Comments on: Champions League day 2 - No revenge for Roma at Old Trafford, and Inter finally shift into gear in Europe

By: Martha

Martha — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:35:10 +0000

I think Figo is a winger who Mancini puts at attacking mid because he wants him on the field but doesn’t trust him to play the defense expected from wide players. He’s misused there because he’s not a scoring threat — his Super Copa miss against Roma is much more typical of what happens to his shots from open play than the great goal against Samp; he just doesn’t have that part of his game anymore. Stankovic, on the other hand, is a scoring threat but isn’t much of a creator there (though he does sometimes connect well with Suazo). Solari’s not played there enough for me to have a strong sense of his usefulness in the position, but I see him these days as more a digger than a true creative player. Jimenez is actually a hole player — very, very creative there — while I think the others are just being shoehorned into the position because Mancio wants them on the pitch.

(Of course, I could be entirely wrong, so don’t put too much fair in any of my opinions on the matter.)

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:57:12 +0000

I wasn’t paying too much attention to the Inter match to tell you the truth Martha. I had that one on streaming while I was watching Roma on the TV, but I managed to catch Zlatan’s goals when they scored.

I don’t know Jiménez well enough to add my 2 cents, but my guess is that Mancio is going for experience by picking Solari over him. And unless you’re excluding wingers, I don’t think Jiménez is the only attacking mid that Inter have: Figo, Stankovic, and Solari can all cover that role by moving to the center (even though they’re more natural on the wings).

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 03:53:29 +0000

As expected, Roma lost. They didn’t crash and burn like I wanted, but they lost. You can say all you want about their difficult calendar etc. but since the Juve game it’s been going downhill for Spalletti’s team…

By: Martha

Martha — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:44:43 +0000

We all know I’m terribly biased, but I thought Figo was absolutely key today — man of the match, even. His passes were perfect, he slowed things down when necessary, and he actually got in and helped defend, which hasn’t happened in years.

Also: I’d really like to have seen Jimenez get the start over Solari — he could have played his natural advanced role with Figo on the wing. At some point, Mancini HAS to give Jimenez a chance. Right? He’s Inter’s only true attacking midfielder, for god’s sake.