Croatian wonderkid Mateo Kovacic arrived at Internazionale this winterfor a cool €11 million.

He's 18 years of age, has just moved countries and departed his boyhood club—you'd think the Inter management might ease him in a little?

No dice, Mateo.

He played a disappointing 45 minutes when the Nerazzurri were 2-1 down to Siena (and eventually lost 3-1), and started against Fiorentina but was hauled off at the interval.

Kovacic is slight, young and, quintessentially speaking, a No. 10. Why Andrea Stramaccioni chose to deploy him as a deep left central midfielder while Fredy Guarin plays in the hole I'm not sure, but the decision was bad on paper and terrible in practice.