At the end of the 4-0 defeat against Inter, Fábregas admitted that he had come up against an opponent who was too strong for his Como team at the moment. The Como team tried to win with the usual recipe, made up of technical quality but also aggression without the ball. This time, however, it wasn’t enough. «We do many things well but they are so good that they always find the solution».
Of course, the episodes, as always, had an impact, and yesterday Inter had what they had partly lacked in some moments of this season: luck, like when Douvikas, a few steps from the goal, wasted the ball for a possible 1-1 (all things considered, Como’s only dangerous action) and cynicism, like when he closed the game with Thuram following the development of a corner kick that Fábregas defined as “a bit embarrassing”. And it is also true that the third goal, in large part, is thanks to Calhanoglu.
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However, what defined the context, and therefore established the Nerazzurri’s dominance throughout the 90′, was the ability, as Fábregas said, to find always a solution against the pressure of Como. Inter played with an awareness, in their choices and movements, that they had only partially shown this year. The most authoritative proof of Chivu’s management came by rediscovering what this team has been doing best since 2020: building from behind.
Como is the most aggressive team in Serie A: last for PPDA (since, remember, it must be read backwards), first for “aggression” (according to StatsBomb the proportion between passes received from opponents and passes thwarted within 2 seconds of reception), first for balls won back in re-attack. Until last night they were also the first defense in the championship with only 7 goals conceded.
If there is something that Serie A in recent years has taught us, however, it is that due to the way in which Italian teams press (man against man), being too aggressive against Inter is inadvisable. And so, the all-out duels sought by Fábregas ended up tilting the field towards Butez’s goal every time.
Como’s 4-2-3-1 under pressure naturally fit in with Inter’s 3-5-2 (two teams that yes, this time played mirrored, which is not when they play with the same formation). The references were fixed: Nico Paz on Calhanoglu, the wingers on the arms, the striker on the central Acerbi and the two midfielders on the two midfielders. Inter, throughout the match, chose to build with 4 men, but regardless of where their men were positioned, Como’s scoring did not change.
Thus, by walking the opposing players, Inter moved with the aim of distancing those who were pressing (and therefore defending forward) from the men who remained behind in marking Lautaro and Thuram, who remained high. The midfielders threw themselves into the chasm that was created, ready to receive the defenders, while on the flanks Luis Henrique and Dimarco launched themselves into space behind the full-backs who had come under pressure on them.
Como never found a way to recover the ball in their man-versus-man matches. The Inter players were too quicker, in their thinking and execution, and when faced with such pressure they already knew where to find their teammate. At times, indeed, the people of Como gave the impression of not even getting close to being able to set foot. As happened to Diego Carlos, who after 10 minutes had already been put in the way twice by Inter’s construction.
For years, the Brazilian was one of the best defenders in La Liga for Sevilla, and in the Premier League he was a protagonist with Emery’s Aston Villa. However, he is a rather traditional centre-back, physically strong but uncomfortable away from his own goal, who prefers to defend as a block. Diego Carlos is still a good defender overall, but he is not used to behaving like the classic man-versus-man central defender in Serie A.
And so, after less than two minutes he ended up in no man’s land. On a verticalization from Akanji, Diego Carlos passes Thuram – his man – to the midfielder Perrone who had narrowed towards that area. With a curling movement, Barella freed himself from his marker and made himself available for Thuram’s bank. At that point the Frenchman was able to run behind Diego Carlos. Zielinski, however, was hasty in serving him.
At 10′ the same situation occurs again. Inter, however, are more precise in their development and find the goal.
On the Nerazzurri’s usual four-man setup, Akanji receives from right-back. Jesus Rodriguez comes out on him, while Alex Valle goes on the winger Luis Henrique. On the center right Barella proposes himself and, since both he and, further to the centre, Lautaro, Diego Carlos and Da Cunha have come to meet, they have exchanged reference men: Diego Carlos is following Barella, but struggles to stay close to him (and in fact ends up out of frame), and so Barella has all the time to control towards the inside.
