The Brazilian has so far always disappointed and slipped back in the hierarchies: today is the new opportunity to move up
This afternoon’s match in Pisa will tell if two defeats in a row are enough to define Inter as being in crisis. To understand Luis Henrique’s crisis, however, there is no need to wait: the Brazilian is among the players least used by Chivu – just 235 minutes from August to today -, he has taken the field as a starter just two times out of nine and above all he has never left his mark, neither starting from the beginning nor entering the race. Now, if “Gigi”, as they affectionately call him in Appiano, were the player who bewitched the Inter managers in Marseille by convincing them to shell out 23 million plus two in bonuses this summer, he would quickly overcome the difficulties of these first months and run to take a place in the front row of Chivu’s hierarchies. Instead we have reached the crossroads: if Luis doesn’t turn around, the road to hitting the heart of Inter will become even more uphill.
occasion
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The great opportunity could materialize in Pisa, because the weather forecast says that there is air of a starting shirt. A logical scenario, one might say, considering that Dumfries’ ankle needs time to heal and that the matter will deprive Chivu of his starting right flank at least until the match on 9 December against Liverpool. The coach’s choices so far, however, have said something else. Because in the first two games played without the Dutchman, Chivu preferred to adapt Carlos Augusto, a left-footed player accustomed to playing on the left, relegating Luis Henrique, DD’s designated deputy, to the bench: the experiment didn’t work – the right lane, played with understandable difficulty by Carlos, became Inter’s weak point between the derby and Atletico – and precisely for this reason, the other Brazilian’s prices are now on the rise. More specifically, Luis Henrique entered the match climate a handful of days ago, let’s say on the eve of the Champions League match which was then lost against Cholo Simeone’s gang: on Wednesday, even before landing in Madrid, Chivu had communicated to the former Marseille player that his moment would finally come between Atletico and Pisa. Always and in any case far from San Siro, as already happened on the occasion of the two appearances as a starter, in Cagliari and Verona: the Nerazzurri public is demanding and can sometimes intimidate those who struggle to get going, as is happening to Luis Henrique.
breakthrough sought
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At this point the ball passes to the Brazilian, who on the pitch of the Arena Garibaldi will have to try to show off the best of his repertoire, all at once: one on one, courage and personality, that is, everything that has never been seen since “Gigi” wore the Nerazzurri and that everyone at Inter would expect from him. Including the coach, obviously: “Chivu asks me to aim for the opponent, to look for one-on-ones and cross”, said Luis Henrique a few months ago, when he dreamed of breaking into the Nerazzurri. Continuing at this rate, however, the future resembles a puzzle: January, and the scenario of a loan departure, are around the corner.
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