well, Mourinho did state that his squad needed some trimming, especially in the striking department ... he made it quite clear that the pecking order was: Zlatan tops (obviously), Adriano and Balotelli level second, Cruz third, Crespo in the excess fourth, and Suazo (needless to say) excess in fifth... and there was also the Recoba option; but, sadly, he was never going to return ...per75005;2569771 said:The thing that surprised me is the lack of real wingers to support this system all the season(Mancini, Quaresma, Figo), and the high number of stirker for only one place per match!!!
I guess that Julio cruz is more flexible, but for Adriano, Crespo???
Inter tried to sell their strikers to the highest bidders ... Suazo looked like he was going to move to Roma, but then was loaned out to Benfica ... Crespo was also linked to Roma, and then was supposed to be sold to Sampa on deadline day, but he rejected the move ...
as for the wingers, Mourinho had earmarked his two targets (Mancini and Quaresma) fairly early ... Mancini did in fact arrive quite early in the summer ... and it was clear Quaresma's negotiations were on-going since the EUROs because the player himself stated that he had "already signed for a big club" ... my mouth is watering at the prospect of the mavericks Zlatan and Quaresma combining ...
Figo's presence in the side will be very useful ... apart from providing the third winger option, Figo brings his knowledge, experience and nous to the table -- and JM will certainly hope he can pass that to the two starting wingers during training ...
Mario Balotelli can also be used in the wide role ...
and the presence of Adriano in the team means that they can switch to a 4-4-2 quite easily, or even a 4-2-3-1 (like Roma, with Mancini-Zlatan-Quaresma lining up behind Adriano) ...
I am actually very interested in seeing the Zlatan-Adriano partnership ... Zlatan became good friends with Adriano when the Brazilian was trying to get himself back in shape ... in fact, Zlatan insisted on being his gym trainer, making sure that Adriano was putting in the necessary work in the gym, while offering the support that he needed at the time ... if Adriano can get back to the scorching form of 3 years ago, then that front partnership could be just as lethal as the 4-3-3 with Quaresma ...
the only thing that could spoil Inter's season is injuries ... the dearth of defensive options in pre-season due to injuries is already well-documentd ... I'd hate to see that happen elsewhere on the pitch ... in particular, Zlatan's knee needs to stay unruptured throughout the season -- if it does, I wouldn't bet against Inter ruling Europe ...