Hello Interfriends,

Well Iam back from my vacation refreshed and recharged, all the good my trip did to lower my blood pressure was instantly made useless after watching Inter play Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The match was a joy to watch as a neutral, but for fans of both teams the only fact is that niether Inter or Roma at this point have the defence needed to win the Scudetto.

So what do you get when you have two attacking teams without any defence on the pitch? An amazing soccer game that resembled more a boxing match full of punches and counter punches. Its fun to watch but when both fighters are allowed to fire at will the end result is a double knockout. That was Roma vs Inter. Great to watch, full of goals, but useless in terms of points needed to win a championship. The 3-3 draw between Inter and Roma was a treat for the eyes, but did little to help either side move up the standings.

The only thing that did rise however was my blood pressure again. Part because it was so exciting to watch, but mostly because the defensive lapses drive me crazy and after being up 3-1 with half hour to play Inter should have brought home the 3 points.

It can be said that Roma was riding the high of a new coach and had nothing to lose. Inter on the other hand are now 5 games into the season and still have only one win under Mancini in Serie A. The Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde syndrome is still evident with Inter as they have shown some amazing play in the Champions league, but can't find consistency in Serie A.

This inconsistency translated to this game where they played an awful first half giving Roma the full run of play and were lucky to go into half time with a 1-1 scoreline as Cambiasso scores at the stroke of half time to cancel out Montella's early goal at the 8th minute. Inter had a brilliant start to the second half scoring 2 goals in the first 15 minutes with Veron and Recoba making it 3-1. We can forgive Toldo for allowing in the 3-2 goal as Totti scored an amazing free kick that was so perfect no goalie in the world could have stopped it. But at that point Inter should have held the result instead played sloppy at the back and allowed DeRossi to tie from close range.

In the first half Inter were not up to par and Roma was first to every ball and clearly won the midfield battle. J. Zanetti was playing out of position on the left side, Burdisso still needs to settle, while Stankovic is clearly over played and needs to rest. Recoba was playing wide in the midfield and never found his position. The positives were Cambiasso in front of the defence who did very well to cover and our attacking sense going forward. In the first half though, Inter's movement was slow and predictable and often turned to individual efforts. Martins then needs to be subbed as he twists an ankle from a vicious DeRossi tackle. Mancini brings in Davids and moves Recoba up front.

The move brings profit as at the 46th minute. Recoba crosses into the area and Cambiasso is there to tie the match at 1-1 just before half time. Del Neri decides to bring in Dellas for Panucci but its Inter who come out flying in the second half. They begin to play amazing football as the ball movement was fast and accurate. From a corner kick, Recoba finds Veron at the far post and he hits a one timer that deflects off of Mexes and into the net making it 2-1. Three minutes later Stankovic finds Recoba with a perfect pass and he beats 2 defenders enters the area and scores the 3-1 goal in the top corner with a great strike.

It should have have been game over at this point. Roma however also have talent going forward and at the 12th minute Totti scores a wonderful free kick to make it 3-2 and re-open the match. It is his 100th goal and it was a stunner of a shot right into the top corner from 25 meters out. Inter does not react well and the defense began to crack. The game moved back and forth with both teams going for it all. It really could have gone either way with Inter making it 4-2 or Roma drawing 3-3. Unfortunately for the Inter fans, DeRossi was left all alone at the far post and he scores in the six yard box to end the game in a draw.

What can we say, It was a pleasure to watch but we have allowed too many goals so far in Serie A (11 in 5 matches I think??). Mancini needs to fix this flaw because there is no point in having the potential to score 3 goals a game if we also have the potential to let in 5 goals against! Its early days still, but Mancini needs to bring our Champions League form to Serie A and start putting some points in the win column.

Eddy Lio