Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan feels that he’s really starting to develop an understanding with wingback Federico Dimarco and defender Alessandro Bastoni down the Nerazzurri’s left-hand side.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia following the team’s 3-1 win over Lazio, via FCInterNews, the 34-year-old hailed the chemistry that has developed between he and his teammates this season.
Last season, a key facet to how Inter attacked was the sense of chemistry between all of Bastoni, Ivan Perisic, and Hakan Calhanoglu on the left side.
This time around, Bastoni is still there in his customary left-sided centre-back position, but Perisic is gone, and Calhanoglu has been used more often as a deep-lying playmaker.
In the absence of the Croat, Dimarco has become a key player to the Nerazzurri on the left flank, whilst taking Calhanoglu’s place as the first-choice left-sided player in the midfield trio has been Mkhitaryan.
The 34-year-old Armenian international joined the Nerazzurri from Roma in the summer, and he hasn’t taken too long to settle in, showing all his experience to become a hugely important presence in central areas.
Of playing with Dimarco, Mkhitaryan said that “We try to do our best, we attack and defend together.”
“Talking about myself, Dimarcom and Bastoni, we have a good understanding on the pitch, we know who goes forward and who has to cover.”
“There’s chemistry,” the midfielder continued, “it’s something that happens, it’s hard to understand – we’ve had this understanding from day one.”
“I’ve improved over the second half of the season,” he went on, “in the first half I was adapting and I needed to understand the way the team plays better.”
“I’ve improved thanks to my teammates and the coach,” the former Manchester United and Arsenal man added, “I’m constantly talking with the coach and his staff in training to try and do better.”