Meanwhile on the other side of Milano

Strama-Cassano: dressing room brawl Duo in dressing room bust-up
Milano, 02 March 2013
Fiery end to Inter training session as pair pulled apart by teammates and Cordoba. Now it’s up to Moratti to act as peacemaker

It had been all ‘lovey-dovey’. But yesterday it went all pear-shaped at Inter. Fisticuffs almost flew in the dressing room between Andrea Stramaccioni and Antonio Cassano after training: the coach and the forward exchanged angry words, so much so that the pair had to be pulled apart as they squared up to each other. Only the intervention of others stopped the flare up turning nasty. Now, only a meeting today with Inter president Moratti may resolve the issue – but it'll only be a temporary resolution, and perhaps only a superficial truce anyway: Inter really need Cassano to be playing regularly, as they try to bring this negative season, blighted by injuries and poor results, to a close without any more problems.

Rising tension — The bust-up flared at the end of training yesterday: not on the pitch, even though sparks did start to fly as the Inter players made their way back to the dressing room. It was there where the tension between Stramaccioni and Cassano boiled over, insult after insult, provocation after provocation. The sort of heated argument that often sparks when 2 people have differing opinions: the problem is that both Strama and Cassano are stubborn, and in certain situations neither is afraid to make their feelings known. Once the pair had squared each other up, it was almost inevitable that they would come to blows. And that’s what almost happened after a series of pushing and shoving. In the best traditions of dressing room bust-ups, it was only due to the intervention of third parties that the Inter dressing room didn’t turn into something resembling a Wild West saloon, and that the incident didn’t become even more serious than it already was: Stankovic and Inter team manager Ivan Cordoba had to pull the pair apart.

Just friction — So, is the honeymoon between Cassano and Inter now over? The club had often been told to “just wait and see” what trouble Cassano will eventually end up causing – not least from the Rossonero side of Milan. After a ‘settling in period’ at Inter, everything did appeared to be going smoothly, so much so that many people were stunned nothing had gone wrong, especially due to Fantantonio’s reputation for attracting trouble. However, recently, 2 small incidents had indicated that the tide may have been about to turn: the first, an animated discussion with teammate Guarin during the game in Udine about who should take a free-kick, and the second incident, caught by TV cameras, the disgust with which Cassano reacted when he was substituted during the 2-0 win over Pescara. Other than that, there’d been just the usual, every-day friction and arguments that exists at every football club, although, perhaps Cassano’s teammates at Inter weren’t always happy to accept his constant mockery and derision. But Stramaccioni had somehow always managed to keep things under control in the dressing room and make sure that disorder didn’t prevail. But it was Cassano who had been chosen – by Strama and the club – to ‘face the music’ and wrath of the Inter fans following the debacle that was the recent game against Siena. It was Cassano who, once it was clear Milito would be out for the rest of the season, the coach wanted to take over the reigns as the main Inter attacking option, deciding to switch his tactics to playing a 4-2-3-1. In any case, the amount of playing time Cassano has had this season is no indication that the club had been unhappy about him or the effort the player had shown on the pitch.

New deal at risk? — Cassano and Inter have been getting on really rather well, although that may now change over the next few days. President Moratti will meet with Stramaccioni and Cassano today – individually, although a meeting between all 3 of them isn’t out of the question. And there’s the matter of the away game against Catania: will Cassano be in the squad? Finally, there’s the issue of Cassano’s new contract extension: he and the club had started to talk about extending his deal until 2015, but the contract, which had looked a formality not so long ago, may now be under threat.