Inter already appear to have a number of issues holding them back from reaching their best form, with a lack of physical fitness and the inability of left-wingback Robin Gosens to make an impression on the team chief among them.
This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who argue that the Nerazzurri will have to look sharper on a physical level and get the best out of Gosens if they are to reach the levels from last season.
Inter’s physical drop-off had been observed throughout preseason, when a late start to preparations seemed to leave the team unable to cope with the pressures of executing their high-pressing tactical system across ninety minutes.
This issue really reared its head in Friday’s Serie A loss to Napoli, where the Nerazzurri were caught out of their shape with numbers committed forward on a number of occasions, as the players seemed to lack the necessary physicality to both attack and defend as a unit.
Meanwhile, the form of Gosens has not been anywhere near up to what the team will have expected that they were getting when the German was brought in from Atalanta in January, considering he had been one of Serie A and Europe’s outstanding players in his position at La Dea.
The 28-year-old’s issues are further highlighted by the fact that he has been given the job of replacing arguably the Nerazzurri’s outstanding player from last season in the form of Ivan Perisic, and so far his mediocre displays have meant that the team have lacked a key reference point from last season when the left flank had been a major area of strength,
Injuries have been part of the problem with Gosens, who in fact arrived at Inter recovering from a long-term muscle injury and then picked up his most recent minor muscular strain during preseason which caused him to miss a couple weeks of preparation.
However, injuries and fitness are far from the only problems that Gosens is facing, or the biggest ones, and the sense remains that as long as he does not find the right psychological balance and integrate into the team tactically, he will continue to struggle as he has been in the first few matches.
