Inter are already starting to show once again that they can be direct in attack and hit opposition defenses in behind with the return of striker Romelu Lukaku.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who highlight the stylistic shift in the team’s attacking plan with the Belgian’s characteristics once again there to be relied upon.
Last season, in the absence of Lukaku, Inter switched up from the very direct counterattacking style of play that they’d preferred to employ under Antonio Conte to a patient possession-based approach under Conte’s successor Simone Inzaghi.
Aside from the differing philosophies of the two coaches, the strikers that each had available at their disposals had also conditioned these differences in tactics.
Conte had always built around Lukaku’s ability to push and get in behind opposition defenses, whilst Inzaghi used the physical and technical qualities of Edin Dzeko to bring the entire team up the pitch methodically to break down defenses.
Now, with Lukaku back and having supplanted Dzeko as the starting striker alongside Lautaro Martinez, there are already signs that Inzaghi will alter his approach to get the best out of the Belgian’s capacity to get right in behind opposition defenses.