A comeback victory arrives for Cristian Chivu‘s Inter, winning 1-2 after playing a good match, here are the player ratings, away against Monaco. It was a friendly match, useful for both teams only to test their physical and athletic condition ahead of the restart of the leagues, which will take place this August.

Below, as always, we offer you some observations and insights that you might have missed while watching this friendly match Monaco-Inter for the pre-season; we list five of them.

  1. Monaco is ahead of Inter in summer preparation. The Nerazzurri played a long Club World Cup, which postponed their holidays and the start of training camp, while the French did not. For the Monaco club, yesterday’s match was actually their eighth pre-season friendly, while for Inter it was only the second. Yet, physically, despite being outnumbered, Inter looked quite good (except for some players who were inevitably behind). In fact, data in hand, Inter’s gameplay production increased towards the end of the match, whereas last season there were complaints about late-game drop-offs. This could also be due to the fact that the transfer market has provided younger and fresher alternatives.
  2. Chivu once again shows he knows how to read matches well and can even make “drastic” changes during the game, as in the famous Parma-Inter 2-2 that cost Inzaghi’s Inter two precious points in the Scudetto race. Yesterday, the switch to a 4-3-2 allowed the two strikers to stay on and gave more balance, and Inter seemed better. Will he always be this good at reading the moments?
  3. Barella is more of a raider, but misses a few too many goals. Inter actually seemed more balanced when the Sardinian moved into the center of the pitch to touch many balls and manage the passing game. This could perhaps also be a sign of general rehearsals to launch Frattesi in Chivu’s new formation.
  4. There were also some signs of continuity with the Club World Cup last June. There was central play with many combinations even among the close attackers, without necessarily looking for the outlet on the wings. In this sense, it could therefore be useful to have quality in the attacking midfield to also find immediate verticality as in Lautaro’s goal, which came from four quick touches in succession. Also important was the high aggression seen in Bonny’s goal.
  5. Inevitably, there are also things to fix that represent the other side of the coin: playing out from the back was a bit cumbersome, especially under their offensive pressing. Their high pressing, however, left huge open spaces, and in this sense, faster defenders would certainly help, but this is really a matter of finding the right balance. It’s a topic that in some ways recalls the start of Conte’s season. On set pieces, the zonal marking led Dimarco to mark Zakaria, who is much taller, and this aspect is not entirely convincing.