Inter 4-2 Milan: Inter build up play down the left, then spread it to the right
Inter formation
This was a rather eventful Milan derby – not only were there six goals (including three penalties), but the result confirmed Juventus as Serie A champions.
The game was frantic, open and often lacking any kind of shape or structure, which was completely unexpected when the line-ups were announced – it set to be a battle of two narrow, functional 4-3-1-2s.
But thankfully, it wasn’t a boring, attritional contest, mainly thanks to the fact that Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni instead used a 4-4-1-1 system that had width and fluidity. Inter did what so many teams haven’t against Milan this year – they exploited the fact that Milan are narrow and static without the ball, and lack pace throughout the side. Stramaccioni was brave enough to concede the battle in midfield and didn’t try to win the numbers game there (Milan dominated this zone and therefore possession, with 56%). But Inter’s build-up play was superior, and they were by far the better side.
Inter’s 4-4-1-1 wasn’t a straight, boxy 4-4-1-1. It had many nuances – first, on the left Ricky Alvarez came inside into a number ten position, while Wesley Sneijder drifted from a number ten position to the left wing. Those two were essentially making the reverse movement, and although a couple of times they found themselves in the same position, they combined well.
On the other side, Javier Zanetti was the right-sided midfield player but played very narrow, more as a central midfielder, which allowed Maicon forward on the overlap. In the centre, Esteban Cambiasso sat deep in midfield, while Fredy Guarin shuttled forward to his left.
Inter build-up...
This meant that Alvarez, Sneijder and Guarin naturally formed a triangle to the left of the pitch, and were joined by Yuto Nagatomo, who could move forward without any opponent tracking his run. This ‘square’ (see right) formed the basis of almost all Inter’s attacks in the first half, and Milan generally only looked to close Inter down in this position with two players (highlighted) – right-back Ignazio Abate, then right-sided central midfielder Antonio Nocerino. Kevin-Prince Boateng didn’t get involved, while Mark van Bommel stayed goalside of Sneijder and prevented him turning, but if Sneijder played backwards passes or sideways balls out to the flank, van Bommel was powerless to stop him. Inter formed a 4 v 2 out on the left.
...then spread...
Milan’s narrow three-man midfield had to shuttle across to that side of the pitch. Not only did this not really help the situation in the right-back zone, it also left them exposed on the opposite side of the pitch. Therefore, Inter could work the ball out to the right with two quick passes (left) – the first to Zanetti, who came inside to offer a short option, then he’d turn the ball onto Maicon on the overlap.
This was a very simple move, but almost all Inter’s good moments (with the exception of chances created from set-pieces), came from build-up play on the left with the initial ‘square’, or after play was quickly transferred from that zone over to Maicon.
These moments included:
11 mins – ending with Nagatomo’s shot
15 mins – ending with Guarin’s shot
...then cover
17 mins – ending with Maicon cross
20 mins – ending with Sneijder shot, and a corner
26 mins – ending with Nagatomo getting to the byline to win a corner
32 mins – ending with Guatin crosseing and winning a corner
41 mins – ending with van Bommel fouling Sneijder
Considering Milan were so poor at defending set-pieces throughout the game, this continual pressure resulting in set-pieces was very important.
There was one final part of Inter’s approach – Boateng didn’t do much defending but when he saw Maicon moving forward, he’d move out to the left to try to exploit the space on that side of the pitch. However, either Zanetti or Cambiasso would move across to cover (right), and Inter weren’t vulnerable on the break.
What a massive difference from the first derby. One of the games of the season. Very open and totally belied Serie As reputation as slow and boring. With similar amounts (though admittedly not quite as much) at stake as the Manchester derby, it compares extremely favourably.
Cambiasso was particularly impressive shielding the midfield.
Also notable was how high Inter pressed..Sneijder and Milito were relentless!
Inter weren’t vulnerable on the break*
Otherwise, good stuff. Juventus deserve to win the league. Despite being far from all-conquering, going a whole season unbeaten is some feat. Pirlo’s been superb for them. I know he’d had his injury problems and probably needed a move to get back to form, but Milan really shot themselves in the foot letting him go for free.
