Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi has earned plaudits for getting his tactics right against Red Bull Salzburg in yesterday evening’s Champions League group stage win.
L’Interista highlight the positive scores that the 47-year-old received in the player ratings for the match across Italian media.
Inter have certainly become a team very much in Inzaghi’s image.
This is not just a matter of the shape or formation. Certainly, the 3-5-2 shape with three defenders, wingbacks, and two strikers is a treademark for the former Lazio coach.
But Inzaghi’s ideas are more specific than that.
The way that the coach seeks to exploit space in a very quick and direct way is key to how Inter look to play.
And against Red Bull Salzburg yesterday evening, the Nerazzurri gave a very clear demonstration of this style.
Inter Coach Inzaghi Praised For Tactics Vs Red Bull Salzburg
Salzburg, too, are a team with clear tactical ideas.
The Austrian champions looked to overrun Inter in midfield and deny them time and space on the ball in buildup.
Early on, this approach looked to be working for Salzburg. The Nerazzurri struggled to find their rhythm and gave up the ball on a number of occasions.
But then Inzaghi’s tactical vision started to come into clearer focus.
Inter started to find a lot of direct passes into space.
Whether these were to the strikers, to the wingbacks, or midfielder Davide Frattesi, Inter were able to find players in the spaces that Salzburg were leaving at the back in order to cover the Nerazzurri with their aggressive press.
And this was ultimately down to the way that Inzaghi set his team up.
Inter were never caught overly shorthanded at the back. But at the same time, the numbers and positioning of players in midfield and attack allowed the Nerazzurri to move forward quickly.
Inzaghi showed that he now knows exactly what his players’ strengths were.
And he can set his team up to get the better of even a tactically savvy, physically relentless team like Salzburg.
