Inter are DOMINATING Serie A This Season
Between 2006 and 2010 Inter saw massive successes under Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho, winning the league five straight seasons, crowning their winning spell with a Champions League victory in 2010.
Then Mourinho left and it would take 13 years before Inter lift the Scudetto again, that time under Antonio Conte. Who promptly left. As he tends to do.
Enter Simone Inzaghi. The less successful brother to Filippo, the man who was born offside, at least as a player. As a manager he’s starting to come into his own. Starting out at Lazio where he won two Supercoppa Italia and earned the capital team their first Champions League qualification in 15 years by finishing fourth in 2020. That’s when he was brought to Inter. He managed to get them third his first year and second last year.
This season though, Inter look like the favourites to win it all.
In their first 14 games they’ve only lost one and drawn two. Even more impressive is that not only have they scored the most goals, they’ve also conceded the fewest, bringing their goal difference to +26, double that of Juventus in second.
| # | Team | Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inter Milan | 14 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 7 | 26 | 35 |
| 2 | Juventus | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 9 | 13 | 33 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 29 |
| 4 | Roma | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 24 |
| 5 | Napoli | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 17 | 9 | 24 |
Exodus in the summer
It hasn’t been a straightforward season for the Milan club. This summer they lost many of their most important players. Romelu Lukaku’s loan from Chelsea ended, Onana moved to Manchester United, Brozovic to Saudi Arabia and Milan Skriniar and Edin Dzeko left at the end of their contracts. Handanovic retired after more than 10 years at the club and while he hasn’t been the starting GK for a few years he was still an important presence in the dressing room and did start 16 games last season.
Obviously, replacing these players that had been a big part of the club getting second place in the league last season was a big task but Inter played it smart rather than safe. Despite having received €130m in transfer fees they spent only €60 million, with the bulk of that going to the signing of Benjamin Pavard for €30m.
Their starting GK, Yann Sommer came in for just €6.75m, Lukaku's replacement Marcus Thuram came in on a free transfer and Milan Skriniar was replaced by Inzaghis former player, Lazio’s Francesco Acerbi for just €4 million.
This year Mkhtarian has been called upon in centre mid to fill out where Brozovic used to play, alongside Hakan Calhanouglu and Niccolo Barella.
Balanced Formation
While Inter was a very competent side offensively last season, having scored second most in the league, behind winners Napoli, defensively they were more middle of the pack.
Having lost both their starting centre back as well as the more defensive centre mid option in Skriniar and Brozovic, this looked like a problem that could get worse.
But with this being Inzaghi’s third season at the club he’s sought out and fixed the issues that sometimes affected the team in the past two seasons. Additionally the squad has been build around Inzaghi’s ideas and it shows. He’s playing a similar system to the one he played at Lazio and since he knew Acerbi could do the job he wants from his centre backs he was brought in.
Consistency in the League
Something that plagued Inter last season was their inability to win against the smaller teams in the league, for example failing to win against bottom of the table Sampdoria and losing to relegated Spezia. Although they did record their only loss this season to middle of the table Sassuolo, that tendency seems to have almost evaporated this season.
Final Thoughts
Inter’s start to the season is very impressive. They’ve addressed the issues that plagued them last season. The defence, despite losing two of its most important components in Skriniar and Brozovic, has gotten better and Inter have only conceded seven goals all season. They’re also brushing off the teams lower in the league with ease.
Despite that their offense hasn’t suffered, in fact they’re score even more than they did last season. Juventus are also strong this season, but if Inter can stay clear of any major injury crisis they just might clinch the Scudetto.
Football Stories Like This, Twice a Week
Join thousands of subscribers getting The Touchline - a free, twice weekly newsletter with analysis, stories and interviews from the world of football.
