Luciano Spalletti's Inter

[cez]

First of all hello to you all, been here for a while now but dont think i've given a proper introduction before, although I dont like to write too much so I'll get right into the topic

I'm a huge football and Inter Milan fan playing FM/early cm's fan for around 15 years now. Each game I've had some up and downs, but what every version had in common for me was that I had to have a successful Inter. FM18 is no different, however since Inter this season seams like they can finally make an impact and they actually play with some clear ideas in mind I thought I should try to replicate Spalletti's ideas into the game...

Before I get into details I'd like to mention that my understanding of the ME and the tactical side of things is still a little unclear for me so If what I say is completely nonsense please don't hesitate to correct me

 

Inter Characteristics

Having watched every single Inter's game this season I think I know how they play and I can more or less agree with these screenshots: 

Pretty much self-explanatory really, Inter uses a high press (low/medium defensive block) 4231 shape most of the games using this lineup: Handanovic - D'Ambrosio Skriniar Miranda Nagatomo - Gagliardini Vecino - Candreva Valero Perisic - Icardi.

Inter also plays short passing, possession football stretching the play out wide, on the right D'Ambrosio tends to play high up overlapping Candreva who plays really wide being that typical winger type, crossing a lot, while on the other side Nagatomo/Dalbert/Santon also happen to overlap Perisic but most of the time they are supporting the Croatian who uses his pace and dribbling to get himself into shooting/crossing position. 

Up front there's the typical number 9, Icardi who already scored 15 goals this season while Perisic only has 4 and Brozovic 3, so it's safe to say Icardi is the main threat

As I've mentioned above, Inter mostly uses flanks to create their attacks

Most if not all Icardi's goals came from the inside of the penalty box by either a cross or a through ball

I have found 2 tactical analysis of Inter this season: 

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/08/30/tactical-analysis-roma-1-3-inter/

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/10/23/tactical-analysis-napoli-0-0-inter-milan/

While these 2 articles provide some proof and examples of how Inter played, apart from the pressing analysis, I will not really address it here since the 2 away games were against Roma and Napoli, so an altered gameplan was needed to neutralize the threat, and that was completely different to what I want to achieve here, perhaps I can use them later to create an away tactics for my save

 

The Shape and Player Roles and Player Instructions

The Main Idea is to play from the back using short passes to the wide players, then either go for a bit more risky pass to the wingers or safer option to the middle of the pitch and switching the side slowly making the way up the field, then provide either a cross or a through ball to Icardi, or an overlap on one of the sides to shoot or cross

I will be using the classic 4231 wide shape since this is the closest to what Inter plays irl as well as it almost has all the required roles for the system. 

Handanovic - G De - an amazing keeper but lacking the sweeper skills like Neuer so he tends to play 'safe' which is why I went for the default role with Distribute to full backs Distribute Quickly and Fewer Risky Passes

D'Ambrosio - WB At - better defensively than offensively,overlapping Candreva and providing crosses, rarely cutting in. Went for the WB as the FB seemed to deep, might even try CWB Stay Wider

Skriniar - BPD De - when he was bought in the summer from Sampdoria nobody expected much from him, but he quickly showed how much of a tank he is with some ball skills as well. Spalletti likes to have at least one of his CBs to be skilled with the ball, in Roma he had Rudiger BPD and Manolas CB partnership. None

Miranda - CD De - solid player most of the time, though the older he gets the more mistakes he makes, and although he works great with Skriniar, he has been in his shadow since the young Slovakian joined our side None

Dalbert/Nagatomo - WB Su - solid supporting defender most of the time staying wide and supporting Perisic, rarely overlapping or cutting in Stay wider, run wide with the ball

Gagliardini - DLP De - Had the biggest problem finding the right role for the 2 CMs, because it seems like most of the time they both act like BBMs, however when I tried it I was too vulnerable for counters, which is why i changed Roberto to be a DLP D as that role has what I think the most similar movement to the real life, though will be testing this more. Just realized that in many recent Real life matches he tends to be decent at getting the ball back but also his passing is lacking accuracy which is why I am considering a BWM De/Su role for him will try in the next game Dribble less

Vecino - BBM Su - Spalletti uses his CMs as very mobile all around midfielders who are runners, are comfortable with the ball, can pass the ball and shoot, Vecino is the perfect example of this More risky passing,  Dribble less

Candreva - W Su - Him and Perisic provide the most assists and although they sometimes switch sides they both act differently, Candreva's main task is to hug the sideline and cross, although he is very irritating at times spamming crosses at every opportunity, it would be unfair to say he hasnt had an impact, the assists prove the fact that he is vital to Spalletti's side. Has a great shot, can dribble, use both feet, and is a workhorse in defence. I've picked Supportive Winger as he already likes to cut in on his own and shoot with power. Close down more, Get Further Forward, Roam from position, More direct passes, More risky passes, Mark specific position D (L)  

