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Analysis: Inzaghi’s incredible Inter en route to another Serie A title

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After their convincing win in the Derby d’Italia last weekend, Inter have opened up the gap at the top of the table to four points, with a game in hand to boot. Having lost just once in the league so far this season, they are clear favourites for the Scudetto – and deservedly so.

By Neel Shelat

Inter have arguably been the most underrated elite European team in the last year. A poor start to the 2022/23 season effectively ruled them out of the Serie A title race then, but some crucial mid-season tactical tweaks from Simone Inzaghi more than salvaged the season as the Nerazzurri won the Coppa Italia and reached the Champions League final.

They have carried that form into the 2023/24 season, as the Serie A leaders have lost just two of their 31 matches in all competitions. One of them knocked them out of the Coppa Italia, but they have already won silverware in the shape of a third straight Suppercoppa and could well get more as they must be considered among the Champions League contenders besides being the obvious favourites in the league.

Inter also have the chance to create some history in Serie A. If they win all of their remaining matches, they will end the season on 105 points, thus breaking Juventus’ record tally of 102 from the 2013/14 season. Of course, this is an incredibly lofty ambition but the possibility cannot be ruled out considering their current form.

Inzaghi deserves a great deal of credit for this, as he has almost perfected the 3-5-2 system with Inter. He has devised a tactical outline that gets the best out of his squad while not excessively relying on any individuals, thus making the team almost immune to transfer losses.

Inter barely broke stride at any point in 2023, so it is tough to believe that they lost a number of key players in the summer. Marcelo Brozović, Milan Škriniar, André Onana, Romelu Lukaku and Edin Džeko all bid their farewells, so the Nerazzurri had to find a lot of replacements without a mind-numbing transfer budget.

Some very shrewd signings as well as smart in-house solutions did the job, enabling Inter to continue playing the same way in 2023/24.

A total sum of €40 million was enough to bring in Yann Sommer, Benjamin Pavard and Francesco Acerbi, who have all become regular starters. Marcus Thuram was signed on a free transfer, and he has immediately become a star up front. Brozović was arguably Inter’s most important player last season, so replacing him was the toughest ask. This is where Inzaghi pulled off a stroke of genius as he decided to drop former attacking midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu into the regista role, which he has taken to like a fish to water.

All in all, Inter are quite simply the best team in Italy in all aspects. They can do anything and everything both with and without the ball, showing a level of versatility and flexibility that none of their counterparts around Europe can match.

Although the 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation is often characterised as one used to play a very negative brand of football, Inter actually are one of the most eye-catching teams to watch in possession. Their build-up play is incredibly fluid and yet perfectly cohesive as you will often see midfielders dropping into the back line, centre-backs pulling out to the touchline, and wing-backs pushing up. All of this enables them to play through any press.

The best part of it all has to be their attacking play at the other end of the pitch. Inter can threaten opponents in almost all ways. They can consistently get in behind high lines through the clever runs of their strikers and wing-backs, they can get bodies into the box as crossing targets for whipped deliveries from the wing-backs or midfielders, they can put together slick passing moves in the final third to break down low blocks, and even if none of that works, they have some very dangerous long range shooters in their team.

Simply put, Inter’s attack is unstoppable. They have already crossed the 50-goal mark in the league, and they absolutely blow the competition out of the water when it comes to xG.

The Nerazzurri can also be exceptionally solid defensively, both in their super solid 5-3-2 block deeper down the pitch and with a well-executed high press to disrupt opposition build-ups. Their tally of just 10 goals conceded so far might be too good to be sustainable, but their underlying numbers are not bad at all.

A big chunk of the reason behind Inter’s defensive overperformance is their goalkeeper. Yann Sommer has been one of the best shot-stoppers in Europe for a number of seasons now, and he has already saved his side about six goals this term according to our xGOT model.

The defensive solidity of the three centre-backs as well as their excellent ball-playing ability is quite handy too, but the midfielders naturally stand out when it comes to play on-the-ball. Enough cannot be said about Çalhanoğlu and Nicolò Barella’s technical quality to do almost anything with the ball at their feet, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s intelligent positioning in the final third makes him a great creative threat.

The front two have been exceptional at the sharp end of the pitch as they already have 36 league goal involvements between them, but they are very well supported by the wing-backs and midfielders too. A big reason why Inter’s attack is so unstoppable is because you’d have to stop about half the side to shut them down for good.

Marcus Thuram’s excellent well-roundedness has caught the eye of many an onlooker, lately, but Lautaro Martínez somehow continues to go underrated. His tally of 19 league goals this season is over twice the amount of any of his teammates, as he has shown a real killer instinct in the box.

Quite clearly, Inter have all the ingredients of an elite team. Juventus deserve credit for somehow managing to keep up with them in the league so far, but they will surely only fall away in the remainder of the season. A comfortable league lead will also enable the Nerazzurri to focus on the Champions League even more, so they could well go one better than last season in that competition too.

In any case, Inter are irrefutably one of the best teams in the world right now, so they deserve to be given their flowers.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A, with deep stats and players ratings, on FotMob. Download the free app here.

