Blog: The rebirth of Pandev

After a year of poor performances Goran Pandev has hit form for Inter in pre-season. Scott Fleming asks if he could be a solution to Gian Piero Gasperini


Perhaps it was a therapeutic dip in the River Liffey or the restorative powers of a pint of Guinness. Whatever it was, Goran Pandev was transformed. After just seven minutes of Saturday’s ‘friendly’ encounter with Celtic at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, the diminutive Macedonian received the ball on the right touchline, just inside the opposition half.

There didn’t appear to be any immediate danger, but with a drop of the shoulder and a burst of pace he scythed through two Celtic defenders, played a slick one-two with Dejan Stankovic and placed a perfect slide rule pass into the path of Luc Castaignos. Approximately seven seconds after landing at Pandev’s feet, the ball was in the net.

In fairness, Pandev’s rebirth began before Dublin, up in the Alps at the Nerazzurri’s annual retreat in Pinzolo. There he netted twice against minnows Mezzocorona and once against Trentino. No matter how meagre the opposition, three goals in two games was no mean feat for a man who has scored just seven in the entirety of his stay with Inter, and allied to some very sprightly performances it was enough to suggest the Serpenti faithful might be about to see the real Pandev.

They’ve been waiting a long time, more than a decade in fact. Young Goran first arrived at Inter in the summer of 2001 – an 18-year-old with just one year of experience with local club FK Belasica under his belt. His is a sadly familiar tale amongst Inter youth players, loaned out to various other sides then sold before he had the chance to make a single senior appearance, sent to Lazio as part of the deal that took Stankovic in the other direction.

In Rome he bided his time, gradually rising to prominence and forming one of Serie A’s most devastating strike partnerships with Tommaso Rocchi. The pair had an intuitive understanding, scoring 27 League goals between them to guide Lazio to a remarkable third place finish in 2006-07. Despite the Aquile falling to 12th the following term, Pandev recorded his highest Serie A goal tally with 14, and a Champions League double against Real Madrid really put him on the map.

You can imagine Inter’s excitement, then, when he returned to San Siro in January 2010 absolutely free of charge, finally free of his Lazio contract after a long running dispute with President Claudio Lotito which ended in court, with a ruling passed in the player’s favour.

However, what has followed is a year and a half of distinctly underwhelming displays, as someone who looks like Pandev but certainly doesn’t play like him has shuffled around the San Siro field. The problem isn’t even his goal scoring record – poor as it is – as the 28-year-old has never been especially prolific. His game was about running with the ball and using his ingenuity to dissect defences, like he did in Dublin, and it’s that trademark effervescence which has been missed. Until now.

Who knows what prompted Pandev’s transformation, but there’s a good chance it’s connected to Inter’s attempts to swap him with Genoa’s Rodrigo Palacio. Pandev stopped the deal in its tracks by flat out refusing to move to the port city. Yet if Gian Piero Gasperini begrudges the Macedonian for thwarting a reunion with one of his favourite pupils, it hasn’t showed in pre-season. Gasperini needs players who are quick, versatile and comfortable in wide areas to make his 3-4-3 work, and there aren’t very many of those in his squad. Pandev could be the most important piece of the puzzle.

I doubt he's back after one pre-season performance. If pre-season meant anything, a lot of top teams would be screwed.

Looked good against Celtic but went back to his old " i fouled myself" against City. The guy falls more than the whole Barca team combined!

Pandev the most important piece of the puzzle......

I think we all know the expression of this pic.

out of the deadwood players in our squad atm pandev is the one i have the most hope for in regaining some form. i have more hope for him than chivu even

but as inter fans who watch every single game he plays in it's hard to see him having good regular form. i hope he can though because he should be in his prime age now