Ex-Nerazzurri Defender Antonio Paganin: “Inter’s Defense Starting To Improve, It’s No Secret Milan Skriniar & Stefan De Vrij Struggle Defending Space”

Former Inter defender Antonio Paganin feels that the Nerazzurri’s defense is starting to tighten up this season.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster TMW Radio, via FCInter1908, the former defender noted that Nerazzurri duo Milan Skriniar and Stefan de Vrij are not at their best when they are defending open space, and that the team as a whole has done more to play to their strengths.

Skriniar and de Vrij, as well as Alessandro Bastoni, came in for a significant amount of criticism during the first part of the season when the Nerazzurri’s defense looked to be a major issue.

Whilst the performances of the defenders were certainly an issue, it was also notable that the defensive compactness of the team as a whole did not provide them with much protection.

The gaps that tended to form on the pitch meant that opponents were frequently available to play through the Nerazzurri, and in so doing build up momentum to run at the defenders.

As Paganin points out, players like Skriniar are far from their best when they are forced to defend a lot of space in behind against attackers who are able to come at them with pace.

“When we look at the last few matches before the break, the numbers are already starting to change,” Paganin said of the Nerazzurri’s early season defensive struggles.

“The first part of the campaign was played in high heat, and at a high tempo, so we saw that the team were really struggling to raise the rhythm of their game.”

“As that has changed, the entire dynamic of the team has improved,” Paganin continued.

“We were already starting to see in preseason that they would struggle with teams who played with pace in behind and in space.”

“It’s no secret that Skriniar and de Vrij struggle in these circumstances, especially without optimal coverage,” the former defender noted.

“They were struggling, but now things have changed gear.”