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'Handoyo Sudarga - Columns'

Veron: A bad deal!
Dear Diary: January 2004
Ronaldo: The ongoing saga
Cuper for Zac: Was it the Right Decision?
Dilemma
Gabriel Batistuta
Too Boo Or Not To Boo

'Veron: A bad deal!'

(8 June, 2004)

Juan Sebastian Veron has just joined Inter in a one year loan deal and there was a mixed reaction between the fans on the transfer. For me, I view this transfer as the worst that Inter has done in the past few years. I will tell you why in the next few paragraphs.

It is not a secret anymore that Veron has struggled a lot during his 3 year spell in England. Some argue that it was because his playing style doesn't suit the more aggresive English Premier League. But, Veron doesn't only struggle in EPL, he also struggled in the Champions' Leage too!!! He was no longer the old Veron. Man Utd sold him to Chelsea even though they made a big loss, just to get rid of Veron!!! And now, Chelsea, under the new Mourinho regime, has clearly dumped him. Why are we picking up rubbish??? It was as if we accept our position to be inferior to Man Utd and Chelsea by accepting a failure from them.

Veron also has a massive wage. None of us are sure how much he earns or how much do we pay him during his one year stay at Inter. But still, in this football economic crisis, we need to keep our wage bill as minimal as possible.

The biggest reason why I see this transfer as a bad one is the fact that Veron's arrival looks likely to kick one of Emre or Deki out of the starting-line-up. Veron, Deki and Emre may be able to co-exist in a diamond formation but Zac has never used that in his career. He has always used a 5-men-midfield and in it, all three of them can't play together without being placed out of position. Dejan Stankovic and Belozoglu Emre has been times better than Veron in the past few seasons, so why do we need to sacrifice one of them???

Continuity has been the constant reason why Inter has kept Alberto Zaccheroni. Now, continuty is not needed only in the coaching department but also in line-ups and formations!!! Stankovic has been great in the last few games of the season and looked very much like the missing piece in the puzzle. The midfield of Kily - Emre - CZ - Deki - JZ was just starting to gel-up. The arrival of Veron means that continuty has gone straight to the drain yet again. If Veron plays, one of the 5 players I mentioned will have to sit on the bench. The rest of his team-mate also need to adapt to Veron first. Now, didn't we buy Deki in advance so that he can adapt faster??? We can't go through another adaptation process with Veron. If we keep on having to adapt to a new player, it is the same as we need to keep on waiting for the Scudetto!!!

This may sound crazy but I hate that the deal is a loan one. If we are to take risk by changing the formation/line-up by signing Veron, we have to be confident that Veron will succeed. If we are to take the risk, we should have taken a bigger risk and that is to sign him permanently. Should Veron revived in Inter but Inter failed to win the Scudetto and finished second, Chelsea can have a rejuvenated Veron back and we would have nothing. Our formation will change yet again and the constantly benched Deki/Emre may ask to be transfered out. If Veron's transfer turns out to be a failure, we can't simply say "Return him to Chelsea". The damage he made would have already been done and may be irreversible!!!

Inter already had an abundance of players in the midfield department. Assuming that no one leaves, we would have: Emre, Deki, Almeyda, CZ, Farinos, Karagounis and Lamouchi for the central midfield. Even with this crop of player, we did not see Biava or Beati for even one bit!!! The youngster could not get into the team because there are no opportunities given on them. Dino Marino is the latest player to have emerged from Inter's famous youth system. Yet, like Beati or Biava, he will struggle to find a place in the starting line-up. The arrival of Veron only makes it worse for the youngsters. Loaning them out is a worst case scenario as 99% of the loaned players has failed to stake a claim the startine line-up. Martins wasn't loaned out. We gave him a little but sufficient minutes in 02/03 and look at him now!!!

Those were the reasons why I think the Veron transfer has been a negative one. To be honest, I can't find a counter-argument or a positive point about the transfer. For me, the only way Veron can redeem himself in my heart, is a Scudetto. Nothing less. But I truly hope and pray that Veron proves me wrong. When it's all said and done, it is Inter that matters, not Emre or Stankovic or Beati or Biava or Dino Marino. Forza Inter!!!

Handoyo Sudarga

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'Dear Diary: January 2004'

This January has been one of the most exciting moment in Inter’s history. So much happened both on and off the pitch. Bad and good things have come. Let us recap this turbulent and roller-coasting month!!!

6 January 2004
Yes!!! We managed to beat Lecce!!! Although our team looked shaky in the first half-hour of the match, we end it well. And what a way to end the match with one of the greatest striker in Inter’s rich history, Christian Vieri, getting his 100th goal for the club. The celebration was grand, with Vieri being crowned by his team-mates.

