Inter Milan legend Zenga: If Scudetto lost don't blame Radu! | OneFootball

Inter Milan legend Walter Zenga has defended goalkeeper Ionut Radu after this week's howler.

Radu, in his first Serie A appearance of the season, fluffed a back pass which led to Bologna's winner.

Zenga told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Radu's mistake is obvious and is a given. But it's the concept that's wrong from the start. It's too easy to blame everything on Radu.

“Do we blame the weakest? And excuse me, but what does the comparison with Sarti have to do with it? Sarti made a goalkeeper's mistake, he missed a catch in his last game. There are four more games to go, if Inter lose the Scudetto it will certainly not have been Radu's fault…"

The former Italy international goalkeeper also spoke of the modern approach of building from the back.

“Liverpool have scored several goals with Alisson passing straight for Salah, City the same, with Ederson looking for Mahrez or Sterling in the space. Maignan has a 60/70 metre pass with which he can set Leao off, like in the goal against Samp.

“When I coached Samp, I had Viviano, who with his left foot passed straight to Eder and Muriel beyond the line of defenders. The idea of exploiting the goalkeeper's quality with his feet is right if it's done when it's needed.

“The concept of building up from the back in modern football is very valid because, as De Zerbi says. I play backwards to get the others forward and exploit the spaces. There are some situations, however, that you have to read well, and not doing so is much more serious than an individual mistake.

“Often the goalkeeper is put in a position of being pressed and not being able to play with serenity, he's not used to being immediately under pressure like a defender or a midfielder."

Finally, Zenga commented on the importance of a goalkeeper being good with his feet.

“I'm speaking as a goalkeeper, if we have to look for a goalkeeper who can play the ball well, then let's use Brozovic. against Bologna, for example, Radu didn't have to make a single save, not even a single parry…"