Nice writeup, Inter really took over this game. If not for the false penalty by ibra the game would not even be close
i really like strammaccioni as a coach but i wanna see him field more young players, juan jesus in particular, in defence as well. wish him all the best at inter and hopefully they make cl, even though itll be difficult
Honestly hope Inter make the Champions League now. Despite a terrible first half of the season, they were never actually a bad team. In fact, with a couple smart signings, they can easily once again be one of the very best teams in the world. Their new coach seems smart and he knows how to use his players. Milito has once again regained his best form. I think the Champions League will be much more interesting with Juventus and Inter. Same in Spain, I don’t think Valencia and Malaga should be the teams in the CL. Valencia is always pretty good, but they are way too inconsistent, they are currently on a downward spiral (lost their coach, probably gonna lose Alba), and even at their best, they aren’t that great (although they seem to shine vs Barca…). Malaga is getting better and bet, but they still have a looooong way to go, and they probably need another year before they are ready to play in the Champions League. They need to get two a new center back pairing, and probably get new strikers (Van Nistelrooy isn’t going to contribute much, and Rondon still isn’t good enough). They do have a good spine though, and under Pellegrini, they might flourish soon. Honestly, I think Atletico Madrid (no, they don’t suck that much anymore!), who have been constantly improving this season, and Athletic Bilbao (if they can keep their players) are the best teams in Spain after FCB and RM. They would pose the biggest threats in the Champions League next season.
I feel Inter need a year off to sell some deadweight, Im sure they can make it back in just one year if they do business well.
Im looking forward to seeing how Juventus work out in the ucl. lets see how vidal marchisio deal with doing pirlos dirty work 3 times a week( although I can see new cm coming in. I dont know if they should get a striker or keep on with their committe.
Dortmund needs to make some noise this time, they were such a letdown.
Gladbach would be interesting but with no Reus, i wonder how they can cope.
In England I want to see arsenal (arsenal fan) and maybe spurs, they were a good against Italian teams, but only if they stick with their dynamic duo on the flanks
In spain I have to agree wtih you on Valencia, they just cant seem to grow as a club. bilbao and Athletico Madrid would be good candidates
Gladbach are alledgendly getting Xhaka, a perfectly good replacement for Reus in my view.
Going off topic a bit, but Xhaxa is more of defensive player, would most likely be a replacement for Neustädter who has gone to Schalke. Reus borders on a striker, so Gladbach would need a more offensive player to play in his place. I’ve heard Luuk de Jong at Twente be mentioned who could fill the void, but even so I can’t see them recreating the kind of counter-attacking football without their linchpin.
I’m sure they have a plan the counter attacking game is their signature, a pacy striker like abel hernandez perhaps. But then again it is the new germany they probably have kid in their ranks that will turn out better than reus
Would be interesting to see Inter in CL, but I’m also curious about seeing Udinese and Napoli on the competition again. Udinese are a very interesting side, and were out too soon this season, putting up a very good fight even with an unlucky draw against Arsenal during the playoffs. And we’ve seen what Napoli can do, I’m a fan of the players and the manager. It’ll also be great to see Juve again.
Agree about Dortmund, they had a tough group but were not even close to expectations. Bayern has been impressive this year but have been beaten again in Bundesliga, so high hopes for Dortmund once more.
I agree, they need to get rid of the old players, keep guys like Fredy Guarin & Alverez, and buy young players.
The fact that I’m struggling so much to describe this game says enough about it. I’m an Inter fan, and I know we outplayed Milan, but I honestly can’t tell if it was because of a resounding tactical victory for Stramaccioni or because Milan were just so blunt on the night.
The last derby was easy to analyse, heroic defending by Inter and a counter-attack that Milito finished. This one, it seems like the strategy was mainly to expose Abate.
In a sense, Milan had more clear-cut chances than Inter, Inter just did a better job creating and converting half-chances. Best example is Milito’s third goal, won by Pazzini heading the ball from a relatively tame angle into Nesta’s arm.
