Inter have not had a solid start to the season in defense, and a lot of this has to do with the fact that the “defensive wall” that they have been relying on for several seasons has not looked as solid as they’ve been led to expect.

This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who note that the first-choice defensive trio of Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan de Vrij, and Milan Skriniar have all been struggling uncharacteristically over the first few weeks of the season,

Inter went to great lengths to keep their first-choice back three together over the summer, with Bastoni and Skriniar remaining despite no shortage of transfer interest in their signatures as the Nerazzurri contemplated selling a big name player to meet financial targets.

So far neither defender has particularly shown what all the fuss is about, nor have they exactly put in the kinds of performances that will make their club feel that keeping hold of them was the right course of action.

Meanwhile, de Vrij has been the most out-of-form of the lot, and already summer arrival Francesco Acerbi is threatening to displace him at the heart of a defensive trio that has looked in desperate need of a refresh.