Inter Milan are getting a big impact from the bench this season, with nearly a third of the team’s goals coming from substitutes.
Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, highlight the role that substitutes have played in powering the Nerazzurri’s attack.
One factor in Inter’s start to the season that has received a lot of attention has been the depth of the Nerazzurri’s squad.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has not been shy about rotating the team from match to match.
This has enabled the coach to rest some key players at times. And it has also meant that he has a fairly versatile array of options in different positions, in terms of characteristics.
And beyond the rotation from match to match, there is also the changes that the coach can make after a match has already started.
Inzaghi has always been a coach who likes to make full use of his bench.
And that trend has certainly continued this season.
All over the pitch, the 47-year-old has chopped and changed during matches whenever he’s felt a change was necessary.
Substitutes Playing A Key Role For Inter
Sometimes Inzaghi likes to remove players on a booking in order to lessen the risk of a red card for two yellows.
And other times, the coach has gone to his bench to add fresh legs.
Particularly on the flanks, Inzaghi has used substitutions as a source of constant energy in wingback positions.
But there has also been the matter of goals.
Striker and captain Lautaro Martinez has proven even more potent as a weapon off the bench than as a starter.
That is saying something, considering the Argentine has scored nine goals as a starter.
But Martinez showed against Red Bull Salzburg that even when he doesn’t start, he can be deployed as a weapon in the second half of a match.
And there have also been some important assists from substitute.
Denzel Dumfries laid on an assist for Marcus Thuram against Torino just minutes after coming on, for example.
