Bad start to the season, what went wrong?

Well, the third game of the season is history as we lost at home to Inter last night. As opposed to the first two games against Spal and Frosinone, Bologna played much better throughout the game, but lost due to the gap in quality between the two sides. Still, there were several positives last night.

Bologna caused Inter a lot of trouble at times, especially down the flanks with Mitchell Dijks and Federico Mattiello. The two full backs caused havoc at times down their respective flanks with their runs, putting dangerous crosses into Inter’s penalty area. The two wide players helped stretch Inter, which in turn created more room for the three central midfielders.

More room for the midfielders gave them more time on the ball, which helped them being more creative. Erick Pulgar improved drastically from the last couple of games. He was secure on the ball throughout the ninety minutes, as well as stopping several dangerous Inter attacks. Blerim Dzemaili and Andrea Poli worked hard as always.

In attack, Federico Santander was probably our best player. He won several headers (no surprise there), was good at holding up the ball during pressure from the opposition, and really should have equalized when Mattiello put in a perfect cross from the right hand side. Still, a positive night for the target man.

Finally, Bologna managed to nullify the attacking threat of Inter for large parts of the game. Inter struggled to find space in Bologna’s half, often having to pass sideways. The result was therefore very flattering for Inter.

Despite all the positives, the result was zero points. As was often the case last season, Bologna seem to up their game against stronger teams, but still end up with nothing to show for it. And that’s Bologna’s main problem.

Against the supposedly weaker teams, like Spal and Frosinone, Bologna cannot seem to find their flow. No apparent plan, no creativity, few chances created, and the end result is often that they fail to take the three points.

Then, against the stronger sides, Bologna perform better, create more chances, but still fail to win. It can seem as though Bologna fail to motivate themselves against the weaker sides, and fail to win because of it. I hoped that this would change under Filippo Inzaghi, and even though it is still early in his tenure, this is a big worry.

Now, the first international break of the season is upon us. Inzaghi will have a lot to work on, before we face off against Genoa. A win there is essential, as we play Juventus and Roma after the newly promoted side.

Until next time.

Photo: Bologna FC