Date : 11/09/2016
Venue : Stadio Adriatico-Giovanni Cornacchia
Competition : Serie A 2016/2017, Matchday 3
The starting line ups:
Inter left the pitch for the first time with a smile as Mauro Icardi’s stoppage time goal, his second of the night, gave them a much needed win, against a very well drilled and confident Pescara side.
Pescara’s defense
What shaped a big part of the game was how the biancazzurri defended.
Massimo Oddo’s team defended in a 4-3-2-1, that already from its “nature” is a formation heavily focused on the centre of the field, leaving spaces on the wings for the opposition to attack through (see image below).
Miranda and Murillo were most of the time free to initiate Inter’s build-up, with Caprari focusing primarily on closing Medel from being a passing option. Then, with no central options to pass to and Caprari closing down on them the nerazzurri CBs were forced to pass the ball to the wing where Pescara was ready to press using the sideline of the pitch for help.
This Pescara focus on the centre, and the free wings that were a result of this (even if they were used as a kind of pressing trap as mentioned above), shaped Inter’s offensive strategy, that was much less centre focused compared to the previous game against Palermo.
This change of focus during the build-up phase was obvious when, even with Medel free to receive the ball in the centre of the field, the CBs were not passing to him as there was no structure near him for him to combine after the pass, and there was a risk of him losing possession after a possible collapse of the Pescara midfielders on him.
This lack of structure around the Chilean was due to fact that Joao Mario and Banega were positioned much closer to the wings in order to combine and provide support to the winger and FB of each side.
Thus, a simple diagonal ball from the CBs or a change of sides meant that 2vs2 situations were created on the wings, with players like Candreva and Perisic always having an advantage against their markers due to their quality, being responsible for creating some of the most dangerous moments during the first half.
Inter’s defense, a reason for concern?
Although Inter conceded a goal due to a careless loss of possession and a defensive mistake that followed it, being also very unstable on the negative transition fase through which Pescara became very dangerous with their fast paced counterattacking, it is Inter’s midfield line during defense that we need to take a look at, especially considering that a match against one the best sides in Europe (at least on paper) is going to take place next weekend.
As Inter defended in a 4-4-2, with Banega next to Icardi, trying to force the ball towards the side where closest winger was ready to press the opposition FB upon receiving the ball, there were only two players, Medel and Joao Mario responsible for protecting the central areas, against a Pescara side that was creating numerical superiorities constantly by dropping one of the front three in order to create a 3vs2 and break Inter’s press.
This last tactic by Oddo’s team combined with the fact that the two abovementioned Inter midfielders were not defending strictly space, but were man-oriented, meaning that they were marking the opponent in their area of responsibility, meant that situations like the one below were created.
As we can see in this situation, both the Portuguese and the Chilean are focused on the player nearest to them, as a space is created between them for Verre to drop in and receive the ball, and after a quick turn start running in front of the unprotected CBs.
It was a situation that appeared three or four times, with Inter never paying the price, as their opponents either didn’t have good choices or their execution was very poor.
One has to question though, what would have happened if the player receiving the ball in a situation like the above, was not Verre but Dybala or Higuain?
It will be very interesting to see if de Boer will continue with this way of defending or we will see a three man midfield with a DM between the lines for the match against Juventus.
De Boer’s bet pays off
With Pescara leading 1-0, in the 75th minute de Boer brought in three forwards, Palacio, Jovetic and Eder, replacing Medel, Perisic and Candreva.
The team was now playing in a 4-2-4/ 4-2-1-3 depending on Palacio’s movement who was moving everywhere in order to combine, interchange positions with the wingers or simply drop to help J.Mario and Banega who were the only midfielders left with the build-up.
As Pescara became more aware and defensive, dropping their defensive line lower, in their attempt to keep their lead, Inter had the opportunity to stretch the field, forcing Pescara in a 6-3-1 shape as their wingers followed Inter’s FBs, and find more spaces in the inside channels for Banega to receive the ball. These free areas together with the Argentinian’s less advanced position gave him more time and space to cross or make much more dangerous vertical pass towards the penalty area, making the Milanese team much more dangerous, and assisting Icardi for his first goal.
In the end the Argentinian will take advantage of Aquilani’s and Gyomber’s mistakes and give his team a much needed win.
Conclusion
A win is a win, even if it is won with half a goal, and especially this time it was a huge psychological relief for a team that after what happened during the summer cannot get away from the pressure and overly critical eye of the media craze.
Inter was once again improved when it came to combining in the offensive third but wasted possession easily and were very fragile in defensive transition, things that will prove destructive against Juventus.
For more Inter and non-Inter related Tactical Analysis, you can find me on Twitter, @ThanosChelas.