Inter, Inzaghi’s three moves to get out of the crisis

MILANO – The day after the bitterness remains, but in Viale della Liberazione the watchword is to analyze the situation with clarity and above all not to lose your temper. Simone Inzaghi does not touch himself, but this is not news because already on Sunday after the knockout in Udine the managers were clear about it. The club has full confidence in him and his staff: from president Zhang to CEO Marotta passing through vice president Zanetti, ds Ausilio and his deputy Baccin are all convinced that the Piacenza coach will be able to give the team that continuity of a performance that has been missing in this start of the season by 4 defeats in 9 games. Nobody hides that the group is in trouble, who suffers too many goals, who has inexplicable breaks and who gets put under too easily. At the same time, however, Inzaghi is considered the right man to make the change. Especially now that he will also recover Lukaku and Çalhanoglu. The turning point will have to come against Roma and Barcelona. He asked for it in a loud voice through a press release the Curva Nord which spoke of “Tolerance over. The coach made some mistakes, but the players put their ego before the group and it’s not good for us. Change register “. Loud and clear message.

The tactics

The numbers of goals conceded (already 11, worse only Verona, Monza, Cremonese and Sampdoria did) lead us to reflect: why the defense that last year was for a long time the best of the tournament has collected the misery of three clean sheets in nine meetings? Why has Handanovic’s goal never been unbeaten in the league away from home? Inzaghi on Sunday spoke of collective errors, not individuals or a department, knowing full well that a solution in this stop without many nationals will have to find it. Those who know him well assure that will not change formbut who is too smart and experienced not to study some tricks. The return of Lukaku in this perspective will give him a hand and will help to optimize many things, always remaining faithful to “his of him” 3-5-2 and to a purposeful football.

In fact, Simone will now have two different options between them: 1) try to attack the opponents more consistently, with Lukaku and Martinez “synchronized” at the first pressing since Conte’s years, and therefore raise the center of gravity to give a courageous signal; 2) lower the square by a few meters, administer the energies given the expensive period that Inter will face and take advantage of the characteristics of the Belgian (who will resume training this morning) for the restarts that are not in the DNA of Dzeko, his replacement. Beyond the numbers and the form, Simone has need for more compactness and sacrifice especially in the non-possession phase. He knows that a revolution is not needed, which is impossible to improvise without a certain number of workouts, but only some corrective.

The condition

After the break we need a brighter Inter, with more legs. An Inter that is not put under as against Udinese. Alla Pinetina do not consider that of athletic condition a problem because they have unequivocal data: both with Torino and at the Dacia Arena the Nerazzurri have raced more than their opponents. Hence the conviction of not having made a mistake with the workloads during the summer preparation, this year is particularly complicated thanks to the season “broken” in two from the World Cup.

Beyond the “cold” numbers relating to kilometers traveled, accelerations and more generally to big data, in Friuli the feeling is that Handanovic and his companions have suffered a lot against the increased reactivity of the hosts. Was the problem more related to the head braking the legs? Possible, but Inter were also … in streak (2 wins) like Udinese (4, now 5). Yet the Nerazzurri gave the feeling of almost always finish second on the ball, to have one less gear. Perhaps the commitment of Champions and the shorter time to prepare for the match compared to Sottil’s line-up weighed heavily. Certainly after the break, Inzaghi is expected from a tour de force and he will have to squeeze the maximum out of his team, also using the turnover that Bayern has put into practice more effectively afterwards. Regain Lukaku and Çalhanoglu (yesterday he was training alone at Pinetina to recover) will give breath to the rotations, but a hand will also give the week free from commitments from 16 to 22 October, the last chance to put petrol in the tank before the break for Qatar 2022.

Continuity

Already 3 defeats in the league, 4 including the Champions League. Means that Inter have lost almost half of the games played: impossible to make way with this average. On the other hand, the situation is not yet compromised. Napoli and Atalanta lead the standings with 5 points ahead, but Milan are only +2 and Juventus down by 2 points. In Europasince the draw, it was clear that Inter would play his side chances of qualification with Barcelona. In short, the margin to recover exists, provided however that we recover the continuity of the results, the one that Inter had last year. Inzaghi himself recalled how the third defeat, in the last tournament, came only at the end of February. It is therefore unthinkable to win and play and then stop againas has just happened after the successes with Turin and Viktoria Plzen.

Inter needs to a stream of useful results, possibly wins. A year ago, at the end of November, the Nerazzurri were 7 points behind Milan and Naples. They made full loot in the next 8 days and took the summit. Here, it is clear that you cannot make 8 consecutive victories in each tournament, but continuity of results would allow Inter to arrive at the stop for the World Cup still attached to the top and, therefore, with the possibility of play for the Scudetto from January onwards. To date, this is the most realistic goal. The calendar, however, does not allow for respite. At the resumption after the break, in fact, there will be the challenge with Roma, then the away match with Sassuolo and the match with Salernitana. And, in between, the double challenge with Barca. We are already on the hour or never …