The league is finally about to return, here are my ratings for the first 5 matchdays. Starters and substitutes evaluated based on their performances. What do you all think?
Martínez: The Captain. Inter's top scorer with 4 goals in 4 appearances, including a brilliant brace in the 2-2 draw against Roma just before the break.
Thuram: An excellent start to the season. He scored 2 goals, also providing key assists (Lautaro against Roma).
Çalhanoğlu: The Playmaker. Scoring 2 vital goals in just 3 league appearances.
Barella: The Engine. A constant presence, he delivered consistent performances.
Zieliński: The Magician. He featured heavily in the first 5 matchdays.
Diouf: The Footbal. He's the new faces of the season in midfield. While he hasn't scored yet, he stood out for his dynamism.
Bisseck: The Steak. Heavily featured in the defensive hierarchy (4 appearances). Extra attacking weapon, contributing 1 goal and 1 assist.
Augusto: Extremely versatile, he rotated between the wing-back role and the back three, managing to score 1 goal in his 3 appearances.
Akanji: The most consistent presence in the backline, starting all 5 Serie A matches.
A few interesting excerpts, the interview has automatic translation CC so I suggest you watch, I had to translate some parts while listening to it because I couldn't find complete transcripts to feed into Deepl.
On the englishmen,
“Spence has been training with us for a week now and is doing everything: there are no drills he’s not allowed to take part in.
Jones has always been with us, while John is going through his rehabilitation. He’s doing better too. They’re no different from the rest of us: we’ve been good at choosing people who are very much aligned with the way we work."
On Pepo,
"Goalkeepers need to get plenty of minutes.
When a goalkeeper makes a mistake, hundreds of people judge that mistake as if it were the end of the world, and that isn’t fair. An attacker who misses a one-on-one against the goalkeeper isn’t judged in the same way as a goalkeeper who makes a mistake. It’s not easy for a goalkeeper to maintain their self-confidence and mental strength.
What I look at after a mistake is how they react.
This season, whenever my players have made mistakes, they’ve always reacted well. Martinez (the GK) is someone who takes responsibility for his mistakes, maintains a high level of professionalism and makes himself available to the team. In my view, he’s more than ready."
On Diouf,
“He hasn’t told me that he wants to play in midfield (laughs). I don’t know if he said that; things are often taken out of context. (He's being funny here)
Diouf is a very committed player. He does his best to give the team what it needs at different moments of a match. He always wants to improve. We spend a lot of time together in the video room and one on one, helping him understand his off-the-ball movements, and I see that he’s very attentive.
Because of how much he applies himself, for his will to improve, to play, to contribute, my grade for him is a 10/10.
It's a long process, it takes time, he needs to make mistakes, because that's how you improve in my view, that's how you understand certain things.
We can't lose sight of the fact that he considers himself as a midfielder, and I'll give him that, but because of the way this team is built, because of the energy he brings when he gets on the ball, the courage and the freedom he shows when he sees the opposition’s goal...
the interviewer interjects with "he shoots a lot!"
Chivu immediately cuts him off with "he needs to shoot better, shooting a lot doesn't mean much.
He is using his right foot, which I like that he is showing that he can play on his weak foot as well, he needs to improve on the number of solutions he can pull off, maybe go for a through ball to put his striker in front of goal, or a one-two with the striker so he can overlap (I am unsure if this is the correct TL, Chivu says "magari un dai e vai con l'attaccante, che lui arriva da sotto").
What I like is that he accepts to play out of his preferred position, at Inter, where one mistake gets you crucified.
We all know how he was perceived when we purchased him last year, with all that mess, the strength of charachter this kid has is scary, that kind of criticism will incapacitate anyone, but he kept his head down for months, he never raised his voice or missed a training session, and now he can show his qualities, and he was called up for the French NT! Which is not an easy place to get to. I am so happy to see the margins for improvement he has.
On Pio,
"He’s growing, and he’s growing well. He’s developing by playing, making a difference and being decisive for us and for the national team. I no longer consider him a youngster, although he’s only been playing in Serie A for a year and a month. He’s showing that he’s on the right path in his development. He and the other forwards have understood that pressing like we do helps us win the ball back and allows the team to defend higher up the pitch. That’s something we strongly believe in, there’s no point demanding things if there’s no conviction behind them.
We can also get it wrong because of the quality of the opposition or other factors, but what matters to me is how we react to the press.”
On Aleksandar Stankovic,
“Ale is a deep-lying playmaker, but he can also play as a holding midfielder in a two man midfield. He’s a playmaker, playing in front of the defence, and he has a good touch. He needs to improve his sense of timing, but guys, we’re talking about a player who only started on his "path" two years ago. He had the courage to go to Switzerland, and last year he played in the Champions League with Club Brugge.
Sometimes I have to remind myself of how I should view him, because I’ve known him since he was a child (he doesn't just mean as a kid in the u14, Chivu has known the Stankovic brothers since they were small children, because of his friendship with Dejan Stankovic) and I feel like I treat him differently than others, but it isn't right, this lad has scored a lot of goals in the Champions League, he won with Club Brugge, and he’s a player worthy of Inter.
Ahead of him you have Çalhanoglu, and we all know what he means to this team. Zielinski can also play as a deep-lying playmaker. Stankovic needs to maintain his intensity, rhythm and desire to improve, and sooner or later we’ll see him!"
He goes on to talk more, but these are the most interesting points imo. I linked the youtube video 🖤💙
Is it worth a watch? Did you watch it on OneFootball outside of italy?