Inter Emerge From The Dark Clouds

 Finally found some time to write this. Inter fans all over the world had only the space of a week to properly enjoy winning the Scudetto before the dark clouds descended upon us. Antonio Conte left, then came news that we were looking to capitalise on Achraf Hakimi because our owners are broke and we did, then the one we did not expect at all, the sale of Romelu Lukaku despite his proclamations that he would stay. The final bad news (I hope) came days before the first game when it was confirmed that Inter legend and Technical Manager, Gabriele Oriali has left the club too. A lot of negativity amongst the fans towards the owners for the situation we find ourselves in leading to the start of our Serie A defence.

Business As Usual

What we saw on the pitch last night was anything but negative. It was a very positive display by the team. The players showed a lot of hunger to press from the front, we dominated possession, there was an intensity in our play and some very good off-the-ball movement. For most parts, it was like business as usual under Antonio Conte. Conte for most parts played attacking football but chose to sit back and counter-attack when it came to crunch time. It remains to be seen what we do under Simone Inzaghi if we get there.

The Difference

The difference was in the formation, it was not a straight 3-5-2 like under Conte, this was 3-5-1-1. It could be an enforced change in tactic due to the absence of Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez and that is something we will find out in the coming weeks.

Dzeko

We missed the raw power and pace of Romelu Lukaku, his replacement, Edin Dzeko provided something different. He held the ball very well, had some neat touches on the ball, dropped back at times and was an out and out striker in other times. He was never in one fixed position in the game and used his experience very well. It was wonderful to see the link-up play with the players around him, midfielders coming from deep to join the attack which resulted in one goal thanks to his lay-off. He deserved the goal he finally scored after hitting the bar.

Calhanoglu

Another debutant who was impressive was Hakan Calhanoglu. We know that he has been doing well across town at Milan for at least one and a half season but to see him play for us, is something else. He was a delight with his dangerous set-pieces deliveries which led to the opening goal. He scored a great second goal and nearly scored again if not for Ivan Perisic getting caught offside in the build-up. A very promising debut alongside two mainstays in our midfield, Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic.

VIDAL!

Arturo Vidal came off the bench and for once looked like the Vidal of Juventus and Bayern Munich. He didn’t do anything silly, scored our third goal and assisted our fourth. If he keeps up this level of performance, we have a good player on our hands, one with experience and a winning mentality.

Areas For Improvement

I was happy to see Stefano Sensi in the line-up but I expected more from him. Defensively, we weren’t really troubled but there were moments where I felt we were a little loose at the back and that has to improve. We are lacking pace in this team as well without Lukaku and Hakimi. I hope Denzel Dumfries can settle in fast and we can see what he is all about. Let’s also see who is the other striker we sign.