Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was once again a shadow of his usual self in yesterday’s Serie A clash between Fiorentina and Inter Milan.
This is the view across the player ratings for the match across Italian media, via TuttoMercatoWeb.
Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was out for most of January with injury. First, there was a slight thigh strain that he picked up in the Supercoppa Italiana final against AC Milan, and then a calf strain.
The Turkish international returned in the derby against AC Milan last weekend.
That was certainly a big match in which to come back. Particularly considering what the derby always means to Calhanoglu as a former Rossoneri player.
But the consensus after that match was that Calhanoglu’s return did not live up to the hype.
It seemed obvious that the 30-year-old was still finding his groove after a few weeks on the sidelines.
The hope for Inter may have been that Hakan Calhanoglu just needed to get a big match in his legs, and that he would once again look sharp and in-rhythm.
But that was anything but the case against Fiorentina yesterday.
On an evening where Inter as a whole looked profoundly underwhelming, slow, and sloppy, Calhanoglu was as culpable as anyone.
The Turk’s passing and reading of the game just seemed to be a second slower than usual.
Creatively, Calhanoglu offered little that would unlock a determined and organized Fiorentina defense.
And defensively, it was also a lacklustre outing from Hakan Calhanoglu.
As had been the case with Milan’s opener in the derby on Sunday, Calhanoglu was also culpable for Inter conceding.
It was the former Milan and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder who dawdled on the ball to allow Amir Richardson to nip in and set Fiorentina on the counterattack for Moise Kean to score.