10 January 2004
Today we were beaten by Parma but we produced a performance that was worthy of a draw. A blunder by Toldo cost us the points. Matteo Ferarri marshaled Parma’s defence well and Frey was superb. Our second Serie A defeat only in Zac’s reign.

13 January 2004
Udinese is still a hard team to beat, especially in Friulli. We only managed a goalless draw in the first leg of the TIM Cup Semi-Final.

18 January 2004
DISGRACE!!! My team let me down with a heartless display against an Empoli side who are struggling to stay in Serie A. A 1-0 defeat in San Siro by Empoli is just unacceptable. This is the most shameful moment in being an Interista so far for me. Vergogna Inter!!!

19 January 2004
Moratti resigns!!! Just one day after the disgraceful defeat against Empoli, Massimo Moratti and 4 of his advisors resigned from the Inter board. It seems that Moratti has finally bowed down to the wrath of the Nerazzurra fans who had been demanding for his resignation for a long time. Don’t be surprised if he’s voted again as president come election time though.

21 January 2004
Double delight!!! Off the pitch, one of the most talented player in the game, Adriano, returned home after a 2 years of adventure away from Inter. He was bought from Parma after a complicated co-ownership deal. On the pitch, Inter thrashed Udinese 3-1 in San Siro in an emphatic performance. Forza Inter!!! We advanced to the Semi-Finals and will face Juventus.

25 January 2004
God, why do we Interisti always have to suffer??? I never knew that it’s difficult beat Empoli at home or Modena away. Even the debut of Adriano couldn’t get Inter the 3 points they needed.

31 January 2004
Dejan Stankovic!!! Our midfield has been piss poor lately and the signing of one of the most talented midfielder in Serie A will surely boost the quality. Question marks have been put on the future of Emre and Van Der Meyde though, 2 players that are most likely to be affected by this transfer. I hope they see this as a slap and that they will step up their performance to win the competition for their spots in the team. Benvenuto Deki!!!

Handoyo Sudarga

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'Ronaldo: The ongoing saga'

'Cuper for Zac: Was it the Right Decision?'

I was kinda surprised when I heard that Cuper has finally been given the boot by Moratti. I thought Moratti is really gonna follow his father’s footsteps because there are a lot of similarities between Hererra and Cuper. First, let me just briefly give you a rundown on these similiraties:

- Hererra and Cuper are 2 defensive-minded Argentinian coaches who coached a Spanish team before they coached Inter.
- Hererra got rid of Angelillo, who was Inter’s primadona in the 60s. Cuper got rid of Ronaldo, who was Inter’s primadona in the 90s.
- Hererra finished 3rd and 2nd in his first 2 seasons. Same with Cuper.
- Hererra had an appalling start to his 3rd season. Cuper only lose once but it’s a Derby loss and he couldn’t beat teams like Sampdoria & Udinese and we also struggled against Siena & Modena.

Hererra won the Scudetto in his 3rd season with Inter. This make me believe that Massimo is gonna try his luck and only sack Cuper in the summer if we don’t win anything. Nonetheless, let’s leave all these coincidences and get to the real world analysis.

Massimo’s Past Experiences

Moratti knew well that his past experiences when he sacked a coach during the course of a season were terrible ones. When we sacked Luigi Simoni, Lucescu took over and did a horrible job. Castellini took over as an interim coach before Roy Hodgson took over the side. Inter finished in a horrible 8th position.

Another experience is with Lippi. He was appointed during the summer of 1999 and a lot was expected from him. He spent hundred of millions and he bought players like Peruzzi, Jugovic and most significantly, Vieri. His first season with us was a bad one. We finished 4th and have to go through the qualifying round to enter the UCL. We met Helsingborg and they knocked us out. In the first game of the new season, we lost to Reggina and Lippi got the sack.

On came Marco Tardelli. He won the European Championship for the Azzurrini during the summer. Under his reign, Inter had to endure some of the most embarrassing moments in our history. AC Milan and Fiorentina thrashed us 6-0. The team finished 5th in that season.

As we can see, Moratti isn’t a man who looks at the past. He doesn’t care about the similarities in Cuper and Hererra and he doesn’t care if sacking a coach in the middle of a season usually brings horrible things to Inter. I’m not blaming him for this though as I’m not a superstitious man too.

Why was Cuper sacked?

Moratti is one of the biggest Inter fans that I knew. And as a big fan myself, I’m sure that Moratti sacked Cuper not because of his boring style of football, but because Cuper couldn’t get us the results even when he has been given all the players he had asked. It’s true that we only lost one so far this season but it was against nemeses, AC Milan. By the way, Cuper doesn’t have a very good record against them. 1 win, 2 draws and 4 losses in 7 matches.

