Straight Inter trouble

I remember thinking when we beat Feyenoord, "From here on in, it's all a bonus - we've got absolutely nothing to lose every time we go out there in a Champions' League game". That's been revised since last night's home match with Inter Milan to: "Please let's not embarrass ourselves".

The 4-1 scoreline in the Italians' favour doesn't really tell the story, though. On the negative side, they could clearly smell blood and every time we made the slightest mistake they carved us up with awesome speed like the proverbial knife through butter. Again, we were generous to a fault - when will we learn that teams like Inter really don't need a goal and a man advantage after five minutes to have a sporting chance of victory? Bellamy's petulance got the better of him again, and on another night Shearer would have followed him down the tunnel for that elbow on Cannavaro, while Dyer was again conspicuous only by his lack of involvement.

But, on the positive side, we never gave up and our second half rally was a stirring spectacle. We might have grabbed more than just a consolation goal if Robert had had the shooting boots to match his overall contribution. Speed in particular turned in an excellent performance with some passing of real quality, and didn't deserve to finish on the losing side.

So, not really sure what to make of it all. The scoreline suggests a mauling, and Inter were a class apart when they were at full throttle, particularly the likes of Zanetti and Crespo - but on another day our dogged persistence when they eased off might have been rewarded with a point. Next stop, the Nou Camp. There's nothing quite like a challenge!