This season Inter were expected to drop their level a bit given their difficult summer but instead they have been in even better form than last campaign.
This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who argue that the Nerazzurri have gotten better under Simone Inzaghi by looking at some of their numbers from the season.
Inter had 37 points after sixteen matches last season on their way to the Scudetto, but this time around they have three more points at this stage of the campaign after putting some early wobbles behind them to find top form.
The Nerazzurri have scored 43 goals after sixteen matches this campaign, the same number as last campaign, but they have conceded only fifteen as opposed to the 23 shipped last time around.
Antonio Conte’s team had been formidable certainly, and could rely on the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku for an extra boost, but Simone Inzaghi has changed the style of play to excellent effect.
Now Inter play with a much higher defensive line and more aggressive press to try and dominate possession of the ball, something which initially led to some shambolic defending but now allows them to control games both sides of the ball.
The Nerazzurri’s improvements in Serie A are impressive enough on their own, but the real distinguishing factor of Inzaghi’s Inter compared to Conte’s must surely be progression to the Champions League knockout rounds.
Conte tried and failed to reach the round of sixteen twice, as the style of play that his team utilized looked ill-suited to put pressure on European opponents.
Inzaghi’s team, by contrast, secured passage into the knockouts with a match to spare and can still go further if they show even more improvement and get to the level where they can knock out Liverpool.
