Inter played PSV away from home in what was probably one of the juiciest games in regards to how much tactical preparations were put into playing this game. Spalletti opted to line up with his most reliable eleven. Handanovic in nets who played an absolutely phenomenal game, the standard back line but in a much more aggressive manner on the outsides and very heavy supporting play from the usual midfield with Icardi on top bothering the center backs.
The reason this game was so rich in regards to the way Spalletti instructed his men to play is because of the very impressive pace in which PSV is able to play. When Inter was defending, both D’Ambrosio and Asamoah were given the green light to really step up on PSV’s wide men that thrive so heavily on defenders that are conservative and back up to give them space.
What’s important to note about the wide defenders stepping up is that it leaves a lot of responsibility to the wingers, in this case, Politano and Perisic to really have to cut out any passing options forcing players like Lozano into the one on one with Asamoah for example. If Asamoah is beat, then it’s Perisic’s turn to step up and Asamoah’s job to cut out passing lanes and watch his wing partners back. The same strategy applies to the opposite side.
What it comes down to in games where a team is out paced is two key factors. The first is to hold ball possession as much as possible. It’s only logical that if the opposing team doesn’t have the ball they cannot convert chances. The second thing is to force these quick players into tight areas and out number them. To expand on the previous example, if Lozano is driving towards Asamoah and Perisic is cutting out the supporting player and Inter introduces one of the holding midfielders to cut out any horizontal pass to the middle then the PSV men have no options and have no other choice but to try and dribble past even if they’re outnumbered. The one time this trap wasn’t executed well, it resulted in an absolute screamer of a goal to open up the game for PSV in the 27th minute.
Radja’s goal came from a constant pressure of driving towards the net to try and find the equalizer. Again, this is directly contributed to the the heavy possession filled game that Inter played today. Icardi’s goal was the purest form of counter attacking soccer that was converted by one of the best poachers in soccer; he stayed strong when the goalie rushed out and didn’t go down which is something to respect in modern day soccer. In conclusion Inter executed Spalletti’s tactics very well today and that’s how they were able to overcome this obstacle and pick up full points over two games. This was an absolute tactical masterpiece despite a few instances where they lost focus.