And we also only manage to draw against sides like Udinese and Sampdoria. With all due respect, these are sides that Inter should have been able to beat. And our win against Modena, Siena and Dinamo Kyiv wasn’t a truly deserved one. So signs were pointing that the team is going nowhere under Cuper. Moratti must have seen this and decided that Cuper should be sacked before the poison spreads even further.

During the previous season too, Cuper couldn’t came up with victories against big teams. Out of the 10 games Inter played against Juventus, AC Milan, Roma and Lazio, Inter didn’t manage to get any win and got beaten twice. It’s no secret that if you can’t beat the big teams, your chances to win any trophy, will be hampered.

I also believe that Cuper has a mad obsession on UEFA Champions league. He was the coach of Valencia, who was the losing finalists in 2000 and 2001. We were resting players in Serie A games to make sure that they are fit for UCL matches. Cuper, incredibly, couldn’t realize that Moratti and the Interisti want the Scudetto more than anything else.

This is not 100% true but Cuper also doesn’t have the best of relationships with his players too. Ronaldo, who was like Massimo’s own son, blame Cuper for his exit. It was also rumoured that Vieri and Di Biagio had arguments with the coach last season. And Cuper is also blamed for not giving Recoba, who is one of Massimo’s favourite players, enough chances.

Benvenuto Alberto Zaccheroni

Honestly, I’ve never seen one single Zac match. I’ve only seen some highlights of his previous teams but they are not enough for me to make any analysis out of it. But what I know is that he plays with a 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2 formation. Looking at the current Inter squad, we have the correct players to play in that formation. However, Luciano, Kily and possibly Fadiga, can’t play in these formations so this is surely a worry for Inter.

Zac is a former Milan coach. He won Milan’s their last ever Scudetto during his first season there. But surprisingly, he didn’t get the support by the Milanisti. Don’t ask me why as I wasn’t following soccer that much back then. Zac was also the Lazio coach for the 01/02 season and they did badly and only finished 6th that season. An interesting fact, Zac is the coach of the Lazio side that defeated us on 5th May 2002, a defeat that cost us the Scudetto.

I’m not going to judge whether hiring Zac for 2 seasons is a good or bad decision for Inter. We can’t just make assumptions that Inter is gonna do badly under Zac. I think we should give the man more time and only make the judgment after 10 or more games.

Grazie Cuper

I was still a Cuper supporter when he was getting a lot of criticisms from a lot of people last season. However, the last straw for me was the second lost against Milan in the Serie A. We were a goal down, our side wasn’t playing very well and we didn’t create too many chances. He made one of the most ridiculous substitutions of all time that I could remember. Recoba was taken out for Batistuta. Batistuta was a player that will never create anything and it isn’t as if he was a prolific goal-scorer that season! In fact, he was one of the worst players during that season.

Since that game, I’ve lost all my trust on Cuper. I didn’t want him out of the club. I had a dilemma on whether he should continue or someone should replace him. In the end, after the umpteenth Derby loss, I really wanted Cuper out of the club. I was even hoping that Vieri would miss the last minute penalty against Brescia so that we would lose that game and Cuper would finally be sacked!!!

However, all Interisti should really thank Cuper for all the work that he has done during his reign in Inter. Before his era, we were almost a whipping boy, getting thrashed by the likes of Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina. We couldn’t win 2-3 games in a row and we missed the Champions League for 3 consecutive words.

When Cuper came, he built a really solid unit that is capable in challenging for honours. During his first season, we came incredibly close to win the Scudetto and we also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup. He did better in his second season, finishing twice in Serie A and reaching the semi-final of the Champions League. Grazie Cuper!!!

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'Dilemma'

I'm certainly in a dilemma rignt now. I've always supported Cuper until we lost for the second time to Merda this season. That's the point where Cuper has lost my support. But still, I admit in some part in my heart, I want him to stay.

Why should we keep Cuper

First of all, in terms of result, there's no doubt that Cuper has done a good job at Inter. But that's not why we hired Cuper, we hired him to do a great job at Inter. But still, finishing 3rd in his first season after leading for most part of the season and 2nd (Probably) in his second season, is a good achievement for any coach. He has also brought us to 2 semi-finals in 2 successive years.

Furthermore, Juve has a superior squad than us. We already did a comparison between our squad with theirs and it's obvious that they are superior in almost every department of the pitch. It's also not helped by the fact that Moratti doesn't give Cuper full control for transfers. One obvious example was when Cuper wanted Solari but we never get him.

