Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella has faced criticism for his performance in yesterday evening’s Serie A win over Torino.
L’Interista highlight the middling scores that the 26-year-old received in the player ratings for the match across Italian media.
Barella is undoubtedly one of Inter’s key players in the middle of the pitch.
The former Cagliari midfielder tends to bring both energy and quality to control possession and creating openings through the opposition’s defensive structure.
But it was energy in particular that Barella seemed to be lacking against Cagliari on Saturday.
The 26-year-old did not look altogether up to the pace of the match. Whether this was due to a bit of a hangover from the international break, or to the tactical style and tempo that the Granata imposed, it was noticeable in terms of the effect it had on the overall midfield battle.
Nicolo Barella Criticized For Performance In Serie A Clash Vs Torino
Barella also got himself a yellow card early on in the match.
It was not entirely clear what the booking was for, although it certainly appeared that he had talked himself into the book after a challenge by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu that saw Perr Schuurs pick up a knee injury.
In any event, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi decided to take Barella off. He replaced the 26-year-old with Davide Frattesi off the bench.
But in the view of Italian media, Barella could have come off anyway.
The Italian international was nowhere near the decisive influence in the midfield battle that he can be at his best for the Nerazzurri.
And once Frattesi entered the pitch, Inter started to really be in the ascendancy.
The 24-year-old former Sassuolo man was better able to keep Torino guessing as Inter started to open up the Granata’s shape with more movement.
