Inter have become a more solid and dependable team under Luciano Spalletti since his arrival in 2017, Tuttosport wrote today.
The Nerazzurri are currently engulfed in chaos after Mauro Icardi was stripped of the club captaincy on Wednesday, having failed to distance himself from comments made by wife and agent Wanda Nara on TV last weekend.
However they nonetheless secured two 1-0 wins in the space of five days against Parma and Rapid Vienna, underlining the importance of their rock-solid defence as they struggle for goals.
Milan Skriniar, Stefan De Vrij and Miranda were described by the Turin-based publication as ‘a perfect defensive trio’, with Diego Godin already lined up to replace the latter in the summer.
Spalletti is unlikely to still be in charge when the Uruguayan arrives but in the meantime he remains focused on securing Champions League qualification for next season.
“Spalletti has proven himself a coach who is capable of giving Inter a sense of balance, even when the going gets tough,” Tuttosport said.
“Since he arrived they’ve no longer been that ‘pazza’ team which excites its supporters but then crumbles at the first sign of trouble.
“Even when their performances have deteriorated the Nerazzurri have never lost their identity or that defensive solidity which has become a key characteristic of theirs.
“If they’ve dipped into crisis it’s been because they have stopped scoring, not because they’ve started leaking goals at the other end.
“And all it took was a few flashes from [Radja] Nainggolan, a couple of accelerations from [Ivan] Perisic and greater precision in front of goal from [Lautaro] Martinez to get back to winning ways.”
Inter will play their first Serie A match since Mauro Icardi was stripped of the club captaincy when they face Sampdoria on Sunday.
