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Inter the Stratosphere – Spalletti strikes a keen balance in Milan

Luciano Spalletti’s appointment at Inter Milan raised several eyebrows around Italy, his second spell at Roma was marginally successful, with the level of football being a real question mark. He arrived in Milan with the job of completely resetting a side that was lacking an identity for a long time, many would say since Jose Mourinho left for Real Madrid.

Spalletti brought the success the Chinese owners demanded last season with a last day victory over Lazio to secure Champions League football. That European football allowed the club to recruit several star performers to supplement an already solid squad, with Stefan de Vrij, Radja Nainggolan and Sime Vrsaljko all joining the squad. Those additions have been important in Inter rising to second in the table, at the time of writing, and being really competitive in a difficult Champions League group, with Barcelona, Tottenham and PSV.

Mauro Icardi, a man who hadn’t played in the Champions League until this season, has gone from strength to strength this season. His 6 goals in 8 games included a last minute winner in the Milan derby and crucial goals at crucial points so far. His combination play has been a point of disagreement between the Inter fans and the management, with many saying he is not able to contribute enough to the overall play of the side but Spalletti has made a point on several occasions that Icardi is the finisher in the team, his role is not to drop into the midfield and press but to finish chances.

Ivan Perisic, Keita Balde Diao and Mattea Politano have all proven to be potent attacking threats for this Inter Milan side, with Perisic looking to follow up an unprecedented summer of success with Croatia at the World Cup and Politano trying to follow a pretty successful season at Sassuolo last time around. These players are crucial, along with Icardi, Nainggolan and others, to Inter making the most of their chances this year, with Spalletti creating a solid foundation at the back, where Miranda, de Vrij and Samir Handanovic are quality experienced players.

All of these factors together, put in place by a shrewd operator in Luciano Spalletti and backed by affluent owners makes Inter Milan a very enticing opportunity for a push for honours this year, although a cup win is far more likely than challenging the ever improving Juventus side.

Featured Image created by: Charlie Pumfrey

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