Inter midfielder Marcelo Brozovic has emerged as one of European football’s most accomplished holding midfielder for his club and country, both of whom owe a debt of gratitude to former Nerazzurri coach Luciano Spalletti.
This is highlighted by French news outlet L’Equipe, who detail the stylistic growth that the 30-year-old has undergone in his career ahead of a World Cup semifinal against Argentina with the Croatian national team in which he is expected to start.
Brozovic did not arrive at Inter as a classical midfielder, and instead tended to play anywhere from attacking midfield to box-to-box, to even playing out wide.
However, it was under coach Spalletti that the Croat’s best form was really found.
The current Napoli coach saw in Brozovic the qualities needed to play the deepest role in midfield efficiently.
Spalletti mentored Brozovic into a holding midfield role that made use of the Croat’s first touch, range of passing, vision of the game, and tireless running to set the tempo in the midfield battle.
Over the seasons since, the 30-year-old has only improved as he’s perfected the position.
Playing as the regista at the base of midfield, Brozovic is regularly the player who covers the most ground both in possession where he is always making himself a passing option, and out of it where he has become relentless in the defensive phase.
It is not just Inter who have benefited from this positional transition, as Brozovic has also played there for Croatia.
The 30-year-old was an integral player as his national team reached the final at the last World Cup in Russia, and he will be equally so if they do so again in Qatar, with the chance to even go one further by lifting the Jules Rimet trophy.
In Croatia’s round of sixteen clash with Japan, Brozovic broke his own record for the most distance covered in a match at the World Cup final, recorded as running 16.7 km throughout the match.
This level of involvement at the heart of midfield is a lasting legacy of the coaching of Spalletti, who evidently saw in Brozovic something that no other coach had really managed to unlock.
