Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella has come in for some criticism for his performance for Italy against Malta yesterday evening.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, via FCInterNews, brand the 26-year-old’s display as “sloppy” and “static” by his own standards.
Italy got the job done against Malta yesterday evening.
They beat the international minnow by an emphatic 4-0 scoreline to keep their hopes of qualifying for EURO 2024 on track.
But in the view of the Corriere della Sera, the result and scoreline were less important than the performance.
It was not exactly a bad performance by the Azzurri – they did exactly what they had to do. But nor was it the kind of display that really made a statement or showed what the team is capable of.
And in the view of the Corriere della Sera, Inter midfielder Barella was emblematic.
Nicolo Barella Criticized For “Sloppy” Display For Italy Vs Malta
There were two main faults that the Corriere della Sera found with Barella’s performance.
The first was that the Nerazzurri man was not as proactive as he should have been.
For both club and country, Barella has been a real driving force over the past few seasons.
The 26-year-old’s driving runs through midfield and eye for a forward pass to split opposition defenses apart have been a key part of the reason why he has been a regular in Inter’s starting eleven.
These have also made Barella a fixture for Italy under Roberto Mancini. And Luciano Spalletti has kept up with selecting the Inter midfielder.
But in truth, apart from a nice assist for Domenico Berardi’s first goal, Barella mostly stuck to simple passes.
And then, the Corriere della Sera argue, Barella was not precise enough.
There were no disastrous giveaways of possession, but the newspaper argue that the Inter midfielder slowed play down too much.