And of course, we want solidity and continuity. It's obvious that by changing a coach, the squad will need some time to adjust to the new tactics. What's more, the new coach may want new players and get rid of some of the current players. The new players will need to adjust to the team too. With Cuper still in charge, the players have already adjust to one another since most of them has played together for 2-3 years and they're already used to Cuper's defensive tactic.

Why should we sack Cuper

Of course, the main reason is his defensive tactics. Now, I don't mind watching super dooper defensive football. I don't mind if we use 8-1-1 as long as we win. But the recent results didn't show that. We are struggling to pull 2 wins in a row. We lead the Serie A in the middle of the season but now we are trailing Juve by 8 points. We are also knocked out of the semis of UCL by Milan who even lost to Brescia a few days before that!!!

Aside from his defensive tactic, he also has the horrible principal of 'A long ball can change a defensive situation to an offensive one.' This is by far the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard since I liked football. Our long ball isn't that good and accurate and we lost posession everytime we hit one. Thus the opposition side has a superior posession than us.

We are lucky that we can beat small teams because they don't have the quality to turn that posession to a chance. But when we are facing a great team like Juve, they will punish us and they will create numerous chances and of course, they will finish their chances. We can't beat 'big' teams because of this and if we can't beat 'big' teams, forget about winning anything.

There's also a slight rumour that I don't believe but I should say it anyway. Cuper doesn't have a good relationship with their players. It's no secret that Obelix blame Cuper for his exit. There's a rumours that Di Biagion and Bobo was sent home from training because of bad behaviour (or whatever). Bobo expressed his dissapointment at not being allowed to go to Leverkusen to support the team (He was suspended for that game). And recently, rumour said that Recoba may leave because of him too.

After taking consideration to both factors, I'm still undecided whether Cuper should stay with us or not. What do you think??? Are you 100% sure that Cuper should stay/go or do you have the same dilemma like me???

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'Gabriel Batistuta'

220 goals in 397 club matches. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for Fiorentina (now known as Florentia) and the National Team of Argentina. The statistics of one of the world’s greatest ever strikers. His name is Gabriel Omar Batistuta. The name itself strikes fear to any defence in the world. But that was the past. That was the good old Batigol. That was the Batigol in the 1990s. Right foot, left foot, tap-ins, free-kicks, penalties and headers. You name it, he did it. Batistuta could score any type of goal from any position.

When Roma bought Batistuta from Fiorentina, many questions were raised, with some of the biggest being asked whether the man had any more of the old scoring machine left in him, and whether he was worth all that money. Fortunately for the man, he proved his critics wrong by scoring 20 goals to help Roma all the way to the scudetto. Unfortunately though, his form dropped after that, with many believing that after achieving his ultimate goal of winning the Italian championship, his desire for the game has dropped somewhat. 6 goals in over 34 games for Roma in the next season have proved his critics right.

This season, things have not gotten any better for the Argentine. 6 goals in 20 matches is a poor scoring rate for the man they call the "Lion King." Alas, when the time came for someone to replace the injured Crespo, Batistuta was the man chosen for this role.

Everyone was baffled at this bizarre purchase. Who made this decision to sign Batistuta? What has the man done in the past 2 years to make anybody believe that he can replace an on-form Crespo? His form hasn't been impressive, and at 33 years of age, he is at the wrong end of the hill. Fingers were pointed at Cuper and Moratti. The former, an Argentine has long had a penchant for his countrymen, and this was a probable cause for the purchase of Batigol. Moratti on the other hand, never hid his admiration for Batistuta as an Inter player. The president has made some bad transfer decisions in the past, with Mutu & Pirlo as prime examples of his policy of buying unproven players at high prices and selling young and talented players for price tags way below their worth.

So what effect has Batistuta had on Inter? In total, he has started 4 games since he joined the Nerazzurri, amassing 361 minutes of playing time in total, but not once has he managed to find the back of the net. Looking rusty in some of these matches, it is obvious that the impact we were hoping to get from Batigol hasn't materialized yet. There are reasons like ‘Batistuta has not adjust to the team yet’ but I think we buy him for emergency purpose, not as a long-time prospect, and thus we can’t give him too much time to adjust to the team. In other words, we were looking for immediate impacts.

