Simone Inzaghi's Inter - An FM24 Recreation

[GCVS00]

Hi all! Like most of you, I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with the FM24 match engine and the new positional play dynamics. However, I wanted to try something different, and Inzaghi's Inter have caught my eye. 

 

Background

Personally, my favorite teams to watch have been teams that employ possession based ideologies. Simply put, if you have the ball, the opponent can't score. This style of play looks to completely control the tempo of games and dominate the opposition. Most of the world's best teams, Manchester City, Barcelona, FC Bayern Münich, etc. use a possession-based style of play as both an attacking and defensive tactic. However, I've always been interested in how teams that don't have the resources that these teams have compete on the same level. This is where Inzaghi's Inter team come in.

 

Inzaghi took over at Inter Milan at a rather tumultuous time. Threatened with the prospect of decreased spending and selling important players due to Inter's less than stellar financial situation, Antonio Conte left Inter mere months after winning them their first Scudetto since Mourinho in 2010. Coupled with the eventual sales of Lukaku to Chelsea and Hakimi to PSG, things were looking bleak for the Nerazzurri, especially as reinvestment in the transfer market was limited. How could a team cope with the loss of their manager and two of their most important players? 

 

Inzaghi's History

Insert Simone Inzaghi. The former Italian striker was not as successful a player as his brother, but his managerial career has been a smashing success. Beginning his managerial career with the youth sides of Lazio, he eventually took over the first time after Stefano Pioli's sacking and Marcelo Bielsa's lengthy stint in charge. At Lazio, Inzaghi won the praise of many for his performance in cup competitions, as well as his ability to be competitive in the league with a small budget. Perhaps the height of Inzaghi's time at Lazio was the 19/20 season, where Lazio finished fourth, but probably would have won the Scudetto had their momentum not been stopped by a certain global pandemic.

 

Inzaghi's Inter

As said above, Inzaghi took over at Inter Milan in the 21/22 season after the departure of Antonio Conte. In his first season in charge, Inter barely missed out on the title, losing to city rivals AC Milan. However, they did win both the Supercoppa and the Coppa Italia. In Inzaghi's second season, Inter regressed in the league, finishing third behind Napoli and Lazio. However, Inzaghi was once again excellent in domestic cup competitions, winning the same two trophies again. Perhaps Inzaghi's biggest accomplishment was guiding Inter to the Champions League Final, narrowly losing to Manchester City, although (in my opinion), Inter were the better side.

 

Tactics

So how does Inzaghi actually set-up his sides? Inzaghi has been consistent throughout his managerial career, using the 3-5-2 or some variation of this shape for all his teams. For the sake of this recreation, I will only be taking a look at his Inter tactics, specifically from the 22/23 and the current 23/24 season. In possession, although Inter aren't a possession for possession sake side, Inter do look to build out from the back, as shown by their above average 55% possession statistics this year. However, Inter do not look to keep the ball, only looking to move the ball slowly up the field. Inter are very good at slowly playing out from the back, breaking the press, and then quickly and directly moving the ball down the field to attack with numerical superiority. These pseudo-counterattacks that originate from play in possession are so difficult to stop.

The wide centerbacks are vital to how Inter play in possession, as they are instructed to dribble into space and force defenders to commit to them. This tactic is super effective at collapsing defenses and opening direct passing lanes for more advanced players. Bastoni, in particular, is one of the best offensive centerbacks in world football, able to dribble into the final third and deliver great crosses into the box from deep. Each of the wingbacks has a slightly different role. Dimarco plays slightly deeper and will look to combine with Bastoni, Mkhitaryan, and the same side striker (usually Lautaro). This combination play is so difficult for opponents to stop and is a source of a lot of chances for Inter.

Additionally, Dimarco is a very good crosser and will look to cross from deep and from the byline to unlock the defense. On the other hand, Dumfries gets extremely high up the field, usually in line with the strikers and advanced midfielders. His strengths lie more in his off-ball movement than his crossing, and it isn't uncommon to see a Dimarco cross to Dumfries at the back post. I know some people have had trouble replicating this behavior in FM24, but I think I've found a good compromise (more on that later).

