Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has faced criticism for his performance in Saturday’s Serie A draw between Genoa and Inter Milan.
As L’Interista highlights, the player ratings for the match across Italian media gave the Turkish international mediocre scores, highlighting his lack of creative influence.
Calhanoglu started in his usual role at the base of midfield against Genoa on Saturday.
The former AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen had a tough task trying to control the tempo against Genoa.
The Rossoblu aimed to put a lot of pressure on the Inter midfielder. Their aim was clear – to prevent Calhanoglu from getting time and space on the ball to pick out passes.
Throughout the season so far, the 29-year-old passing has been a key creative engine for Inter.
He has shown the ability to quickly recognize the opportunity to play a dangerous pass. These have frequently opened up opposition defenses.
But Genoa had great determination to stop the Turk.
Hakan Calhanoglu Criticized For Lack Of Creative Influence In Genoa Vs Inter Clash
In the view of Italian media, Genoa were largely successful in their efforts.
The Ligurian teams made sure there were always a couple players keeping an eye on the Inter regista when he got on the ball.
As a result, Calhanoglu’s passing never really had the incisive influence that it often does.
The 29-year-old rarely cut through the Genoa defensive lines.
Calhanoglu did try to get forward from his usual position on a few occasions. But this had little impact, as he was similarly muted in the final third.
It was not exactly a poor performance from the Turkish international.
Calhanoglu did do his defensive duty throughout the evening.
But it was a very quiet one in a match where Inter required their regista to provide more creativity when he got on the ball.
