Former Inter striker Antonio Cassano has launched a scathing attack on the Nerazzurri’s style of play, branding it negative and ugly.
Cassano, who has been a vocal critic of coach Antonio Conte and his approach throughout the season, was unimpressed with Inter’s performances this season, despite the Nerazzurri being just a maximum of 13 points away from a first Scudetto since 2010.
Appearing on fellow former Inter striker Christian Vieri’s Twitch stream yesterday, Cassano blasted Inter’s direct style of play in comparison to other clubs across Europe.
“If we talk about Manchester City or Barcelona, we can’t talk about Inter who only have 26% possession,” Cassano declared.
“Inter have been playing these types of games for a year and a half, ever since Conte arrived. The beautiful matches against Juventus and AC Milan were nothing, you can have four or five good games in a season.
“The idea is to play the game in front of goal then launch the ball forward. Inter don’t make three passes in a row, they just run continuously. What exactly has improved?”
Cassano felt that Inter’s approach was negative and only relied on the physicality of striker Romelu Lukaku, whilst claiming that it had only worked because of the ability of midfielder Christian Eriksen.
“Inter have been doing what Borussia Dortmund did for a year and a half, long balls to Lukaku. Do you know why Inter played well in recent months? Because of Eriksen. I didn’t like Jose Mourinho’s approach either.”
Cassano spent a single season at Inter in 2012-13 after arriving from Milan, scoring nine goals in 39 appearances before departing for Parma.
The former Italy international won the Serie A title with Milan, as well as the Spanish league title with Real Madrid.