With the Dutchman injured, two games and two heavy defeats between the derby and Atletico Madrid: the alternatives don’t work as they should, so Chivu finds himself with a big problem in the right lane
Two games without Dumfries, two heavy defeats and no profile capable of adequately replacing the Nerazzurri Flying Dutchman. It is now clear that Inter have a significant problem on the right lane, because without Dumfries the team changes evidently: less push, less offensive contribution, less attention behind. The knockouts against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and Milan in Serie A have revealed the obvious problems of Chivu’s team, which is never inferior to the opponent in terms of play, construction and scoring opportunities created, but at the first opportunities it takes decisive hits which then end up costing them a lot. In this sense, the last two matches are eloquent: “Atletico Madrid plays football similar to that of Milan – Nerazzurri president Beppe Marotta had rightly recognized shortly before the start of the Wanda Metropolitano -, let’s hope that the final result is not the same”. And if the result in terms of scores was not the same (1-0 Milan, 2-1 Atletico), the defeat was the same. Born – also – due to the absence of Dumfries, too decisive for Inter.
Dumfries or nothing
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Dumfries’ role probably represents the greatest limitation of the Nerazzurri squad. Because if on the one hand it is positive to see first-hand the fruits of the Dutchman’s constant growth, on the other hand the lack of alternatives on the right emerges in a squad that offers reliable “doubles” in (almost) all the other departments: Josep Martinez is going through a delicate period but in the few opportunities he has had he has shown that he can replace Sommer in a great way; Bisseck can alternate both on the centre-right with Akanji and in the middle with Acerbi and De Vrij; Carlos Augusto is an excellent alter ego of Bastoni and Dimarco depending on the needs and so on with the various Sucic, Zielinski, Bonny, Pio Esposito. The real big void is on the right. There, if the starter is missing, Inter will be in difficulty.
flop alternatives
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Against Milan and Atletico Madrid, orphaned by Dumfries, Chivu chose to propose Carlos Augusto in the unprecedented role of right winger. The Brazilian was born as a full-range left-footed winger and in recent seasons in Dimarco’s absence he has never made us regret it. Then, starting last year, the former Monza player also passed the arm-in-arm experiment in place of Bastoni. Punctuality and reliability. So the Nerazzurri coach also tried Carlos on the right, but the result was not as positive as in the other cases. The joker, with his foot inverted, understandably struggled more than usual, coming back too often on the left foot both in the derby and in the Champions League and thus making himself largely predictable. But above all the “promotion” of Carlos Augusto also on the right has the flavor of yet another failure for Luis Henrique. The former OM, who arrived in the summer for a total sum of around 25 million, never really made an impact. And at this point it is turning into a mysterious object: what is Luis Henrique? An attacking winger, full-back or a full-back? In his career he has held every role on the right, yet today it is not easy to understand which one is most congenial to him. So much so that Chivu preferred to move a left-footed player to the right rather than aim for him. The last option leads to the name of Matteo Darmian, who however has lost the reliability that has always characterized him due to a physical problem. The certainty, however, remains one: without Dumfries, a chasm opens up on the right for Inter.
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