Chapter 353: A bad start
But a few days before the start of the new season, Inter Milan had another moth. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć It is said that he is dissatisfied with the team's introduction of Shi Hao, resulting in the lack of non-European places, which makes him unable to introduce his beloved Yaya Toure, and it is said that the performance in the warm-up game is too miserable, and Suning Group does not look down on him - according to Shi Hao and Zhang Jindong's private phone call, it is the latter - and the team's coach Mancini has resigned.
So less than a week before the start of the new season, Inter Milan urgently changed the manager, former Dutch international Frank. De Boer took office.
On August 20, the 2016-2017 season of the Italian Serie A began.
In the early morning of August 22, Beijing time, countless Chinese fans stayed up late to watch Inter Milan's debut this season.
After welcoming Shi Hao, Candreva, Banega, Joao. After Mario, Ansaldi and other strong reinforcements, Inter Milan has experienced the pain of changing the coach, how much combat effectiveness does this Nerazzurri have?
Inter Milan's first game was away to Chievo. De Boer lined up his usual 433 formation, with Shi Hao appearing as a left winger. Before the game, the fans played a huge portrait of Shi Hao, and countless slogans of "Welcome Home" made Shi Hao very moved.
But the game didn't go as planned. On this night, Inter Milan played very the pitch, but it gave the impression that it was X**T, the players were running blindly, the field was full of holes, the defenders did not protect each other, the attack was not organized, and at one point they fell behind Chievo 0:2.
If it weren't for Shi Hao's brace in the second half, maybe De Boer would have made his debut.
But such a performance must not be bought by the fans. The team spent 180 million euros on reinforcements and bought Shi Hao, the Ballon d'Or winner, not to play the weak team in embarrassment.
A week later, back at the Meazza Stadium, Inter Milan's situation remained unchanged, and two long-range shots pierced the goal, although in the end with Shi Hao and Icardi's goals stubbornly forced Palermo to draw, but it was not what the fans expected Inter to see. Inter Milan, who shouted the slogan "Win the championship" before the start of the season, became a laughing stock.
After playing this game, Shi Hao returned to China to participate in the top 12 of the Asian preliminaries. On September 1 in Seoul, Shi Hao opened the scoring with a one-and-a-half-minute free kick to help China lead South Korea 1-0, but an own goal from captain Zheng Zhi before the end of the first half brought the game back to the starting line.
In the second half, the South Korean team stepped up their attack, with Lee Qinglong and Gu Zizhe scoring successively, forcing the Chinese team to the edge of the cliff. But at this critical juncture, the role of the star is revealed. First, Shi Hao ran 50 meters with the ball and then assisted Jun Yingzhi to score, and then Jun Yingzhi made a successful steal in the front court and scored a goal with a single knife.
The away game did not make Gao Hongbo conservative, he replaced the teenager Zhang Yuning at the last moment, added a striker, and in injury time, it was Zhang Yuning who pushed Shi Hao's free kick into the door of the South Korean team, allowing the Chinese team to overtake 4:3. This is also the first time that the Chinese team has defeated South Korea in six years.
After the game, the Korean media said sourly that the Korean team just lost to Shi Hao and Jun Yingzhi.
On September 6, the Chinese team, which returned to their home stadium, defeated the strongest opponent in the group Iran 2:0 in Shenyang, and Shi Hao was in good form and scored twice.
After the two games, the Chinese team temporarily ranked first in the group, and the situation was very good.
However, back in the Italian domestic arena, Shi Hao is not so proud. In the 3-1 away win over Pescara on September 11, Shi Hao's free-kick hit the post, but in the end he did not score anything, contributing only one assist.
On the evening of September 15, in the Europa League (Europa League) Group K match, Inter Milan lost 1:2 at home to Turkey's Beshapoel, causing a big upset. Although Shi Hao assisted Icardi to score, two of his four shots hit the post.
Inter Milan fans are arguably one of the most impatient in the world, and after just four games under Frank de Boer's side, there were scattered calls for "De Boer down" in Meazza.
Frank de Boer's face was pale, and the young coach who led the team to win four consecutive Dutch first division titles at Ajax was full of a sense of crisis.
And the time to test him has finally come. On September 18, the fourth round of the league, the Italian derby began. When Lichtsteiner breached Handanovic's guarded gates, De Boer felt like the end of the world had come.
But today is not destined to be the day of his death.
After Inter Milan were down 1-0, Shi Hao, who was closely guarded in the second half, failed to score a goal of his own, but scored a hat-trick of assists, Icardi scored twice, Candreva gave the Nerazzurri a 3-1 home win over Juventus.
And this game also eased Debor's call for dismissal a little. Many fans said after the game that this was the best game played by Inter Milan in five years, this was a game in which Juventus's mental will, tactical thinking, and player skills were all overwhelmed, showing a high level of Champions League level, and if it can be maintained, winning the championship is definitely not a dream!
On September 22, Shi Hao scored his first hat-trick after returning to Serie A, and Inter Milan defeated Empoli 4-0 away, achieving two consecutive wins in the new season. However, on 25 September, Inter Milan were beaten back to their original form, and although Shi Hao and Icardi both scored, they were held to a draw by a visiting Bologna at the Meazza Stadium.
On September 30, Inter Milan carried a poor performance into the Europa League. Because of the weekend to challenge Roma away in the league, Frank wanted to keep his strength in Prague and let the main squad rest in rotation, Icardi, Shi Hao and other main players did not play, but the game was only 20 minutes old, Kadlec scored twice, and Inter Milan was two goals behind Sparta Prague in the away game!
In the second half, Shi Hao and Icardi were both on the field, and in the 55th minute, Eder's diagonal plug allowed the extremely fast Shi Hao to shake off all the defenders of Sparta Prague and pull a goal back with a single knife. In the 74th minute, Shi Hao took a free kick in front, Icardi grabbed the landing point, and the header went down again. However, Ranocchia was then sent off with two yellows and Sparta seized the free-kick opportunity to retake the lead through Hollake.
The Inter fans are gone. This season the team has invested a lot of money in recruitment, and they want not only the league title, but also the Europa League! And now Inter Milan lost all two games in the Europa League and finished at the bottom of the group!
De Boer was also in disarray. He had won four in a row at Ajax, and he was definitely not a fluke success, but he has been in charge for too short to carry his style of play into the team.
So except for the 2-1 win over Juventus, where Inter Milan played at a concerted and super-level performance, the Nerazzurri's other games this season have been lackluster, and even if they win, they have won purely by the individual ability of the stars, without too many highlights.