A Football Report

By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

The question is a difficult one to answer. But we will have an answer soon, just right after the game on Saturday night. Inter and Roma will face each other in a clash that already means everything to both teams, despite the fact that we are at the very early stages of the season. Inter have lost 3 official games in a row so far. They’re not used to this: last time this happened was ninety years ago. Quite a bit of time. Not sure any living Inter fan will still have those matches from the 1920s in their memory.

So… what exactly happened?

My belief is that this is not the result of a single event, but rather from a multitude of them. First, the club was shocked by Leonardo leaving. Both Moratti and the skipper Javier Zanetti told the media they weren’t expecting him to leave the club. They had managed to find a delicate, but nice balance with him and, in return, he showed his ability to have and maintain a successful relationship with players. The club was forced to get a new manager and the first choices (Andre Villas Boas and Fabio Capello) were not keen to accept. So the choice was Gasperini, a good tactician but maybe not the right man at this moment. He needs time to develop his playing style, however, time is the only ingredient you can be sure will not be available when managing a top club.

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino.

For the first time since 2004, the Scudetto is a rossoneri trophy. And let me say as an Inter Milan supporter it is fully deserved.

As I told you many times here on AFR, to win Serie A you do not always have to be at your best in the biggest matches, but simply whenever it becomes vital to perform. AC Milan was able to manage a constant shape throughout the whole season, whether it was the Milan derby, massive trips away to Napoli or Juventus, or even just your average match against Sampdoria or Parma. This consistency, the fact that you knew what you were going to get when watching this squad, that’s why Milan finally deserve the title.

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

Inter simply came back to life after offering a spot on the bench to Leonardo. Why? Let’s try a little analysis.

1) Confidence is back

One of Rafa’s leitmotifs was: “these players are tired, they’ve won everything last season, now they’re mentally and physically tired”. Nothing was more far from the truth. Players are still highly motivated to win, and they are recovering from injuries one by one, giving also the idea they are not going to have further problems: look at Maicon’s fantastic shape to have a confirmation. Leonardo just brought back confidence to the players: he said “these players won everything that was possibile to win, how can you consider them at the end of their path?”

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

The first round of 2011 Serie A action came with a couple of surprises.

First and foremost, Juventus.

The bianconeri lost 4-1 at home against Parma, and this is a big surprise not only because Juve closed 2010 in good shape and with the will of doing something more in the upcoming year, but also because it is a defeat that can mean more. They lost their best striker this campaign, Fabio Quagliarella, just after the kick-off. Knee problems for him, the injury looked like a serious one. We’ll see in the next few days how long he will be out, but the feeling is it could be a long time.

Then we have Felipe Melo. He has been playing so well this season some have difficulty believing he is the same player he was last year. He started well today, but then he was sent off for kicking Parma’s Paci in the face while on the ground.

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

In Italy’s top league, you have to defend a little, no matter who you are. You have to run a little, no matter who you are. Think about José Mourinho’s Inter: they just won everything because every player, even the most talented and offensive-minded ones such as Milito, Eto’o, and Sneijder, put a fantastic attitude on and off the pitch.

Ronaldinho leaving AC Milan is not strange, if you consider all this. Moreover, you have to think about the huge savings the club achieves by doing that: about €13m before taxes for his wages. That’s quite a lot looking at the upcoming financial fair play introduced by Michel Platini.

The weird thing is how they managed to replace Ronaldinho by signing Antonio Cassano. This sounds crazy to me and, potentially, a big threat to AC Milan’s chances of winning the title. 

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By Mirko Corli, writing from Torino

Bologna is now facing a huge financial crisis. The club has not been able to pay wages to the players since last August. According to the Italian regulations, after three months of unpaid salaries, the players have the right to put the club into administration.

The players waited until the last possible day to send the official complaints to the club’s lawyers. Sending those letters too late would have resulted in them being stuck to the club until the end of the season, no matter what happens in the future. 

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