Gasperini and Luis Enrique already under fire

by Mike Martin   @thefootietweet

You remember Serie A.  That football championship from the olden days that took place entirely on Saturday mornings on Channel 4, with James Richardson discussing Zdenek Zeman’s latest coaching appointment on a Vicenzan terrace from behind an ice cream sundae the size of a minor rugby league trophy.

Things have changed somewhat since the days of watching Juventus eek out a 1-0 win at Piacenza.  The opening weekend of Serie A – delayed by a fortnight due to a players’ strike – had as much drama as you could wish for.  Juventus, who now finally have a proper stadium, christened their new home with a superb 4-1 thrashing of Parma.   The champions Milan fought back from conceding two early goals to draw 2-2 at home to Lazio, while Napoli excelled in a 3-1 win at Cesena.

But the two clubs who most draw the attention are the two who have made disastrous starts.  Roma, recently re-invented in the Barcelona image by their new coach Luis Enrique, lost 2-1 at home to Cagliari, having already been giant-killed in the Europa League play-off round by humble Slovan Bratislava.

Internazionale, meanwhile, did an impression of a team who have never met each other before.  New coach Gian Piero Gasperini, last seen at Genoa before he was fired in November 2010, has attempted to introduce his pet project, the back three, to a club who seem neither suited nor inclined to do so.  Javier Zanetti, their 93-year-old full-back, was shoehorned in as a third centre back with Jonathan, a Brazilian just signed from Santos, and the excellent Yuto Nagatomo at wing-back.

Most controversially, though, Gasperini left Wesley Sneijder on the bench, despite the Dutch playmaker having recently committed his future to the club despite interest from both Manchester clubs.  A front three of Diego Forlán, Mauro Zárate and Gabrial Milito produced the goods but the rest of the team appeared dysfunctional as a second half masterclass from Fabrizio Miccoli gave Palermo a 4-3 win.

In the face of stinging criticism, Gasperini reverted to a back four for Wednesday’s Champions League fixture at home to Trabzonspor.  Sneijder returned as the pivot in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Joel Obi, Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso behind him.  At home against a side drafted in at the last minute after the Turkish FA withdrew champions Fenerbahçe after a max-fixing scandal, Inter could not lose.  They lost.

Forlán and Milito, despite scoring three between them in Palermo, were both dropped, with Zárate partnered by Giampaolo Pazzini.  The team looked every bit as unfamiliar as they had under Gasperini’s favoured 3-4-3 formation.  Ondrej Celuskta, the young Czech right-back, grabbed a late winner from a badly defended corner.  With a group of ageing defenders, Gasperini would appear to have much work to do.

He’d better do it jolly quickly, as Inter and Roma meet tonight in Serie A.  It promises to be an engrossing contest; both sides cannot lose.