Parma v Inter Match Preview

It's been a tough week for Inter with our departure from the Champions league on Wednesday, but today we face our next challenge against Parma at the Stadio Tardini where we must win to keep up any chance of winning the Scudetto which as we know is almost as much of an unlikely result as beating Shalke was mid week but there's still the chance as Milan are only 5 points ahead which means they only have to mess up twice in the last 6 games for us to overtake them, presuming we win! It's a long shot but as Stankovic proved the other week long shots sometimes go your way!

Squad Selection

Leonardo has named 21 players in his match-day squad for Inter's Serie A 2010/11 Week 33 game against Parma, at the Stadio Ennio Tardini (kick-off at 20:45).




Goalkeepers:
1 Julio Cesar, 12 Luca Castellazzi, 21 Paolo Orlandoni;

Defenders:
4 Javier Zanetti, 6 Lucio, 15 Andrea Ranocchia, 23 Marco Materazzi, 26 Cristian Chivu, 37 Marco Davide Faraoni, 55 Yuto Nagatomo;

Midfielders:
5 Dejan Stankovic, 10 Wesley Sneijder, 14 Houssine Kharja, 17 MacDonald Mariga, 19 Esteban Cambiasso, 20 Joel Obi, 29 Philippe Coutinho;

Forwards:
7 Giampaolo Pazzini, 9 Samuel Eto'o, 22 Diego Milito, 27 Goran Pandev.
Press Conference

Leonardo

"It's crucial that we deal with this situation and remain focused on our goals: six league games and two Coppa Italia semi-final matches. We have to deal with our disappointment but this team is capable of doing that. They have never failed to respond to situations." That was how Leonardo began his press conference on the eve of the Parma v Inter match (Serie A 2010/11, Week 33), which will be played tomorrow at the Stadio Tardini in Parma (20:45 kick-off).

"We'll have to manage our energy levels well because we can still have a say in things. Nothing has changed for me: I'm here just as I was on the first day, looking to get results. As for us getting knocked out of Europe, we were right to believe in the comeback but for it to happen certain things needed to come about during the game – the spark that I mentioned the other day didn't come," continued the Nerazzurri coach.
Leonardo was then asked what had to be done on a psychological level to keep morale up, starting with tomorrow's game against a very motivated side. "Parma need to win this game and they have experienced players but our team know how to overcome difficult moments like this and can find the right balance – psychologically too. We had that against Schalke but it was a normal game when it needed to be an extraordinary one. Against Parma we will certainly have to be very careful."
What of Leonardo's future and Inter's future? "I'm only thinking about the six league games and the Coppa Italia," replied Leonardo. I'm not the sort of person who worries about getting criticised; in fact sometimes criticism gives you more freedom of choice. In any case now is not the time to start analysing the future: we have games to worry about and to play."

There was a word on Yuto Nagatomo's performances: "Nagatomo has done really well, also in situations that weren't easy: he's confirmed what we expected from him." A Japanese journalist commented on the fact that Japan have decided to take part in the Copa América in Argentina in July, and asked about the effect that may have on preparations for next season. Leonardo replied: "It's important for all the players to be involved in their team's pre-season preparations, and the Copa América will partially overlap with that, but it's an official tournament and there's not much we can do about it, apart from be careful to deal with his energy levels afterwards. However, that's not only the case for Nagatomo but for lots of our South-American players too."
There was then an explanation for the decision to leave Esteban Cambiasso out of the team to face Schalke: "Often people confuse the absolute value of a player with the needs of a particular moment. I'm not saying I'm always right but I always try to do what I think is best for a particular game. Cambiasso has played both in front of the defence and wide in a three-man midfield lots of times. So has Thiago Motta. Stankovic can play anywhere in midfield, as can other midfielders such as Kharja and Mariga. It's the situation of a certain game that determines your choices."

The coach was then asked about the fact that Eto'o hasn't got on the scoresheet in recent matches: "Eto'o is having an extraordinary season and it's difficult to say why he hasn't hit the net for a few games. It depends on the situation and on the movement of the whole team, not just on him."

What are Inter's chances of winning the league? "Anything can happen, although we are dependent on the results of others, on other sides slipping up. What we have to do is think about ourselves, and if others do slip up then we must do our best to take advantage. We're only thinking about playing football, about playing our games normally, without letting anything else affect us and without worrying about things."
What will be the most important factor from now until the end of the season: the coach's influence, luck or the players' determination? "All of the above," said Leonardo. "We need all of those things, and to be able to handle them all well."
To end with, there was a question about El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, which is set to take place four times over the next few weeks in Spain and in the Champions League: "I have a soft spot for Real Madrid," the coach admitted, "and I hope that Kakà will soon be able to enjoy some success after his difficult spell out injured. However, the football Barcelona play is fantastic to watch."

My Prediction

Inter have got a point to prove today but anything can happen with Leonardo's tactics so i'm going to predict a 1-2 win for Inter, with Milan playing Sampdoria tonight and Napoli playing Udinese tomorrow we could close the gap a bit with a win tonight as both Sampdoria & Udinese have the potential of causing upsets for Milan & Napoli, here's hoping anyway!