Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi has regularly turned to his bench in the second half, and according to Italian media this has played a key role in his team’s regular comeback results.
The impact of the coach’s substitutions is highlighted in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who note that no team has recovered more points from losing positions than the Nerazzurri.
Inzaghi and Venezia coach Paolo Zanetti have made the most substitutions of any coach across the first 25 matchdays of Serie A, each making 117.
This means that only twice has the Inter boss not used all five changes available to him, having made just four substitutions against Juventus in October and only three in the last Serie A match against Napoli.
Almost every match Inzaghi makes use of all five substitutions, while the changes begin on average in the 63rd minute.
Thirteen of the Nerazzurri’s seventy total goals this season have been scored by players who came off the bench, with the likes of Edin Dzeko and Alexis Sanchez leading the way among scoring substitutes with three each.
This means that 19% of Inter’s goals, or almost one in five, have come from the bench, and this has been important for the team’s ability to come back from losing or drawing positions.