The midfield composition is one of the more interesting changes from 22/23 to 23/24. Many wondered how Inter would cope with losing the extremely underrated Brozovic as their 6. Inzaghi, in response, converted Hakan Çalhanoğlu to this 6 role, as opposed to his more offensive roles in the past, where he has absolutely excelled as the regista for the Nerazzurri. Barella has been absolutely phenomenal in his familiar box-to-box role, breaking up counter attacks and looking to surge forward with the ball in possession. Mkhitaryan has been playing as a mezzala, drifting wide left to further facilitate Inter's devastating combination play on the left hand side.

Finally, we'll examine the strike partnership. Both Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram have been absolutely phenomenal this season for Inter. Lautaro's performance this year has come to be expected, but his form this year have exceeded most expectations, with 12 goals in 12 league games. The biggest surprise this season for Inter, I'd argue, has been Marcus Thuram. Signed on a free from Borussia Mönchengladbach, Thuram has more than replaced Lukaku. His hold-up play, dribbling, and playmaking have been exquisite (just look at the Inter 5-1 AC Milan game, he was unplayable).

Out of possession, Inter are very interesting. Adept at pressing high or settling into their defensive shape in a mid to low block, Inter are very adaptable depending on the opposition. For instance, in their 2-0 win against Frosinone, they had a PPDA (Passes allowed per defensive action) of 28.58, which indicates that they did not press aggressively at all. However, in their 1-0 win against Roma, they had a PPDA of 8.12. This indicates a high degree of pressing flexibility and can be adapted based on opponents. In transition, Inter will look to get the ball forward quickly to exploit the space in behind the defenses, which makes them incredibly dangerous on the counter.

Putting the tactic into FM24

Here is the tactic as I've implemented it into FM24, with player instructions included as well:

So for starter, the tactical shape is asymmetrical. I decided on this because I didn't like any of the movement the wingbacks provided for the Dumfries role. I've found that the defensive winger will get really high in possession, and will come narrow when he gets near the box. Additionally, he'll press aggressively when the ball is lost, which is helpful because he'll be really high and out of position. Also, the defensive winger will help out defensively, so you will get that 5-3-2 defensive shape. Additionally, I've seen multiple goals with this tactic where Dumfries will get into the box and receive a cross from Dimarco, heading it home. I feel like this role and the added instruction of cut inside with ball are a decent replication of Dumfries real life role. I believe the rest of the tactic is pretty self-explanatory. For the strikers, you can choose whichever roles you feel fit the players best. I chose a PF(A) for Lautaro because he has an insane work rate and a DLF-A w/ dribble more for Thuram because his hold-up play and playmaking have been exceptional, while also giving him the freedom to come deep, collect the ball, and dribble forward himself. Additionally, you can use a Regista for Hakan, but I wanted the DLP-S because it'll hold position.

Results and Stats:

These are some stats for the tactic. Please let me know what you guys think! Thank you for reading! 

Here are some videos and articles I read for inspiration:

https://themastermindsite.com/2023/05/19/simone-inzaghi-inter-milan-tactical-analysis-2022-23/

https://footballbunsekicom.com/team-analysis/fc-internazionale-milano-tactical-analysis-22-23-simone-inzaghis-solidest-team-in-europe/

https://understat.com/team/Inter/2023

https://www.rdftactics.com/post/the-perfect-attack-beast-3-5-2-tactic-inzaghi-fm23-tactics-football-manager-2023

Also, a special shoutout to @RDF Tactics, he's one of the first FM tactics creators I started watching and inspired me to make some posts on here. His analysis is fantastic.

[gennamitico]

finally someone gives credit to Inter Milan. As an Inter fan thank you for your analysis! Greath choice for Dumfries, i think he needs to be put in the midfield strata due to his high positioning during matches. I'm curious to try your tactic with medium-lower side, maybe i will try it in my career with Torino!

Edited November 14, 2023 by gennamitico

[GCVS00]

7 hours ago, gennamitico said:

finally someone gives credit to Inter Milan. As an Inter fan thank you for your analysis! Greath choice for Dumfries, i think he needs to be put in the midfield strata due to his high positioning during matches. I'm curious to try your tactic with medium-lower side, maybe i will try it in my career with Torino!

