After the heartbreak last weekend, Inter were now four points behind their two rivals for a UEFA Champions League place and knew that nothing less than a victory would be accepted here otherwise top four could be waved goodbye. As for the home side, they are now onto their third manager of the season which just emphasises how their season has gone. They are far from safe and for a club like Udinese who were in Europe’s elite competition only a few years ago, this sort of situation is truly unacceptable so on the face of it, this looked to be a tough game for the Nerazzurri even given how poor Udinese have been of late.
Formations:
As usual, Spalletti kept the system the same however a few changes were made from the last fixture, they included Dalbert in for the suspended D’Ambrosio, Valero replacing the also suspended Vecino and finally Ranocchia filling in for Miranda who pulled out at the last minute through a muscular strain. Fortunately for Inter, the season was coming to an end because the squad was really running on bare bones for this match in particular.
Ex-Juventus player and Galatasaray manager, Igor Tudor took over just two weeks ago with the task of keeping Udinese in Serie A. In his first match last weekend, they drew 3-3 away to relegated Benevento after conceding a last minute equaliser so not the best start but it did end their long losing streak. As most will remember, the Zebrette beat Inter at the San Siro 3-1 in one of the first matches under previous manager Massimo Oddo using the same formation and most of the same players.
First Half:
Now, we all know that tactics and instructions play a key role in the way a match is played out, however it isn’t everything and we learnt that particularly in this fixture. As I previously mentioned, Udinese used the same formation and structure when they beat Inter at the San Siro however you would never have thought it if you didn’t know. So, my point is that the players need to be aware of their roles, have good team cohesion, they must want to play, fight, run their legs off etc for the team, manager, club and if they don’t, the tactics don’t really matter. This for me has been Udinese’s biggest problem this season since they have good enough players to not be in a serious relegation battle and this yet again was all shown in this match.
The away side dominated early proceedings which was to be expected, and that would be no real problem for the men in black & white on paper since that is how they won earlier on in the season; by counter attacking and using their wingbacks to perfection. However, one key detail I noticed which was different in this team compared to that team was the fact Fofana was being used as a left central midfielder instead of the deeper, central midfielder. He was immense in the first meeting between these sides so it baffled me why he was being used in a position he isn’t as good at playing.
One thing Spalletti loves to do is play out from the back whenever possible and this was almost used as a trap, intentional or not and I’ll explain. The players were set out very specifically for every goal kick with the wing backs getting chalk on their boots, the centre backs would provide options on the edge of the box whilst the midfield three would all drop deeper. What this did is create a massive gap between the midfield and attack since Udinese tried to press high instead of sitting off and allowing the ball to be played out.
The three matchups that are circled is where the ball was put into since one or two of the three attackers would make a run from inside the Udinese half and into the massive space left. Then, should the ball be won like it is here, you are in a fantastic situation to cause problems from just one pass. This is something Inter continued to exploit throughout.
Spalletti made far better tactical decisions in this match compared to the home game against Udinese. One of the most important changes was allowing Candreva to tuck inside, forming a three-man midfield. This then gave Cancelo space to attack Ali Adnan one-on-one and also, Rafinha was given a licence to roam in between the lines finding space to thread the backline.
Usually, Fofana wouldn’t have to mark Candreva so he would be more aware of Rafinha but he is now occupied so Behrami needs to realise Rafinha is in behind him but he doesn’t. That all comes from a 3v3 midfield turning into a 4v3 midfield and Udinese don’t know what to do about it. Possibly one of the centre backs should step out since there are three of them but as you can see at the top right, Inter have two men there so if anyone does, a huge gap will be left in behind which is even more dangerous.
As Udinese went 2-0 behind, they tried to commit more numbers when pressing however this left spaces on the wings for the forwards to exploit and that’s exactly what Icardi did to get his goal and Inter’s third.
Icardi received a long ball here after making a run inside, out. This then puts him in a one vs one situation with the defender and with the skillset Mauro has, he stood a great chance at scoring or creating an opportunity which he did. After this, Udinese had no chance at getting back into the match with the way they were set up and with the way they were playing in general.
Second Half:
Things went from bad to worse for Tudor’s side as Fofana got a straight red card for a challenge on Perišić which was strikingly similar to Vecino’s on Mandžukić last weekend. This obviously put them down to 10 men and someone had to be sacrificed or the system would have to be adjusted. So, Tudor took off Udinese’s only real creative player in De Paul and replaced him with Barák who would fill in to the position Fofana left. This change signalled to everyone that they were shutting up shop instead of trying to get back into the game.
This is a prime example of how the rest of the half played out for the most part, Inter simply kept possession in areas such as the one above and as Udinese kept having to chase, they just ran out of gas meaning they couldn’t react to anything which in fairness, they weren’t doing from minute one anyway.
Udinese did manage to take a couple of long shots after regaining possession through Inter coming forward and trying to score more goals but nothing to threaten Samir in the goal.
The game just went by, Inter had taken their foot off of the gas massively although they did get a fourth, it was very pedestrian and as you can see in the above image, players with their heads down, barely jogging for Udinese and Rafinha is out wide with all the time in the world. That isn’t a criticism really at this point in the match and given the circumstances but tactically, there isn’t much to mention. It was just very basic and lacklustre in the second half.
Conclusion:
A job well done. This match reminded me of Sampdoria away when we won 5-0. Even though we completely dominated and walked away with all we need, we could’ve done more. The Sampdoria game could’ve genuinely finished 7-0 or 8-0 whilst this match we had two clearances off the line, Karamoh being pulled down in the box with nothing given and overall, the intensity dropped dramatically in the second half as I previously mentioned.
We got the win though and Lazio drew at home to Atalanta meaning if we beat Sassuolo at home next week and then beat Lazio on the final day, we will be in the UEFA Champions League next season and at this point, that’s all we can ask for. For the top four to be in our hands, not needing results to go our way and that’s what it is right now so let’s hope the boys get us over the line!
