Despite defeating Juventus already this year, Inter are struggling for goals without their captain’s involvement.
Inter have found goals hard to come by this season, scoring just nine times in their opening seven Serie A matches. More often than not, if Mauro Icardi doesn’t find the net, the Nerazzurri don’t.
Of their nine goals to date, Icardi has scored six, while claiming an assist on a further two, leaving just one without his direct involvement. If Frank de Boer’s side want to be considered realistic contenders for the Champions League places, they need to shake their striking over-reliance on their captain.
When compared to fellow European hopefuls Napoli and Roma, Inter’s problems look more extreme. The Giallorossi share their goals well. Their 16 scored so far have been spread across seven players and with Edin Dzeko finally finding his feet in the Eternal City, they look increasingly threatening in attack.
Napoli, meanwhile, will face a difficult task in replacing long-term absentee Arkadiusz Milik. The Pole has helped the Partenopei to forget about Gonzalo Higuain this year, but his presence will undoubtedly be missed as Manolo Gabbiadini looks to deputise. Excluding Milik, Napoli have a number of players capable of contributing with goals. Marek Hamsik, Jose Callejon, and Dries Mertens are already off the mark for this season, with Lorenzo Insigne also adept.
Even the Nerazzurri’s city rivals AC Milan have a better distribution across the team, despite Carlos Bacca accounting for half of their 12 strikes this year. Aside from the clinical Colombian, the Rossoneri have five other players who have opened their accounts for the season.
Inter’s problem is by no means a new trend, either. During the 2015-16 campaign, Icardi was directly responsible for 20 of the Biscione’s 50 Serie A goals; scoring 16 and providing four assists.
Despite a number of high-profile arrivals of late, Inter are still worryingly dependent on Icardi to drag them out of holes. Remove Icardi and replace him with practically any other forward in not only Serie A, but the world, and Inter would likely be in trouble.
When compared with the leading goal-scorers from Europe’s top five leagues last season, only Luis Suarez (29.20 per cent) boasts a better conversion rate than Icardi’s 28.07pc. From just 57 shots, the Argentine managed 26 on target, of which 16 he scored.
If Inter are to compete for Italy’s top three spots, then they desperately need to have their goals shared around the squad. The summer arrivals of Ever Banega, Antonio Candreva, Joao Mario and Gabriel Barbosa will likely lead to more chances being created, but the others need to step up and make their presence felt in Icardi’s absence.
Stevan Jovetic has not hit the heights expected of him at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, nor has Eder since joining from Sampdoria in January. Gabigol is yet to be given an opportunity to live up to his name in Milan, but it is far from a foregone conclusion that he will.
Should Inter’s No.9 be struck with an injury, De Boer’s side would find themselves in real trouble. As things stand, there is nobody who can come close to replacing the 23-year-old in the squad.
