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The figures that condemn De Boer: Inter concede almost two goals per game
Calciomercato.com has exclusively revealed that Fabio Capello is being considered as a possible replacement for the Dutch boss, should he fail to snatch a convincing result against Juventus next Sunday.
Inter have four points in three Serie A games and their only victory this season so far came courtesy of a last-minute brace scored by Mauro Icardi to help them beating newly promoted side Pescara last week-end.
De Boer’s idea of football does not seem quite in line with the Serie A philosophy. If it’s true that it is defence that win leagues in Italy, than Inter fans should be quite worried now. Inter have yet to keep one single clean sheet in official games so far. Last season they had been the clean sheet king of Europe until December.
The nerazzurri have allowed four goals in three Serie A games, an average of 1.33 per game which becomes 1.5 if we also consider yesterday’s Be’er Sheva clash. Overall, Inter have conceded six goals in four official games this season, just as much as their next opponents Juventus have scored so far and if it wasn’t for Samir Handanovic last week-end the count would have been much worse.
Inter’s ball possession has also proved to be pretty sterile too. Despite a 65% average ball possession in Serie A combined with an 85.8% passing accuracy, Inter could only score three goals in all competitions until now, all of them came courtesy of Mauro Icardi.
De Boer wants to impose a sort of Guaridola’s style tiki-taka with lot of ball possession, short passes and just few long passes (the 8% only so far). Trouble is, his idea of football doesn’t quite match with the players at his disposal. Ever Banega is the only quality midfielder in the squad. Don’t get me wrong. Marcelo Brozovic and Joao Mario are not lacking of quality either, but they probably give their best when counter-attacking rather than when they build the action from the back. Neither Banega can do that as he is usually (rightly) deployed as attacking midfielder in a position that saw him shining at Sevilla over the last two seasons.
The only incontrovertible fact is that Inter concede far too many goals, whist even if De Boer’s attacking philosophy has to be appreciated because, theoretically, it should bring more fantasy and unpredictability in Serie A, the Dutch boss has to find a way to give the team more balance and help his lads to capitalize their ball possession.
Changing the team'sphilosophy and approach in a few weeks only can be a very hard task. The Dutchman insists that he still needs time, it remains to be seen how long Suning are willing to wait for.
Lorenzo Bettoni @lorebetto