Analysis: Inzaghi’s incredible Inter en route to another Serie A title

After their convincing win in the Derby d’Italia last weekend, Inter have opened up the gap at the top of the table to four points, with a game in hand to boot. Having lost just once in the league so far this season, they are clear favourites for the Scudetto – and deservedly so.

By Neel Shelat

Inter have arguably been the most underrated elite European team in the last year. A poor start to the 2022/23 season effectively ruled them out of the Serie A title race then, but some crucial mid-season tactical tweaks from Simone Inzaghi more than salvaged the season as the Nerazzurri won the Coppa Italia and reached the Champions League final.

They have carried that form into the 2023/24 season, as the Serie A leaders have lost just two of their 31 matches in all competitions. One of them knocked them out of the Coppa Italia, but they have already won silverware in the shape of a third straight Suppercoppa and could well get more as they must be considered among the Champions League contenders besides being the obvious favourites in the league.

Inter also have the chance to create some history in Serie A. If they win all of their remaining matches, they will end the season on 105 points, thus breaking Juventus’ record tally of 102 from the 2013/14 season. Of course, this is an incredibly lofty ambition but the possibility cannot be ruled out considering their current form.

Inzaghi deserves a great deal of credit for this, as he has almost perfected the 3-5-2 system with Inter. He has devised a tactical outline that gets the best out of his squad while not excessively relying on any individuals, thus making the team almost immune to transfer losses.

Inter barely broke stride at any point in 2023, so it is tough to believe that they lost a number of key players in the summer. Marcelo Brozović, Milan Škriniar, André Onana, Romelu Lukaku and Edin Džeko all bid their farewells, so the Nerazzurri had to find a lot of replacements without a mind-numbing transfer budget.

Some very shrewd signings as well as smart in-house solutions did the job, enabling Inter to continue playing the same way in 2023/24.

A total sum of €40 million was enough to bring in Yann Sommer, Benjamin Pavard and Francesco Acerbi, who have all become regular starters. Marcus Thuram was signed on a free transfer, and he has immediately become a star up front. Brozović was arguably Inter’s most important player last season, so replacing him was the toughest ask. This is where Inzaghi pulled off a stroke of genius as he decided to drop former attacking midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu into the regista role, which he has taken to like a fish to water.

All in all, Inter are quite simply the best team in Italy in all aspects. They can do anything and everything both with and without the ball, showing a level of versatility and flexibility that none of their counterparts around Europe can match.

Although the 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation is often characterised as one used to play a very negative brand of football, Inter actually are one of the most eye-catching teams to watch in possession. Their build-up play is incredibly fluid and yet perfectly cohesive as you will often see midfielders dropping into the back line, centre-backs pulling out to the touchline, and wing-backs pushing up. All of this enables them to play through any press.

The best part of it all has to be their attacking play at the other end of the pitch. Inter can threaten opponents in almost all ways. They can consistently get in behind high lines through the clever runs of their strikers and wing-backs, they can get bodies into the box as crossing targets for whipped deliveries from the wing-backs or midfielders, they can put together slick passing moves in the final third to break down low blocks, and even if none of that works, they have some very dangerous long range shooters in their team.

Simply put, Inter’s attack is unstoppable. They have already crossed the 50-goal mark in the league, and they absolutely blow the competition out of the water when it comes to xG.

The Nerazzurri can also be exceptionally solid defensively, both in their super solid 5-3-2 block deeper down the pitch and with a well-executed high press to disrupt opposition build-ups. Their tally of just 10 goals conceded so far might be too good to be sustainable, but their underlying numbers are not bad at all.

A big chunk of the reason behind Inter’s defensive overperformance is their goalkeeper. Yann Sommer has been one of the best shot-stoppers in Europe for a number of seasons now, and he has already saved his side about six goals this term according to our xGOT model.

The defensive solidity of the three centre-backs as well as their excellent ball-playing ability is quite handy too, but the midfielders naturally stand out when it comes to play on-the-ball. Enough cannot be said about Çalhanoğlu and Nicolò Barella’s technical quality to do almost anything with the ball at their feet, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s intelligent positioning in the final third makes him a great creative threat.

The front two have been exceptional at the sharp end of the pitch as they already have 36 league goal involvements between them, but they are very well supported by the wing-backs and midfielders too. A big reason why Inter’s attack is so unstoppable is because you’d have to stop about half the side to shut them down for good.

Marcus Thuram’s excellent well-roundedness has caught the eye of many an onlooker, lately, but Lautaro Martínez somehow continues to go underrated. His tally of 19 league goals this season is over twice the amount of any of his teammates, as he has shown a real killer instinct in the box.

Quite clearly, Inter have all the ingredients of an elite team. Juventus deserve credit for somehow managing to keep up with them in the league so far, but they will surely only fall away in the remainder of the season. A comfortable league lead will also enable the Nerazzurri to focus on the Champions League even more, so they could well go one better than last season in that competition too.

In any case, Inter are irrefutably one of the best teams in the world right now, so they deserve to be given their flowers.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Serie A, with deep stats and players ratings, on FotMob. Download the free app here.