Inter fans should not worry too much despite losing to Sassuolo in the opening round of the 2018/19 Serie A season and the Nerazzurri still have a squad capable of turning things around before long.
The 1-0 defeat on Sunday evening came against one of their bogey teams and coach Luciano Spalletti still needs to integrate all the new signings into the team as well as make sure that the players returning from the World Cup have had a proper rest.
This should take nothing away from Sassuolo and their performance under new coach Roberto De Zerbi. The Neroverdi displayed great confidence on the ball, forced the Biscione to sit back and defend, and they were able to stifle Inter’s attacks whenever they were out of possession.
Looking through the starting XI the Nerazzurri had on Sunday night, there are a couple of players that probably won’t be starting games as the season progresses.
Spalletti started with Danilo D’Ambrosio and Dalbert in the full-back positions, Matias Vecino as one of the midfielders in the defensive midfield duo, and new signings Kwadwo Asamoah and Lautaro Martinez played in roles that they are not familiar with.
It was surprising to see Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic brought into the starting line-up just a month after playing the World Cup Final while his compatriot Ivan Perisic came on at half-time to replace Dalbert. Maybe Brozovic should have been on the bench as well instead of being rushed back into action so soon.
Perhaps the season started too soon for some players but the team that started against Sassuolo looked like a group of XI footballers hastily put together instead of a cohesive unit. Spalletti should overhaul his team and assess which players suit his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation the best or if he should scrap it to accommodate as many of the best players as possible.
Right-back Sime Vrsaljko was on the bench but he did not play while the combative Radja Nainggolan is out injured so the coach still has some players to integrate into the team soon. Vrsaljko and the aforementioned Asamoah will probably push D’Ambrosio and Dalbert out of the starting XI while Nainggolan will probably be better suited to the attacking midfielder role more than Martinez.
Spalletti started with Miranda and new signing Stefan de Vrij in central defence but Milan Skriniar failed to play for a single minute. Miranda did give away a dubious penalty but his defending in general was erratic so the Inter tactician must decide if he will fit De Vrij, Skriniar, and the Brazilian veteran in the same defence or leave one of them out.
Martinez failed to impress on his competitive debut and struggled to combine with his compatriot Mauro Icardi but Matteo Politano and Keita Balde showed flashes of brilliance so it is possible that they might be relied upon to create play as the season progresses.
Although this team is not as star-studded as the 2009-10 squad that won the treble, Inter supporters can take confidence in the fact that they drew 1-1 to newly-promoted Bari in the first Serie A match of that campaign.
Despite losing in a dismal fashion in the opening round, the Nerazzurri still have plenty of quality in the squad to turn their form around but Spalletti must be able to utilise his players properly and build a team that plays to their strengths.
