Inter, Inzaghi and the typical formation: the most used players and the turnover

Eleven Inter players have already played over 1,100 minutes at the start of the season: every Nerazzurri fan can try to guess them by closing their eyes and, in all likelihood, they’ll get at least ten right. It is a symptom of how much Simone Inzaghi, between choices and needs, has identified his typical formation. And there could be a doubt only because in central defense Stefan De Vrij and Francesco Acerbi are alternating between one game and another. This is not a surprise in itself, but the scenario acquires value since at the beginning of the season the Inter set-up was decidedly more fluid.

I choose you

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Obviously we are not saying that there are only 11 players for the coach – all of them are fundamental especially with five substitutions available and everyone needs rest from time to time – but it is clear which starting lineup has given more certainties to those on the bench. Then André Onana between the posts behind the usual defensive trio, Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco on the wingers, Nicolò Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as midfielders with Hakan Calhanoglu in directing and finally the attacking pair formed by Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez.

Necessity and virtue

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One detail should be underlined: at the beginning of August these would not have been the names guessed by the fans, because at least four have changed in the first few months. Two due to injury: the muscles of Marcelo Brozovic and Romelu Lukaku allowed Mkhitaryan and Dzeko to pick up the pace, raise the engine revs and prevail from match to match. It will be difficult for Inzaghi to keep both on the bench once the injured players have fully recovered. Different instead the speech on Samir Handanovic and Robin Gosens, who with not always impeccable performances were ousted by two teammates in evident ascent as Onana and Dimarco: today few have doubts about who are the starters in goal and on the left.

Route change

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If Inzaghi has therefore managed to put the train back on the right track after a September at risk of derailment, it is therefore also thanks to the field choices, but the fact that the coach’s approach with the starting lineups has changed over the weeks. Less experiments, more certainties. The players must get to know each other thoroughly to make the most of it, oil the mechanisms and refine the understanding to enhance the collective. With a schedule that is never so busy, one certainly cannot dodge a minimum of turnover, but giving rest to one or two players every day is not like arriving a few hours before the match with systematic doubts in several departments. Someone paid with their playing time, of course. Danilo D’Ambrosio was seeing very little of the field before the injury compared to a more generous start and the same goes for Roberto Gagliardini and Gosens. Raoul Bellanova is perhaps the only exception with a slightly growing employment, while Kristjan Asllani had some chances as a starter with Brozovic’s injury and then constant benches. Matteo Darmian has played more, but since the beginning of October he has been in the starting lineup a couple of times. Overall, excluding the return with Bayern Munich (mass turnover), these last players have been launched by Inzaghi very few times since the beginning. It happened against Sassuolo and Fiorentina in the last 40 days, for the rest, space for the 11 most immature starters. And so Inter returned to racing.