Inter, too many goals conceded in a friendly: alarm for Inzaghi

The heavy knockout against Villarreal raises the alarm: no clean sheet in the summer tests and only a success against Lugano. The coach has yet to find the square

Less than a week before the debut in the league, Inzaghi’s new Inter turns out to be fragile. The results of the five tests carried out say so, in which the Nerazzurri have collected only one success without ever being able to keep a clean sheet. But above all the ten goals conceded say so, that is to say eight more than last summer despite a virtually unchanged defense. If the figure still does not justify particular alarmism, because it is still summer friendlies, Inzaghi cannot sleep peacefully thinking about the trip to Lecce scheduled in just six days. Also because the defensive fragility does not seem exclusively a problem of the back pack, but of a general structure that generates imbalances even in midfield. The solution must be found quickly to avoid false starts in the league.

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COLLECTIVE FALLS

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The four goals scored by Villarreal on Saturday night must be carefully examined to understand how to correct the various flaws that emerged in the non-possession phase. In Pescara it became clear that the goals against Lugano, Monaco, Lens and Lyon were not only the result of chance or individual errors. It is not a question of pointing the finger at the defense and not even at Handanovic, albeit an accomplice above all on the third goal of the Spaniards. The dynamics of the goals conceded on Saturday evening involve the whole troop, from the midfield to the outside, so much so that (as happened at times also against Monaco and Lyon) the Nerazzurri have faltered at almost every opponent’s lunge attempt. The necessary pressure was lost in the last 15 meters, as well as lack of clarity in the setting phase, not to mention the automatisms and the distances between the departments systematically put in crisis by the opposing restarts. The lack of brilliance of a still uncertain De Vrij and of a still packed Bastoni did the rest, to which was added the bad evening of Asllani.

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WANTED BALANCE

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Inzaghi’s goal from the first day of preparation was to give an even more offensive imprint to the team, well aware of the risk of finding themselves with a blanket that is too short. This is why, after all, the difficulties revealed by Inter in the five tests carried out so far had already been taken into account. What the coach perhaps had not foreseen was the ease with which the opponents manage to send the defense into a tailspin, both in the central streets and in the side lanes. The midfield fails to make a filter and the distances between the departments are often a wedding invitation for the raids of the rival on duty. If the mitigation of a preparation started two weeks later could be worth against the French, there are no plausible justifications for the skids staged against Villarreal, which have the exact same workload on their legs as the Nerazzurri. Obviously, the assimilation of the new mechanisms and the harmony on the pitch still need time, which Inter does not have. The six days of work that remain before the curtain rises on the season are not many, but they become essential to correct the system defects highlighted so far. Inzaghi knows this and now he needs to find the right team, even at the cost of intensifying his work in the field with particular attention to the tactical aspect. Because in a few days it will get serious and inevitably it will be necessary to reverse course.

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