Federico Dimarco has struggled to fill the void left behind by Ivan Perisic in Simone Inzaghi’s Inter squad this season but his Azzurri performances suggest he has the capability to do so, notes Apollo Heyes.
The 33-year-old Croatian wing back left the Nerazzurri on a free transfer in the summer, joining up with Antonio Conte at Tottenham. He’s immediately impressed in North London, providing four assists across the league and Champions League as he continues to show his qualities on the left flank.
Whilst Perisic is flying high with Tottenham, Dimarco has struggled to get off the ground with Inter this season, failing to contribute to a goal in his eight appearances across all competitions. Inzaghi has mostly used the 24-year-old as a centre back rather than left wing back, but his Azzurri work seems to suggest that he’s fully capable of being a strong option out wide.
Robin Gosens is also an option for Inzaghi, but the German has not replicated his Atalanta performances since making the move across Lombardy back in January. He has drawn attention to this himself, detailing how he’s “not in the same shape I was in Bergamo. I’m close, but at the same time, I know that there is still a lot of work to do.”
In his last three Italy appearances, Dimarco has provided two assists and impressed playing as the left wing back. In the 2-0 win over Hungary, the Inter man took four shots, created two chances and took 59 touches. In the 1-0 win over England, Dimarco created one chance, took 51 touches and won three tackles, doing well both offensively and defensively.
His work with the Azzurri should give Inzaghi enough confidence to trust in Dimarco on the left side and give him the chance to show his qualities, but he’ll have to rise to the occasion after a few unconvincing outings in the role for the Nerazzurri. If the 24-year-old can pull this off, he’ll be able to prove himself as the right man to replace Perisic for Inter.
Quick answer: No.
He is currently in good form, but Perisic was a horse able to drag the play down the field with him. Gem of a player and Inter’s best as far as I was concerned. His movement without the ball made the opposition compromise their formation at times. Only a few players in the world can do that.
Sorry final answer: NO
Direct answer – NO
No at the moment. We have to consider the fact that there is a 9 year gap. Perisic already had the experience to develop and sharpened his craft. What inter had is pretty much fully developed professional whereas dimarco is still honing his. So comparison at this moment would be unfair to dimarco..
DImarco can cross and great in attack overall but I feel like he will never reach his full potential under Inzaghi who uses him on a wrong position. Almost on a constant basis now. He’s not a capable centre back so he’s a target for tall players but Inzaghi keep using him in that position where his biggest disadvantage can show instead of using him in Perisic role but encouraged to go forward much more. I have no doubt if he moves somewhere else or Inter gets a different coach that will focus on his strengths then he will no longer be compared to Perisic.
Well there’s only one way to find out right? Let Inzaghi play him that position and then we’ll see.