The threat that striker Romelu Lukaku poses on the counterattack could end up being the real secret to finally tightening up Inter’s defense over the rest of the season.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who argue that once the 29-year-old is fully fit and firing, the Nerazzurri can shore things up at the back and play to his strengths.
In Lukaku’s absence, Inter have played with a fairly high and aggressive defensive line in order to dominate possession and create good chances for strikers Lautaro Martinez and Edin Dzeko as well as the midfielders and wingbacks.
The issue with this approach is that, when the team lose the ball they are often in trouble defensively.
This has been one of the main issues with the Nerazzurri’s well-documented defensive struggles this season.
Lukaku is a different kind of player from Martinez and Dzeko, and is much more effective when operating with space to run into, not needing the team to work chances with a lot of elaborate possession.
Therefore, it will likely become easier for Inter to sit back in possession and wait for their opportunities to get the ball to Lukaku once the Belgian is fit, allowing the team as a whole to be more defensively compact in their own half.