Valero/J.Mario - AM Su- the brain of the team although lacks shooting and tires out by the 70th minute, untill then he presses a lot and is always available for a pass, although he has only 1 goal and 0 assists this season he has many key passes and is always available for a pass as he likes to drop deeper. He already has Moves into channels, plays 1-2s, dictates temto and tries killer balls. Close down more, Get Further Forward, Roam from position, More direct passes, More risky passes

Perisic - IF At - seems to be struggling recently to get to his best form he showed us last season, but still shows us glimpses of his magic, he's really fast, dribbles well, crosses as well is a defensive workhorse and a scoring threat netted 4 goals this season and providing 6 assists. Close down more, Get further forward, Roam from position, More direct passes, More risky passes, Mark specific position D (R)  

Icardi - AF At - this role seems to suit him perfectly as he isnt the type of player like lewandowski or suarez, a typical number 9, main man to score goals, I've noticed that Spalletti sometimes requires him to drop deeper and play more like a DLF or a CF, I will try the AF first. Already has Moves into channels, Places shots and Tries to beat offside trap and I've added Close down more

 

Team instructions

I've picked Very fluid because before Spalletti Inter lacked team spirit and unity, now the italian coach made it a priority to gel the team to play as a unit and have all players contributing to all phases. 

I went for Standard mentality and Normal Tempo due to the fact that I think Control would be a bit too much of a safe approach, Inter doesnt play tiki taka, they do play slowly from the back, but when they get to the final 3rd they try to play quicker and more direct towards Icardi, hence more risky direct passing for the front Cam and the wings

Wide width I've already explained before

Decided to go for the middle ground regarding the Defensive Line as they sometimes play deeper and sometimes higher, so Normal will be my starting point with Offside trap to compress the space given to the opposition team

I've chosen Closing Down Sometimes and Prevent Short GK distribution because most of the time they press opposition backline and the keeper using the front 4, I have also added Opposition instructions to the back 4 + GK Press Always Tackle Harder Force weaker foot

Exploit flanks Play out Of defence and shorter passing I've covered earlier

I've added Be More Expressive in hopes that the creative CAM and wingers will get some more freedom

Pass into the box Guess its an obvious choice when having Icardi up top

Dribble less most of the players are OK with the dribble though I dont really want them to risk loosing the ball on our own half which is why I've added Dribble less TI but added Dribble more to Cam and the wings

 

Ideally I'd like to use the 4231 at all times but I guess its hardly possible (OR ISN'T IT?) in this game by simply micromanaging to counter everything the opposition is throwing at us. 

I also converted this to a 41221DM version that uses safer approach to control the game against lesser team who park the bus

 

One of the recent games in the season against Genoa

 

key passes

 

CURRENT ISSUES: My main current issue is that I keep having many shots e.g. 18 but only 5 on target despite the fact that most my players have shoot less PI.. do you guys have any ideas how could I counter this? 

 

I think this is pretty much it, I will post some updates half way through the season and at the end

Thanks! 

Please let me know your opinion!

[kingjericho]

There's a good article explaining a 4-2-3-1 used currently, and the example is Spaletti's Inter: http://www.thehighertempopress.com/2017/11/fm18-formation-guide-4-2-3-1/

[cez]

31 minutes ago, kingjericho said:

There's a good article explaining a 4-2-3-1 used currently, and the example is Spaletti's Inter: http://www.thehighertempopress.com/2017/11/fm18-formation-guide-4-2-3-1/

thanks!

Just had a read through and I think its more of a generic 4231 approach, not the actual way Spalletti plays which is what I want to achieve

[kingjericho]

1 hour ago, cez said:

thanks!

Just had a read through and I think its more of a generic 4231 approach, not the actual way Spalletti plays which is what I want to achieve

I think it's a pretty good interpretation. Although he has changed his base XI this season (the midfield trio is more Vecino-Gagliardini-Valero) which makes the tactic closer to a 4-1-2-3 DM. But the key principles of how the team approaches the opposition goal seem well thought.

[cez]

31 minutes ago, kingjericho said:

I think it's a pretty good interpretation. Although he has changed his base XI this season (the midfield trio is more Vecino-Gagliardini-Valero) which makes the tactic closer to a 4-1-2-3 DM. But the key principles of how the team approaches the opposition goal seem well thought.

you're correct its a good interpretation of a 4231 system, however as I've mentioned earlier, I want to get as close as possible to Spalletti's Inter and I do not think he is doing that with his Standard/Flexible higher tempo setup