Inter Milan coach Gian Piero Gasperini insists that the best way his team can react to recent criticism is to beat Novara on Tuesday night in a match to be telecast LIVE on Joy Sports and Adom TV on Multi-TV.
Gasperini's own future has been the subject of speculation after the club's stuttering start to the season. Inter have not won a game in four matches so far and were held to a scoreless draw against Roma last weekend.
Criticism remained strong following the 0-0 home stalemate, especially as the Nerazzurri played counter-attacking tactics at San Siro against an equally-troubled side.
Gasp bowed to pressure and changed his tactics in that meeting, opting for a 3-5-2 system with Wesley Sneijder in midfield. Although they kept a clean sheet, it wasn’t a vast improvement and we could see the ex-Genoa boss go back to the drawing board for this midweek match.
He is not helped by an injury list that includes Douglas Maicon, Thiago Motta, Andrea Poli and Emiliano Viviano, while Dejan Stankovic and Ivan Cordoba are also struggling to recover in time. Giampaolo Pazzini has been generally ignored so far this season, but could get his chance with Diego Milito and Mauro Zarate rested. Diego Forlan does not need as much rest, as he is cup-tied for the Champions League, so can only be used in Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
Inter now face promoted side Novara knowing that another poor performance could be extremely damaging to their hopes of challenging for the Serie A title this season, although Gasperini is hopeful of turning their form around.
"There has always been a bit more criticism and nastiness towards Inter," Gasperini told reporters at a press conference. "But the best way to respond to criticism will be on the pitch.
"The road taken now seems to me the right one, we must continue to demonstrate solidity. However, I believe that in these matches we haven't deserved so few points. If an offside had been called in the Champions League the result would have been different. If a penalty had been awarded in Palermo, things probably have been different. And so on..."
Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri is favourite to become the new coach of Inter if Gasperini is given the boot, but midfielder Wesley Sneijder recently played down the specualtion.
"There's no point blaming the coach," he said. "The truth is, we players are the first who must change things. Unfortunately, it's just one of those moments where everything is going against us."
Novara finally make their home debut in what will be their first Serie A match in front of their own fans for 55 years. In this case, home advantage stretches beyond the atmosphere, as the Stadio Piola has an artificial pitch. Unlike Cesena, who installed their synthetic turf just before the campaign kicked off, Novara have been using this technology for over a year and are fully accustomed to the bounce.
They are also a consolidated unit with Coach Attilio Tesser taking them from Lega Pro all the way up to the top flight with back-to-back promotions.
It hasn’t been the best start, but no worse than anyone expected from a side of Novara’s stature. They fought back from 2-0 down to earn a draw away to Chievo, then left it too late to mount another return when losing 2-1 at leaders Cagliari.
Alex Pinardi is the only injury doubt, while Riccardo Meggiorini returns to most likely partner Taka Morimoto with support from Andrea Mazzarani in a trequartista role. Other options are ex-Cagliari striker Jeda and former Palermo man Pablo Granoche.
Inter vs. Novara kicks off LIVE at 6:45pm on Joy Sports. Pre-match discussions begin at 6:15pm
PSG play NICE in the French Ligue 1 on Joy Sports at 5pm on Wednesday night.
Credit: Multi-TV Sports Desk/ espn.com/fooball italia.com
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