By buying Batistuta, Inter has restricted the opportunities for players like Kallon and young stars like Martins from getting a chance at first team football. Kallon has been one of the more important players for us last season, when he effectively took over from the injured Christian Vieri, and with great effect at that. The fact that we have bought Batistuta when Kallon was available for selection was a clear sign that we were not going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he needed. It seems his goals and performances like season were all in vain, if this season is anything to go by. Sure, Kallon's name isn't as big as Batistuta's on the world stage, but it's not the name that counts, but it's performances on the pitch that ultimately matters. There are many options for the frontline, with or without Batistuta - Recoba has partnered Vieri upfront before, and can do it again with consummate ease. Ventola & Crespo have begun training with the team of late, and both look set to make a return to first team football within the next month or so. Looking at the striking roster then, we will have Vieri, Recoba, Crespo, Batistuta, Kallon, Ventola & young Martins all fighting for 2 given positions. That is surely an over-saturation of strikers.

Thus, in conclusion, buying Batistuta from Roma was a transfer deal that should not have taken place. Kallon, a player that has been fit & raring to go all season long suddenly took a backseat to a player that has scored less goals that him in 2 years. In my opinion, the African is the ideal replacement for Crespo, with Martins acting as a substitute striker.

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'To Boo or Not To Boo'

Sometimes fans expressed their dissatisfaction by booing their team or specific players in their team. Internazionale has been ‘attacked’ by her own fans. A very good example is when some fans threw molotov cocktail to the team’s bus when they were thrashed by Parma 6-0 in the 99/00 Italian Cup.

Boos can be a double-edged sword. A weak-hearted player can crumbled and lost his confidence when he is booed but a strong determined player will trained even harder and try to prove his critics wrong.

Recently, Interisti has booed Dalmat and Morfeo. Both players didn’t ‘crumble’ and they are more determined to show that they don’t deserve the boos. In this article, I would analyze the cause of why they have been booed by their own fans.

Dalmat stated during the pre-season training that his best position is as a central midfielder and at the beginning of the season, the coach gave him his trust and played Dalmat in the center. However, he was certainly not playing that well. After a couple of bad performances, the fans booed him when Inter lost 2-1 to Lyon in the San Siro. To rub salt on the wounds, he was injured shortly after that and has only made his return to the team recently.

This time he was put on the right wing buy Cuper. He showed glimpse of brilliance against Chievo when he was put on as a substitute and played for 30 minutes. Another solid but not spectacular performance against Barcelona followed 3 days after. However, in just his third match of the season against Piacenza, Dalmat was booed again by the fans.

In my opinion, he did not play badly. True, he lost the ball a lot of time by over-dribbling but during that match, he had no one who is in a better position than him so that he can pass the ball. The 2 defensive midfielders that Cuper has stubbornly used did not help the offence and the 2 target men, Vieri and Batistuta cannot create chances on their own. So, Dalmat has no choice but to dribble past the opposition and try to cross. His crosses were poor but at least he can caused some problem to Piacenza, unlike Conceicao.

Dalmat is not a robot and he has just spent a very little time playing on the right wing this season. The fans should be more patient with Dalmat and gave him time to adjust to his position. His pace and dribble are already there and he only needs to improve on his passing and crossing. Last season, Dalmat was a very good player on the wing (both right and left). We should give Dalmat time to gained his full fitness and show his real worth. But unfortunately, he has injured himself again at the Barcelona match in San Siro and has to spend his time in the sidelines for approximately 1 month. Forza Dalmat!

On to Morfeo. Morfeo was acquired by Inter in the summer through a free transfer from Fiorentina. He has been used as a left winger by Cuper this season. He is the first choice pretty much so far this season until recently when Recoba started to play at the left wing again.

Morfeo has been playing EXTREMELY poorly this season. He has no qualities that a good winger should have. Pace, dribbles, passing and crossing, he has none of them. Morfeo, dubbed as Harry Potter by Scarpini, has been almost invisible in certain matches. He hardly fought for the ball or connected a pass correctly to his team-mates. Some of use even joked that he casted an invisible spell to himself. In my opinion, he has been the worst player of the season for Inter.

Some argued that Morfeo played badly because he was not used at his best position, as an offensive midfielder. But we know for ages that Cuper didn’t use one in his beloved 4-4-2 formation. And it will be useless to change the formation just so that Morfeo can adapt to the team. True, Cuper used 3-4-1-2 and 4-3-1-2 for a couple of times early this season but he realized that it wasn’t his best formation.

So, at the beginning, why buy Morfeo than? It’s not that he had been impressive for Fiorentina for the 01/02 season. Fiorentina was even relegated! Even though it’s a free transfer, we still have to pay his wages and signing on fee. It would be better to spend that money on buying a true left winger, a position that was our weakest link last season.

So I think Morfeo deserved to be booed because he has been given enough time to show his worth but he has failed miserably so far. I certainly hope to see Morfeo leave Inter in the summer. It’s the best decision for both party.

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