Inter Milan Coach Wins Serie A Clash Udinese With Decisive Tactical Change – Ex Arsenal Forward In Attacking Midfield | OneFootball

Simone Inzaghi made a bold tactical change that paid dividends when Plan A wasn’t working for Inter Milan against Udinese.

Today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, laud the Nerazzurri coach for switching to a more attacking 3-4-1-2 formation to take three points from Friuli.

Inter were not putting in a bad performance by any means before Inzaghi decided to switch things up towards the end of the second half yesterday.

The Nerazzurri were controlling possession. Moreover, they were carving out chances and half-chances at a consistent rate.

And at the other end, Udinese mustered very little.

A somewhat fluke-y opener and two or three potentially dangerous counterattacking situations were all that the Nerazzurri allowed the Friulani.

But in spite of all that, Inter found themselves 1-1.

The Nerazzurri had only managed to score once, from the penalty spot, to equalize at the start of the second half.

The risk was very much that Inter would drop points for the second time in three matches to slow down the momentum of their title charge.

Simone Inzaghi Rewarded For Tactical Change In Inter Win Vs Udinese

But Inzaghi decided to act decisively.

The Inter coach made quite an eye-catching substitution.

Former Arsenal and Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez came onto the pitch. But instead of replacing one of the strikers, the veteran Chilean international took the place of Hakan Calhanoglu.

Calhanoglu had up to that point been the deepest-lying midfielder.

That left Nicolo Barella and Davide Frattesi as the two players to patrol the central areas.

Meanwhile, Sanchez played in midfield, providing an option in behind the strikers.

It was a risky change by Inzaghi. But it proved to be telling.

The effort of defending all match was by that point starting to really show in the legs of the Udinese players.

And Sanchez gave Inter a reference point to hold onto the ball in front of the Friulani defense.

In the end, the result was that the pressure finally caused that defense to buckle in stoppage time.