Yann Sommer has been the worst goalkeeper in Serie A since the start of the season. It’s the advanced statistics that support it. In three league matches, the Inter goalkeeper has conceded six goals. But he should have conceded two fewer, according to the Expected Goals model. No other last bastion of Calcio displays such low data.
In short, Sommer is generally missing out on his start to the season. But it was mainly Saturday’s match against Juventus that crystallized the negative opinions against him. Lost 4-3 by Inter, this Italian derby highlighted the weaknesses of the Swiss goalkeeper on long shots. Two goals, the second from Yildiz and especially the fourth from Adzic, seemed avoidable if Sommer’s hand had been firm enough.
Since then, the former goalkeeper of the Swiss team has been a hot topic in Italy. Sunday, on the Skysport channel, former Italian international goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani analyzed his performance: “Sommer hits Adzic’s shot well, because he hits it with both hands. A goalkeeper of his level must repel such a strike. In my opinion, he expected the shot to be slower, he was surprised.
To which Paolo Di Canio, former striker, responded clearly: “There is nothing to analyze, it’s a blunder. It’s a Sommer meatball. He gets there with his hand well beyond the ball, and the ball passes through his hands. Point. It wasn’t even in the full skylight, it was halfway up. The typical photo stop situation. It’s a blunder.”
On the bench against Ajax?
Yann Sommer is therefore expensive. Because in a match like this, it counts a little more. And the 36-year-old from Basel may have shone in the nerazzurro jersey four months ago against Barça in the semi-final of the Champions League, it’s already in the past.
The Champions League, in fact, returns on Wednesday for Inter, with a trip to Ajax Amsterdam. And there, something big could happen: according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter coach Christian Chivu would have in mind aligning Josep Martinez in goal. Or Sommer’s understudy.
A sanction? Perhaps it should not necessarily be considered that way. The Italian daily rather evokes the idea of involving the entire group, and above all of evaluating the level of his replacement goalkeeper in “real” conditions. Also looking to the future, Sommer being in his last year of contract at San Siro.
The fact remains that this is the first time that Sommer will be put on the bench at Inter, without him being slightly injured. He will have to quickly remobilize. To be up to his level.
