Inter, the 0-0 draw against Sampdoria and the problems of Inzaghi’s team

From our correspondent Andrea Ramazzotti

February 14th
– Genoa

The goalless draw on the Sampdoria field, after a triumphal derby and more generally three consecutive wins, hurts. More to morale and the “project” than to the standings. Because the chances of the Scudetto had long ago been wiped out both by the triumphal march of Napoli and by the six defeats collected by Inzaghi’s men in the first 22 days. However, the lack of victory against a team that has only 11 points allows us to understand that this Inter still has too many ups and downs to aim high, that it doesn’t know how to win the matches it “should”, but above all that it suffers when faced with medium-small, against which in this beginning of 2023 it lost 7 points. Certainly not a demonstration of maturity in view of the future and of Saturday’s match at San Siro when the opponents will be Udinese. With what morale will Inter face the round of 16 of the Champions League? The question is big and unanswered after a performance like the one against Sampdoria.

Nervousness

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The enthusiasm that reigned last Sunday after the derby now seems like a distant memory and on the Ferraris night, Inzaghi’s line-up didn’t seem even a distant relative of the one that crashed the Devil. It happens when a group isn’t really winning, it lacks leaders and some of its elements (Barella above all) think more about protesting than staying with their heads “in” the match. The disagreement between the Sardinian midfielder and Lukaku was a dangerous siren that sounds inside and outside the locker room in view of the season finale. In the press conference Inzaghi explained that the episode was closed at the interval and that it will never happen again. We will see. Certainly not even the managers are happy with certain behaviors that they had already stigmatized.

Small to medium nightmare

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Monza, Empoli and Sampdoria have exposed the Nerazzurri’s limits, lacking elements capable of overcoming the man and removing the others from the difficulties when the game does not take off. The Piacenza coach tried to remedy the problem by returning to using LuLa from 1′, the decisive duo for the Scudetto with Conte on the bench, but the result was not the one hoped for because Big Rome after an excellent start, he shut down and because Lautaro, for one evening, didn’t have the killer instinct. Maybe the Bull world champion has masked some shortcomings of the team in this first month and a half of the new year. But asking him to always solve problems is too much. And it would be equally wrong to throw the cross on the Belgian who is fueling after so many physical problems. We need to give him time, even if the time available in the race to qualify for the 2023-24 Champions League is less and less. If Inter had gone +5 with a win in Genoa, he could have looked to the future with more optimism. Now, however, everything will be more complicated, especially on a psychological level.

Dybala nostalgia

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Of course, with a Correa inconclusive or absent due to injury as in this moment, Inzaghi strongly feels the absence of a “real” fourth striker. Impossible not to regret not having closed the Dybala deal this summer: if the club’s accounts had allowed us to take the Joya, leaving no room for maneuver for Roma, perhaps the season would have taken a different turn. And perhaps some matches in which Inter bogged down would have been solved by the Argentine that Marotta would have liked to bring to Pinetina in any way. The year must now end without the Argentine who makes the Giallorossi capital happy: it is mandatory to hope that Inter will quickly return to being the one in the derby even against opponents who do not have the coat of arms of their cousins. The fact that they haven’t conceded a goal after 14 league away games helps, but thinking positively after the performance in Genoa is complicated even for the most optimistic of Inter fans.