Italian journalist Mario Sconcerti feels that Inter are not able to call upon many reliable players outside of their core of players.
Writing in his column in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, Sconcerti gave the view that the introduction of players outside of Simone Inzaghi’s trusted group has a tendency to unbalance the team.
Inzaghi has not been shy about turning to his bench during matches this season, gaining a reputation as one of the coaches who uses his substitutes the most in Serie A.
At times this has worked well for the 46-year-old, who has managed to refresh his team on both sides of the ball and has also gotten double-digits goals from the bench, twelve so far in the campaign.
However, as Sconcerti points out, sometimes the players who are not part of the Nerazzurri’s Plan A look out of place in a way that hurts the team as a whole.
“It goes without saying that when the team changes, a lot of disorder always comes with it in the final twenty minutes,” he writes. “Inter are a team of twelve or thirteen players, no more than that. The rest are awkward fits.”
Of the Nerazzurri’s win over Udinese, he writes that “Inter did everything they hadn’t done in Bologna. They got up to the pace of the match immediately with their key men, Brozovic of course, but also Barella, who were decisive.”
“But also with Dimarco,” he adds, “Inzaghi’s new idea for this twisted season finale.”
“Dimarco represents Inzaghi’s restlessness and his step forward,” he goes on. “He’s always played with a defender who moves forward, but not one like Dimarco in terms of technical quality and mentality.”
Sconcerti recalls that “Inzaghi’s right-hand man on the flanks was Lulic for years, a quality hybrid that kept the entire team in balance on the left, but always as a wingback.”
“This is what he sees now in Darmian on the other side,” he continues. “But in this accelerating season finale, Inzaghi tries to go beyond himself, sometimes unbalances Inter because he chases his ideas.”
“He plays with Dimarco, Perisic, almost always Dumfries,” Sconcerti points out, “that is, he plays with only two specialist defenders, Skriniar and de Vrij.”
“In fact, Udinese often asked questions of the Inter defense through Deulofeu,” he points out, “Udinese carried the ball well into the penalty area.”
“But in the end he decides the difference made by having Dimarco on the pitch is worth it,” he concludes. “This shows the growth of the player but also of the coach.”
