancini has improved is the offense. Defense is still looking very shaky, but our frontline is performing and creating way more chances than under Mazzarri.

The former is true.
The latter isn't. No one outside of British gossip columns have even entertained the thought, that Icardi's going anywhere. Not one single rumor in italian (or foreign) papers. He's not going for less than 30 mio. anyway, and who's going to pay that?

He's started off against Milan (D), Udinese (L), Chievo (W), third placed Lazio (D) and Juventus (D). Except for the Udinese loss, which was a collective second-half collapse, those results are acceptable considering where we were when he took over - the worst start since 1994 where we finished in 13'th.

Alsom the 'meaningless' EL game'-sentence doesn't really make sense when you consider your next post:

The only way we could afford a 'meaningless EL-game' is if we cruised through the group - incidentally, we did. Unbeaten and with 5 points between us and second place before the last round. Said 'meaningless EL-game' against Qarabag (who beat Salzburg in the CHL qualifiers), we fielded a total of 1 starter - Osvaldo. The rest were third-stringers or youth players.

 

I'm not underrating Handa. I'm saying that if Craig Gordon hadn't missed half his career due to injuries he'd be recognized as one of the best. As it happens, his misfortune turned out to be in our favour in the end and we're extraordinarily lucky to have him. I've really just seen your fullbacks under Mancini and based on that I would say ours are as good.

 

our players would need to play out of their skins and inter not be at their best

man for man they'll have much better players

 

You could always argue that I wouldn't completely know for sure, as anything can happen and blah blah.

But as far as I know, the rumors can be traced back to the Daily Express, and that alone tells you alot. Not a single mention of anything of that ilk can be found in any Italian media. Not Pedulla, not Di Marzio, not one source, credible or otherwise.
As of now, it hold as much credibility as me saying that I've heard Scott Brown might be leaving for, uh, Sunderland for instance. Completely fabricated.

Also, for what it's worth, Thohir sees Kovacic and Icardi as the future cornerstones of the club. Now, Kovacic will probably leave when a big enough offer from Real or Barca arrives, but that's not for now (just signed a new contract), and the same goes for Icardi (negotiations have started).

 

Just a quick question for you, how are you funding the purchases of Podolski and Shaqiri? I thought you were skint I know they're both loan deals, but you still have to pay for them in the summer?

 

I have a hunch, broony will target and rattle him, same as johansen ..

 

It's football. Anything can happen. That's why we love it!
Lose against Morton, beat Barcelona. The agony and the ecstasy.

 

But it wasn't a great Inter performance, it was bad performance from Sassuolo.

Inter can only play at their best if we let them.

 

You didn't cruise through the EL.

Struggled versus Dnipro (1-0 against 10 men)
Beat Qarabag 2-0, fair enough a good win
Drew home and away versus St Etienne. Hardly impressive.
Narrow 2-1 over Dnipro. Dnipro had the chance to go 2-0 IIRC and missed a penalty.

Inter were lucky to be a top seed.

 

Podolski 'transfer' is seemingly a loan without obligation or even option to buy.

Shaqiri is on 2 mil loan now and with obligation to buy for 13, with another 1 mil thrown in for when he reaches 15 caps and another 1 mil if we reach CHL. So, really, for what we get, we're not paying much, although we have to re-negotiate for Podolski if he delivers.

As for the funding,, we're surely selling someone. Question is who and for how much. Earlier in this thread, I entertained the idea of selling Guarin, and we recently rejected a 8 mil bid from Sevilla for him - whether it's to wait for better offers, or it's because Mancini really wants him, he's one of the guys you could sell off for a decent price and not lose any significant quality. Throw in a Kuzmanovic and a third stringer, and you've (nearly) pretty much made back what you paid for Shaqiri.

 

:smiley-laughing002:

As I repeat, we were through with a round to go, with 5 points between us and the nearest team. If that's not pretty much cruising...

And what has luck got to do with anything? Qualifying and getting results in Europe throughout a period of years, which in turn then leads to a higher seed...is luck?

I don't really comprehend? Are Celtic then in a way 'lucky' that Rangers were relegated?

 

Rangers weren't relegated they where liquidated the don't exist anymore

 

The point stands.