Thoughts on the Derby De La Mad

Here are some quick thoughts about Inter's 2-0 win today:

1. Julio Cesar is now the best goalkeeper in Serie A. Probably in the world.

2. Diego Milito is an absolute stud. In three Milan derbys he has scored four goals. His goals per game in Italy is well over .5, both this year and career.

3. The Sneijder red card for sarcastic clapping was absolutely ridiculous. That is a petty thing to do and maybe deserves to go in the book but come on. In the 27th minute?! Without any previous offenses?! In a huge game... not so cool.

4. Late in the first half Milan were their own worst enemy when it came to attack. So many balls to Inter players or lazy crosses or just killing time. AC Milan are probably the second best team in Italy right now but their lack of sharpness speaks to the current stature of Serie A vs La Liga and the Prem.

5. Down a goal but up a man Leonardo had the luxury of swapping Gatuso for Seedorf. Seedorf-Ronaldinho looked like a dangerous partnership in the opening minutes of the second half but the spark fizzled. It speaks volumes about a team when they can add an attacking player, be one man up for more than an hour, and the viewer hardly notices their opponent is on ten.

6. Goran Pandev seems to still be one-half step out of synch. That said he gives good effort and his free kick goal was beautiful. When he gets completely on the same page as the rest of the team he is going to go on a tear.

7. Lucio's red card was almost as stupid as Sneijder's. It was clearly a penalty but clearly not a red. Terrible call.

8. Ronaldinho sucks.

9. For being such a hardass Marco M. has a surprising fun side. He has hardly played this year but is always very supportive and lighthearted. When Balotelli scored that bomb of a freekick in the Champs League he ran off the bench and on to the field to congratulate what is by all accounts not a beloved player. He is always doing goofy stuff on the bench and I thought rocking the Berlusconi mask as the match ended was pretty good.

10. Pandev, Lucio, and Sneijder are on my fantasy team. So 1 goal is good but 2 red cards bad. Thanks jerk.