Although Inter have had a positive start to the season, Richard Hall highlights where Simone Inzaghi’s side needs to improve to go to the next level.
Inter secured an important win against what could have been a very ‘Inter looking’ banana skin. The game against Sheriff in the Champions League was never going to be an easy one. The discipline and guile of the Moldovans had already seen them breeze through the group stage with a magnificent win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Despite the relief in the black and blue camp, there are still issues that need addressing. The loss to Lazio exposed these and they will have to work on these problems before the Derby D’Italia this weekend. The team are developing nicely under Simone Inzaghi but he knows the process will be a long one.
Clinical finishing isn’t something that has only affected Inzaghi, far from it. In fact, this was a constant frustration for Antonio Conte. The former Inter coach bemoaned his squad as they played attacking and powerful games but often didn’t take enough of their many chances.
Inter are suffering this again this campaign and yet that sounds bizarre as they are the league’s top scorers with 23 goals. Only Napoli come close with 19 goals to their name. Admittedly, in the Champions League, they have floundered but they have had the opportunity in Serie A. Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez sit joint second and the latter joint fourth in the goal-scoring charts but this still doesn’t mean that this is good enough. Inter do concede a lot of possession, so these figures need to be lifted, even Dzeko himself admitted after the Champions League game against Sheriff, that he is capable of scoring superb goals but misses too many easy chances.
Technical mistakes against teams sitting deep are also something gleaned from the Sheriff game and something that Inzaghi gets frustrated about. He made his feelings clear that one thing he hates most is Inter being caught in possession. Much of Serie A will do this to the champions and he cannot tolerate being hit unnecessarily on the counter-attack.
This is still something that resonates from the Conte era. Sitting back and allowing teams to come onto them just so they could strike back with pace. This worked in Serie A, but it is a disastrous method in Europe, especially against elite teams who can keep the ball. Just like when Max Allegri took over from Conte at Juventus, Inzaghi has to come up with a plan B that is very different.
Perhaps, Inter would not have these problems in such a way had they not been missing their creative spark in Christian Eriksen. Once Conte reneged last season and allowed the Dane to play, Inter found a plan B, no, they fell onto a plan B. Irrelevant to how and why this occurred, it worked and the Nerazzurri found themselves able to break down opponents as the creative magic from Eriksen, both from delivery on set pieces and his outrageous range of passing, unlocked teams who sat deep and he helped them keep possession with more frequency and confidence. Nobody can replace him and it seems as though Serie A legislation will see him not feature again for Inter.
One thing that has been a constant for Inter is that they have consistently shown that the club offers a lack of opportunities for younger players. After an impressive pre-season, the explosive Uruguayan striker Martin Satriano hasn’t seen any action and the likes of Sebastiano Esposito, Darian Males, Lorenzo Pirola, Eddie Salcedo, Andrea Pinamonti and the excellent Lucien Agoume have all been loaned out.
This article wasn’t supposed to get into Inter’s financial state. There have been so many of these but under the circumstances, this feels like an opportunity wasted. Yes, Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez still push on but is this forward planning?
Inzaghi is doing an incredible job at Inter and his style of management and demeanour are appealing to many as he plays good football and is a gentleman. Inter have a bright future with him, but they are not without their problems. One can almost feel sorry for Inzaghi. He could solve the issues mentioned above had the investment been there to help, but alas, it is not. Now he has to address this with what he has and that is the difficulty between keeping competitive and going to the next level.