Felipe Melo. Just the name itself evokes the imagery of crunching slide tackles, grinta and depending on your allegiance, a bit of shame.
A bit of a journeyman, Melo in the last 7 years has bounced around from Fiorentina to Juventus, to loan spells and eventually a buyout at Galatasaray to returning to Italy with the re-tooled Internazionale.
Mancini’s Inter needed to be overhauled, after missing out on European competition for the second time in three years. Ten players were brought into the first team, ten players were sold. Many high profile names such as Stefan Jovetic, Miranda, Montoya, Perisic and others joined alongside of Felipe Melo. A man who many Inter fans will remember as somebody playing for bitter rivals Juventus, and his shameful game against the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup.
Now, it’s different. He’s 32 years old, coming to what could be the twilight of his career, but like we saw with Pirlo, the best may be yet to come.
He’s played in three of Inter’s 5 matches, scoring the crucial goal against Hellas Verona and picking up a few yellow cards and assists. Perhaps the missing link in Mancini’s machine – he needed a real warrior in the midfield.
Playing every minute of the three games he has appeared in for Inter, a good sample size of data has been given.
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| Statistic | # |
|---|---|
| Pass completion | 84.9% |
| Average # of passes | 48.7 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Fouls per game | 2.7 |
| Key Passes per game | 0.7 |
After the game, the Brazilian midfielder took to the press to voice his opinions against Hellas.
“The criticism? I do not care, I go forward on this road with faith in God: the more others talk the more I get ahead. If this helps me to score every match then fine, if someone else scores like bomber Icardi I’m just as happy.”
“There are squads that have won 5-0 and today they haven’t won, it’s better to win 1-0 and have continuity.”
“The yellow? I’m sorry but to get a booking when there isn’t reason makes me angry like against Milan, today it was a tactical foul and it helped the squad.”
It’s early in the campaign, but this new look Inter very well may be finding their version of Arturo Vidal fit for Mancini’s plans.
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