Milan is forever Blue
To start off, let’s talk about the positives in that game. Handanovic, without doubt, the best keeper in Italy at the moment, could not be blamed for either goal, pulling off amazing saves, and, doing it all at his age. The man was literally on fire. To go with it, our center back pairing, Skriniar and De Vrij are absolute warriors at the back. These 3 players alone are keeping Inter out of relegation and believe it or not, in third place. Milan is painted in blue today and every little bit of credit belongs to these three beasts. I’ll be very surprised if Inter are to keep all 3 come next season, and I’m scared to think how we would be without Handanovic in goals.
Moving on to the wingbacks, and for once, I’m glad to say, they weren’t that bad today. Asamoah, who I always rate, had a great match today, very solid in defense, and not a bad option going forward. D’ambrosio, must be reading my reports, because he had a better performance, and was much better than previous weeks. Same as Asamoah, he looked very secure at the back, and not a bad option going forward. His block right at the end prevented Inter from losing points and showed his commitment putting his body on the line for his team. Ranocchia came one late with his cameo performance, and he is one player I have learned to love in the past few years as he is so unselfish, and would literally do anything for the team. Whatever he lacks in ability he makes up for in passion and commitment for Inter.
Our front-line looked like a different team altogether this week. Martinez played today with so much freedom, and to play so care-free in the derby out of all matches makes me question his actual character. If he is able to do that in such a big game, why can he not do that against smaller teams and play with that confidence of freedom, dribbling, attacking, shooting, passing, the kid did it all, and was a different player altogether. Martinez needs to take the confidence from this game and adapt it to future games, and he will explode. A great header back in for Vecino to tap in, great dribbling, and the calmness of that penalty tops off a great performance by the Argentine.
Politano had a great performance as well, causing Milan trouble with every attack. Politano looks almost guaranteed an Inter player with his performances with Inter to execute their buy clause. He has been very good all season, and at first I was very hesitant to jump on the Politano wagon, but his performances have showed me he is worthy of the Inter jersey. His weaving, dribbling, speed caused the Milan backline all sorts and won the decisive penalty for Inter. Perisic himself had a great game, providing the assist to assist for Vecinos goal. Perisic also tracked back, and showed the true worth of an outstanding winger. Our left flank looks so secure and was the strongest form of attack and defense.
Overall, Inter looked very strong in attack and defense, but we are still lacking in our midfield. Ultimately, our midfield today was disgusting. Besides a Vecino tap in, they had nothing going for them. Brozovic, Vecino and Valero once subbed on, looked so sluggish and slow. It makes me think that Brozovic is playing with an injury, he is not looking like the warrior that he shows week in and out. He looks slow, and almost lazy to the point of not deserving a spot in the starting lineup. Vecino did not help his cause as well, and Inter really need to look at purchasing a few holding midfielders who are able to keep up with the tempo or give the primavera players a go. Nainggolan is not consistent with injuries keeping his game time restricted. Inter need to invest in midfielders and quick.