One thing that worked very well was, as the article emphasizes so clearly, is Inter’s use of the flanks. I’ve always considered the 4-3-1-2 to be resilient against 3 man midfields, regardless of how wide they play, because it simply overpowers them in the middle. In this game, however, Boateng was dragged out wide in a very awkward role, he neither helped Milan stop Inter’s wide play/take advantage of it, nor was he really available for possession. I get the feeling this bit was in fact a tactical victory for Stramaccioni, as Cambiasso was sitting very deep in KPB’s space while Maicon was almost inviting him to the flanks.
I want Stramaccioni to stay at Inter through the summer, and this game made my decision. I still don’t know how he is at handling minute by minute tactics (reacting to opposition’s change in shape and whatnot), but he can control the dressing room and he has a clear gameplan every game. He’s not like Inter’s last young charismatic coach who simply motivated the players and let them take charge (Leonardo), he actually seems to have lots of control over his squad. I guess I’ve decided his tactical victory in this game was over subtle details, and it came from a well worked out pregame preparation. This and his motivational ability have won me over.
Damn you Maicon, how did you shoot that well?!
Most importanlty Juventus are champions without any lost game!
Still 1 more game to go. I hope complacency doesn’t kick in.
Hahaha yes,Juve will lose their last game against Atalanta for sure…..
All they need is complacency.
You are funny
What complacency are you talkig about?At home,last match and after it they are celebrating with the trophy?What is more motivating than this?
Excellent piece! I’d love to read an overview of Inter’s incredibly strange season.
Anticlimax is the word for Inter. Almost always faltering at the crescendo-sque moment.
both teams need a win, but i never thought this game would be this open. nice tactic from stramaccioni by overloading the right side of milan defence and exploited the structural weakness of team with narrow formation. but unfortunately only 1 goal was the result of this tactic : when milito was held back from behind by abate. the other 5 goals are results of individual brilliance, set piece and 2 soft penalties for each team.
2 soft penalties for each team? The one given to Boateng was outrages, and the penalty on Nesta you might call it soft but according to the rules you cannot keep your arm so high up in the PK aerea, I’m sorry. Nesta is a very good defender but he does sometimes silly moves thinking the ref. will let it go. Maldini for example always used to keep his arms behind the back in the PK aerea even when he was jumping high. Abate was stupid, as always on the derby. What was he thinking pulling Milito with two hands from behind, and you call that a soft penalty, really? And I should add there was another one on Samuel not given to Inter.
Last night the only team “punished” by the ref. was Inter not Milan.
The ref. was pooor last night, nevertheless the derby was great.
“they exploited the fact that Milan are narrow and static without the ball, and lack pace throughout the side.”
Oh look, it’s Michael Cox back to his clueless conclusion of not having enough pace
oooh
Michael clueless is right,your cliche that most Italian teams,especially AC Milan are slow shows me that you don’t have a clue what you are talking about.This Milan team aren’t a slow team at all.
It’s almost as embarrassing as your cliche that Benzema is technically sub par.
Your preference and overrating of everything English shows what a xenophobic wanker you are.
I’d genuinely be interested why you think I have a bias towards English football? I mean, give me reasons. They’ll be bollocks, but I would be interested to discover quite why you’re so sad.
Come back to us when you’ve single handedly created one of the best football tactics sites on the web, and then maybe we’ll take your opinions seriously Mr failed troll/ bitter Milan fan?
you havent given milans formation as to why they wanted to exploit milans left side . freedy guarian is a very good player i didnt saw the game but after reading the formation and seeing him in the lineup no doubt the result was on his side . naturally i dont laud a player that much but at porto he was a unsung hero all the plaudits went to falcao and hulk but his running with the ball in the middle plus his eye for pass was the reason porto had success .
I can’t think of a current team with two excellent fullbacks as Nagatomo and Maicon.
Bayern Munchen?
Maicon have been a liability defensively the past 2 seasons, he scored a golaso this game but also made the mistake leading to 1st goal for milan
Alves – Abidal
Just a brilliant season, wouldn’t you say, ZM?
The champions in all three major leagues were teams that have not won in a very long time (Juventus, Real, and probably City).
What do you think has led to these upheavals?
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