Of course. My grandfather is an Inter fan so they've always been a team I hope do well. As for the tactic with a medium-lower side, I will say that this tactic is a tiny bit leaky, so maybe putting it down to Positive could be good. I'm gonna get through the rest of the season today and try to improve the defense and goalkeeping in the offseason.

Edited November 14, 2023 by GCVS00

[GCVS00]

Ok so I just finished my first season in charge. I'll be posting the table, some stats, and anything else you guys want.

Table:

xg Table:

Competitions:

 

Both Lautaro and Thuram finished with 30+ goals in Serie A. We also finished with an average possession of 54%, which is very close to Inter's real life possession statistics. Overall, I'm really satisfied with the tactical shape and roles, especially Dumfries in the DW-S role. I'm gonna tinker with using less aggressive mentality in away UCL and cup games to see if we can stop shipping as many goals.

[gennamitico]

Incredible results! I think you made a great tactic. In my first games in Torino save it gave me good results too, i’m going to post it in the next days

[GCVS00]

26 minutes ago, gennamitico said:

Incredible results! I think you made a great tactic. In my first games in Torino save it gave me good results too, i’m going to post it in the next days

Awesome! Glad you like it. I'll be tinkering with some stuff in the meantime to see if I can win the UCL!

[GCVS00]

Also, the results from the first season were done with the base Inter team, no transfers

[GCVS00]

Ok so I just finished up the second season. I've finally cracked the code for this tactic. In big games, change the mentality of the team to balanced. That's it. Using this change, we won Serie A (using mostly the attacking tactic), Coppa Italia and the UCL (using the Balanced tactic for away games and the finals). Here are some of the stats and competition info:

 

Serie A:

 

xG Table:

 

UCL Results:

 

UCL Final:

 

Also, the only major signings I made to the starting XI were replacing Henrikh with Baldanzi and Acerbi with Disasi on loan!

[GCVS00]

Also, Dumfries exploded in the role I've been using for him. This season, he had 19 goals and 11 assists in all comps, making 4 dribbles per 90 and 3.56 tackles per 90. And, of course, he got a hat trick in the UCL Final!!

[Jyuan83]

@GCVS00Love this thread so much! Reminds me of the good old days when we would create unique roles with PIs for players to fit in certain tactical replications. Dumfries has always been one of my favourites and have been following him since his euros exploits as holland’s top scorer. I agree with your tactical depiction of Dumfries as he’s being used as a far post poacher in inter’s tactics. I actually tried to recreate his role on FM23 with him as WM on attack with roam and cross less often but could never get him to be as amazing as yours with 19 goals and 11 assists!!  Didn’t know the DW role can be so good at scoring with just cut inside as the PI. 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Jyuan83

[GCVS00]

6 hours ago, Jyuan83 said:

@GCVS00Love this thread so much! Reminds me of the good old days when we would create unique roles with PIs for players to fit in certain tactical replications. Dumfries has always been one of my favourites and have been following him since his euros exploits as holland’s top scorer. I agree with your tactical depiction of Dumfries as he’s being used as a far post poacher in inter’s tactics. I actually tried to recreate his role on FM23 with him as WM on attack with roam and cross less often but could never get him to be as amazing as yours with 19 goals and 11 assists!!  Didn’t know the DW role can be so good at scoring with just cut inside as the PI. 

I was surprised, I figured I would have to tweak his role a lot but no. He gets pretty narrow, even before we reach the final third, and he's amazing at the back post. The Dimarco cross to Dumfries header has been a staple of our attack

[Ace40]

As an Inter fan I'm glad to see this happen, I am going to give it a try in my first FM24 save with Chelsea. I think their squad can do really well with tactic IRL, I'm interested to see how it does IG,. 

[GCVS00]

1 hour ago, Ace40 said:

As an Inter fan I'm glad to see this happen, I am going to give it a try in my first FM24 save with Chelsea. I think their squad can do really well with tactic IRL, I'm interested to see how it does IG,. 

I was actually thinking that as well. Would fit their personnel very well imo

[gennamitico]

I started using this tactic from match against Genoa. Results til now are just incredible.

