The fast learning of Inter's youth saw off River Plate – Fluminense should be worried

New York Times

4 hours ago

Petar Sucic will learn a thing or two from Inter's experienced midfielders.
Having joined the Champions League finalists earlier this month, Sucic, 21, came off the bench to assist Francesco Pio Esposito, 19, for their team's first goal in a 2-0 victory against River Plate in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
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Susic's eyes closely tracked the movement of his centre-forwards when he came on the pitch, but before that, it's likely they were focused on Inter's midfield as they secured their place in the knockout stage.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Nicolo Barella aren't just a pleasure to watch, they can also be a helpful guide to Inter's youngsters when it comes to what they are doing with and without the ball.
Against River, it was their off-ball runs from midfield that grabbed the attention.
The midfield duo started ahead of Kristjan Asllani and constantly attacked the space, with Esposito and Lautaro Martinez up front complementing their movement.
Barella and Mkhitaryan were usually one step ahead of their markers, Rodrigo Aliendro and Matias Kranevitter.
Here, they are surging forward before Alessandro Bastoni picks his pass. Inter's left centre-back plays a long pass towards Denzel Dumfries and Barella's initial movement gives him the advantage over Aliendro.
When Dumfries wins the aerial duel and controls the ball, Barella continues his forward movement and the right wing-back finds his run. Meanwhile, on the other side, Kranevitter leaves Mkhitaryan, choosing instead to protect the central space…
… but the latter's run towards the back post becomes more dangerous when Barella progresses down the right wing. Kranevitter then moves to defend the back post, and Esposito realises that the space is in front of the defence — he smartly holds his run to offer Barella a cutback option.
The Italy midfielder then plays the ball to Esposito…
…. whose shot is blocked by the defence.
In another example, Kranevitter is away from Mkhitaryan and looking to contest the second ball as Yann Sommer goes direct to Inter's centre-forwards.
When Esposito heads the long ball towards the left side of Inter's attack, Mkhitaryan immediately pounces, with River's right-back, Gonzalo Montiel, hesitant because Federico Dimarco (out of shot) is in position to attack the space behind him.
Montiel and Kranevitter are left in no man's land, and Inter combine quickly to attack the space behind River's right-back.
Dimarco's threat down the left wing forces River's right centre-back, Quarta, to react, leaving his partner, Paulo Diaz, alone against Esposito. Mkhitaryan spots Esposito darting towards the near post with River's left centre-back moving with him, and attacks the space…
… but Dimarco's cross doesn't reach him.
As Sucic watched from the bench, Esposito's lessons were more hands-on. The forward, who only made his debut a couple of days ago against Urawa Red Diamonds, operated alongside Martinez, and there's probably no one better to learn Inter's centre-forward role from.
Just like Martinez has been doing throughout the years, Esposito made the right runs, held the ball up and linked the attack.
In this example, Bastoni chips the ball towards Esposito with Barella way behind his marker Aliendro.
As Esposito chests down the ball and dribbles inside to switch the play towards Dumfries, Barella dashes forward to start his third-man run…
… which allows him to breeze past Aliendro and attack the space behind River's left-back, Marcos Acuna.
Dumfries finds Barella's run…
… and the Italy midfielder returns the pass with a lovely backheel. Inter's combination down the right side takes out Aliendro and Acuna, which forces Kranevitter to defend the gap, leaving Mkhitaryan free in the process.
Dumfries then plays the cutback to Mkhitaryan…
… but River's centre-backs manage to block the midfielder's shot.
The runs from midfield were vital to Inter's victory which allowed them to top the group.
First, it was Mkhitaryan's off-ball run that led to Quarta's dismissal. Here, the Armenia midfielder dashes behind Giorgio Costantini, who replaced Kranevitter, as Dumfries plays the ball forward.
Quarta thinks he is safe because Esposito is dropping from an offside position in front of him…
… but the real threat is Mkhitaryan who is surging forward and capitalises on the centre-back's mistake.
Mkhitaryan beats Quarta to the ball and the defender's late tackle forces River to continue the match with 10 men.
Second, the runs from midfield led to Inter's first goal when Barella's replacement, Sucic, attacked the correct space.
In the build-up to the goal, River's midfield three are all over the place because they are trying to mark their counterparts while pressing Inter's right centre-back, Matteo Darmian. As a result, Costantini is left in between Sucic and Mkhitaryan, and Darmian finds the latter.
River's midfielders try to organise themselves as Mkhitaryan plays the ball wide to Carlos Augusto…
… but the Armenian's movement drags Costantini wide and creates a gap, which Sucic attacks as Augusto plays the ball to Asllani.
Asllani then finds Sucic between the lines…
… and the Croatia midfielder plays the ball to Esposito…
… who dribbles past the onrushing defender and slots it into the bottom corner.
Esposito's brilliant performance and Sucic's impressive cameo showed that they have an understanding of how Inter operate in possession of the ball. They will continue watching and learning, like Asllani, who was previously the understudy to Marcelo Brozovic and Hakan Calhanoglu.
Considering Inter's injuries during the Club World Cup, these strong performances from their younger generation are promising. More importantly, it's a step towards the side's rejuvenation this season.
Inter's youngsters should keep their eyes open because the chances are coming.
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