Inter played Frosinone at the San Siro in a game that many considered to be a must win. Spalletti opted to line up with the standard 4-2-3-1 resting many of his key players. The backline consisted of D’Ambrosio, Skriniar, De Vrij and Asamoah. In the holding midfielder roles we saw Borja Valero and Gagliardini. In the line of three the world saw Keita Balde on the left, Radja in the middle and Politano on the right all led by Lautaro Martinez.
What was important to note about this midfield in particular was that they were forced to operate without a monumental piece of the team; Brozovic. This meant that his substitute, Borja Valero in this case had huge shoes to fill and he did so very well despite a few collapses in focus from time to time. The holding roles were fulfilled very well with Borja Valero acting as the engine and Gagliardini the box to box man; a system we’ve seen all season long. Gagliardini’s game was very different today because we saw him drive with the ball a lot more and in the occasion that it was lost he tracked back very heavily to recover his mistake and that’s what makes the difference in a midfield. The midfield that works the hardest and smartest is usually what brings a team to be able to pick up full points.
That line of three looked incredibly threatening for the entirety of the game. Politano did an excellent job running at defenders and constantly switched it up between shooting and passing. Keita on the other side worked well and looked to roam a little bit more than Politano did which allowed him to work more often picking up the ball centrally and using his excellent pace to work outward which resulted in two goals and a lovely assist to Lautaro Martinez.
What is detrimental to Inter’s success is the way they press. When they press the opposition as individuals like they did last game against Atalanta, players are forced into 50/50 battles which is logically 50/50, it wont always go Inters way and thats where the team runs into problems. Yesterday was an excellent example of that Spalletti press that is so successful when executed properly.
The wingers and wing backs press out wide while the striker, attacking midfiler and the box-to-box midfielder press centrally which forces a clearance to be cleaned up by the big bodies in the CB position and the true holding midfielder, Borja Valero. All that truly matters is the three points which puts us back on track for the champions league game this week.