While the midfielder supports Lautaro, Luis Henrique is already running behind Diego Carlos.
The Inter player reaches the back of the pitch and takes advantage of Jacobo Ramon’s haste in looking for a slide to stop and turn. Lautaro comes from behind and receives Luis Henrique’s low cross from the spot and scores.
Constructions like this were a constant throughout the match. There were times when Inter tried to exploit them in a more direct way. Others, however, in which, not immediately finding the opening, he took advantage of it to bring in more men.
Como, in any case, never defended at the level they would have liked and more often than not they were forced to retreat: having to constantly retreat is very tiring, on a physical but above all mental level, because it is understood that the opponents decide the context.
Fábregas’ team, in fact, never managed to impose its will. He didn’t do it when he tried to attack Inter’s circulation, but he didn’t do it with the ball either: Inter attempted a high pressing, which Como managed to get around. Then, however, Chivu’s team returned well behind the line of the ball, and in the last third of the pitch the Como players had no choice but to put the ball in the middle, a situation which the Inter defense dealt with rather well. Aware that he would not find space in the middle, Fábregas tried to face the second half with Diao and Jesus Rodriguez as natural wingers, but nothing changed.
Inter’s efficiency with the ball didn’t change either, despite Sommer and Bastoni looking for the pass more often than in the first half.
On man-to-man high pressing, here Bastoni raises the ball towards Thuram in the second half
The Frenchman holds his own, even in a dirty way, and supports Calhanoglu. The Turk verticalizes for Lautaro, isolated with the marker.
Lautaro holds Diego Carlos and supports Barella. Meanwhile, Dimarco climbs up behind Vojvoda who had climbed onto him at the start of the action.
Barella opens for Dimarco who, unable to advance much, stops the ball and lets his teammates up.
And so we reached 4-0, the icing on the cake, perhaps the situation in which it appeared most clearly how Como’s pressing could do nothing against the mechanisms of Inter under construction, even when Chivu had changed half the team with the entry of Mkhitaryan, Carlos Augusto, Pio Esposito and Sucić, all protagonists in the final goal.
With the ball to Akanji in the right-back position and with Carlos Augusto high and open, Diouf came forward, widening and taking Da Cunha with him, thus opening the passing line towards the strikers.
Pio Esposito received the vertical pass, waited for Caqueret to double his lead and served Mkhitaryan behind him.
The Armenian played a great opening on Dimarco’s run, who crossed towards the far post.
On the cross, Sucic, attacking the goal, lowered his head, deceiving his marker, Alex Valle, and passing it to Carlos Augusto, who arrived on time to reiterate the goal.
Inter is an extremely peculiar team in the context of European football. Not only because it is the only one, at the highest levels, to be able to afford to do without dribblers. But it is also a unique team for the way it sets up. In the construction phase of Inter, responsibilities are equally distributed among the players on the pitch. Although Calhanoglu nominally plays the role of director, in the Nerazzurri’s first possession there is no real conductor, as may be Vitinha in PSG, Pedri in Barcelona or Zubimendi in Arsenal.
Inter’s construction has no real fulcrum, and this is perhaps its strong point: they are all magnificent performers, where everyone knows exactly what their tasks are, without having to burden themselves with excessively greater responsibilities than their teammate. Whether it’s a three or four, with Akanji and Bastoni at the sides and Calhanoglu at the centre, whether it’s with Acerbi as a midfielder or with the backs dropping down as full-backs, as we saw in this match, Inter’s certainties starting from the back remain solid because the pieces are perfectly interchangeable.
And it seems that Chivu is intent on keeping alive the community spirit of this team, which has allowed it to play the best football in the championship for long stretches and to compete above its possibilities in the Champions League. Whether he will be able to repeat himself in Europe following this script remains to be seen. Yesterday, however, the certification arrived that in Italy such a formula still works great.
