Inter cannot expect to replicate their Serie A success in Europe with such a defensive style of play, a report in the Italian media argued today.
Antonio Conte told reporters after last night’s win against Sassuolo that the Nerazzurri would still be in the UEFA Champions League had they been playing with this kind of determination all season.
Calciomercato.com columnist Stefano Agresti disagrees though, arguing Inter – who had just 30% possession against Roberto De Zerbi’s side – needed better football and better players in order to make progress in Europe.
“You can win using the counterattack in Europe, like PSG did against Bayern Munich last night, but you still have to be more proactive than Inter normally are,” he argued.
“Inter need to be able to control games with personality on the ball rather than just with technique and physical strength.
“It’s not a question of aesthetics, it’s about attitude, and it’s here that Conte himself needs to make the next step.
“Antonio is about to win his fifth league title in seven seasons at club level, but he has never had success in the Champions League and in fact it’s often been a huge disappointment.
“That’s probably not a coincidence.”
Agresti also said Inter needed to expand their squad depth if they were to improve on this season’s embarrassing group stage exit, which saw Conte’s side finish below Real Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Inter do not have a fourth-choice striker behind Romelu Lukaku, Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez, the latter of whom is ‘often injured’, while their back-up options in defence are well short in quality of their starting centre-backs.
Conte was also said to need an upgrade in midfield, despite it being Inter’s ‘most complete’ department with the class of Christian Eriksen and Nicolo Barella.