Former Inter midfielder Marco Tardelli discussed Italian midfielder Nicolo Barella, Christian Eriksen and the current Nerazzurri squad in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Milano based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I certainly see in him many of my characteristics as a player, the ability to go into spaces, to move forwards in search of the goal, to recover balls, to go anywhere. Maybe he misses the header skill, I was good at jumping and connecting with the ball.”
Tardelli then touched on the player’s potential, considering that he’s only 22 years old.
“A young man. He still has considerable margins for growth, he can become a great European midfielder.”
The 65-year-old Italian wasn’t worried that Barella’s performances would begin to drop off following the arrival of Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen.
“For me, if you’re in the big leagues, you can play in a two, a three and any midfield system. No problem.”
However, Tardelli did suggest that Italian midfielder Stefano Sensi could be more negatively impacted by the arrival of the Dane.
“Probably will, and I’m really sorry. Because he’s Italian, because he could have been very useful to Inter and the National team, and he always will be, but maybe he’ll have less space. And this will be a problem for Mancini as well.”
The 1982 World Cup winner touched on the high number of yellow cards that Barella seems to acquire. He has been booked eight times already this season.
“But in our role, and with our game, it’s inevitable. We can’t help but take a few yellows, even if over time we learn to be more careful, to manage ourselves. But the desire to attack the opponent, in a positive sense, to go fast on the ball, to fight for it and start again, leads you to commit a few more fouls. It’s normal.”
Finally, Tardelli discussed how much coach Antonio Conte has changed this Inter squad.
“This is totally Conte’s team. With his soul. Unbreakable. Like all the others, like Juve, Italy, Chelsea. Struggles to the end, gives 100 percent even in training. If you don’t have all the best, there’s no other way but to be always on the ball.”
Barella has made 22 appearances across all competitions for the Nerazzurri so far this season, for a total of 1554 minutes. In that time, he’s scored three goals and provided five assists.
