Team Focus: Shape-Shifters Inter Not Pretty but Efficient and Improving
At the end of the `70s and through the `80s, Inter’s badge featured a Biscione: the snake that has been a symbol of the city of Milan ever since the House of Visconti rose to prominence in the Middle Ages. Under Roberto Mancini, a more appropriate spirit animal would be the chameleon. In 15 games this season, he has never named the same team. Inter are shape-shifters. They have appeared in five different formations. Like the chameleon they have adapted to the environment in which they find themselves. Mirroring their opponents has become a regular occurrence.
Accused of not being in possession of one, Inter’s identity is to have no identity at least when it comes to their modus operandi. In some quarters, this amorphousness is considered a negative. It can generate confusion. Like against Fiorentina for instance. In others, they appreciate the versatility it demonstrates. Imagine what it does for your self-esteem when you beat an opponent at their own game. Mancini has used 22 different players this season. Seventeen of them have made eight or more appearances. No one has explored their squad as widely.
Usually we see this in teams that are engaged on three fronts and need to rest and rotate. But Inter only have Serie A to concentrate on and are yet to play in the Coppa Italia. It underlines the extent of Mancini’s experimentation and resourcefulness. From a morale standpoint everyone feels useful and involved, which is no small feat as without European football it’s not like there are many games to go round either.
The flip-side to this as even Inter’s captain and last season’s Capocannoniere Mauro Icardi has discovered is that no one is indispensable. Big summer signing Ivan Perisic has also found himself on the bench three times in the last four games. This might be a misapprehension but it would appear to indicate a greater than expected strength in depth at Inter. They are less dependent on one individual than their rivals.
Napoli’s chances are believed to be tied up in Gonzalo Higuain. The signing of Nikola Kalinic, a striker who is as durable as he is prolific, has elevated Fiorentina to title contenders and Juventus are back in the hunt for the Scudetto after the emergence of a go-to match winner in Paulo Dybala. We all know Icardi can be that guy for Inter and how it’s in their interests to tap back into and make the most of his talent in front of goal. But in the meantime Inter are finding other ways to win games.
Eleven different players have made it onto the scoresheet. We might have a situation like in Antonio Conte’s first season with Juventus when the goals were shared around and the top scorer [Alessandro Matri] barely broke double figures [12]. Only twice has a player scored in back-to-back appearances and both instances bookend Inter’s season so far: Stevan Jovetic in the first two, Adem Ljajic in the last two.
And this again plays into the discussion about Inter’s identity. Who do you associate them with? Who are they personified by? At various stages they have been Jovetic’s Inter, Felipe Melo’s Inter, then Gary Medel’s Inter and now Ljajic’s Inter. It’s like pinning jelly to a wall. If, as we already established, Inter would be a chameleon in today’s natural world, perhaps in classical mythology they would be a Hydra, the many-headed serpent. Lob one off and another appears.
Thrown into stark relief by the beauty of Napoli and Fiorentina this season and cast as Serie A’s beast, Inter believe their reputation isn’t entirely a fair one. They’ve been stereotyped as nasty and it doesn’t really help when a couple of your midfielders share the nickname Pitbull. Melo in particular has a lot to answer for here with his comments about needing to kick Balotelli and football being a contact sport. If you don’t like it, take up tennis instead. But Inter have made the fewest fouls in Serie A [just 12.5 per game] and Mancini doesn’t believe all five red cards they have received have been justified.
Eight 1-0s have led to comparisons with Trapattoni’s teams, the boring boring Arsenal of George Graham and Fabio Capello’s Milan vintage of `93-94. Sky Italia commentator Fabio Caressa joked that Inter are the ugly guy propping up a bar in the club who somehow always manages to get laid. They’ve not been easy on the eye and on occasion they’ve been lucky too.
Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, who boasts the highest shot-to-save percentage in Serie A to take his place in the WhoScored team of the season, ensured wins didn’t revert into draws against Bologna, Roma and Torino. Once in front, Inter have never dropped points this season. Their centre-backs Miranda and Jeison Murillo have, in general, been the best in Serie A. The latter is the Nerazzuri's highest rated player (7.30). If Inter have regressed in terms of the threat they carry in attack with respect to last season, it’s in defence where the biggest improvement has been felt. Theirs is the meanest around. Inter have kept 10 clean sheets.
Only four of their players have clocked up 1000 minutes or more this season, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are Handanovic, Murillo, Miranda and Medel, who has deputised for them at the back when one or the other has been suspended. If there really is an exception to the no-indispensables rule, it is this core here. Considering how shambolic Inter were at the back these past five years, this is no small achievement. They can now nick games or hang in and give themselves a chances in ones that not so long ago got beyond them.
Solid foundations have been laid and Mancini is now building on them. The ugly duckling is turning into a swan. Ever since the Frosinone game, Inter have performed better and better. The Napoli defeat was the kind after which both teams felt they can win the title and bouncing back from it immediately against Genoa demonstrated character. This is where a major transformation is discernible too: the change Mancini has affected in mentality. A team that was fragile and down on its luck, whose players’ heads dropped at the first sign of trouble is now resilient, confident and doesn’t know when it is beaten.
Inter have been top in nine of the 15 rounds of the campionato so far. The sceptics are dwindling. Believers are on the rise. One observation this season has been: how can Napoli and Fiorentina play better? Can they keep this up? Another has been: if this is Inter playing badly just imagine what will happen when they start playing well. They have the greatest margin of improvement and Mancini deserves credit for keeping them competitive while they’re figuring it out. He’s a tightrope juggler but Inter are no longer a circus act. They should be taken very seriously indeed.
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