[GCVS00]

6 hours ago, gennamitico said:

I started using this tactic from match against Genoa. Results til now are just incredible.

awesome results!

[Ivan787]

I'm interested in replicating Inzaghi system too, as an Inter fan.

I suppose that, like every real life system, is impossible to replicate at 100% in FM terms, simply because a game is a matter of number but football is a matter of men.

But honestly this is a very similar replication, probably the most difficult thing is to replicate the Dumfries role, in particular when he cuts without the ball acting like a true forward.

[gennamitico]

Il 16/11/2023 in 10:18 , gennamitico ha scritto:

I started using this tactic from match against Genoa. Results til now are just incredible.

i reached conference league qualification. Now i'm trying to build the best roster i can to do better in Serie A and europe cup too!

[GunmaN1905]

Great post, but I'd say that FM roles aren't suitable for what's Inzaghi been using.

First issue is that you can't really replicate middle-CB role.

For goal-kicks and free-kicks after offsides, middle-CB usually gets in line with DM and two wide-CBs move a bit narrower, making a square for build up. Sometimes one CM will also drop deep if pressing from the opposition is harder.

So you'd need middle-CB to be a BPD-cover on defense, but have more freedom to move at the initial build-up phase.

Bastoni specifically is an unique player in world of football and is most definitely closer to libero than WCB role.

Him and Dimarco are over/underlapping duo on the left and that definitely should be an instruction. Idk how to instruct it, though, because Bastoni often goes all the way wide and overlaps on the flank, but sometimes he underlaps and gets to the edge of the box.

Right CB is more conservative, but also has surging runs that aren't as common. Think of Darmian getting a penalty from such run in Bergamo a few games ago. We'll see if Pavard gets even more freedom, unfortunately he got injured.

Defensive winger is actually great thinking for Dumfries, as he contributes on both ends of the pitch. I'd say that he most definitely has a low crosses instruction because he just can't float a proper cross in. He's poor with the ball and best used when he either gets the ball into space for a quick cross or he's the cross receiver himself.

Dimarco on the other side would even be wide playmaker for me. If you think about it, back in the day Mourinho talked about Sneijder and Maicon being two playmakers on either flank as Sneijder often moved to the left and now that's the case with Dimarco and Barella. Dimarco is technically amazing, but lacks physical attributes to be a wingback that just goes up and down the pitch. He also has plays where he ends up in the box and even scores from the inside, but he's mostly a playmaker.

Calhanoglu is what completely ruins the system for me in FM, because apparently him having such stellar season backed with defensive stat is enough for 12 stamina and 10 work rate. Just a disgrace.

If you watch games, three midfielders are always in line when defending, but they often switch places, as in Calhanoglu can end up on the left or right due to transition.

Mkhitaryan is everywhere, maybe even a roaming playmaker role or a central midfielder with more creative instructions would be better suited. Barella is a classic mezzala on offense.

Lautaro's pressing forward role is a no brainer, but I'd even say that Thuram is CF-S instead of DLF. For me, DLF is more suited for someone like Dybala or Correa (ugh). Thuram finds himself at the end of actions in the box plenty of times.

Now what I disagree with is high defensive line, it's simply not the case. Obviously happens when Inter is chasing result like the Roma match you mentioned, but if there's no rush, it's a deeper defensive line. That's what saved Inzaghi's job, giving up on high press because defense was just shambolic and the entire team was disjointed.

With Hakan in Brozović's place, everything is more direct. Brozović was better at recycling possession, but Hakan makes way more direct plays.

Defensive block is kind of 8+2, making it really difficult for opposition to press Inter hard. Two strikers are always up forward, meaning that opposition has to commit at least three defenders at all times and then they're unable to create advantages against 5-3 block. If opposition creates an advantage on the flanks, Lautaro or Thuram will drop deeper and help the extrernal midfielder and wingback. I'd even say defensive instructions should be defend narrower and invite crosses. But in reality, noone even bothers with crosses against 3 at the back.

I'd even say that passing should be more direct, with quicker tempo. Counter-attacking football. You mentioned Frosinone game, both goals happened from counter-attacks. Yes, it was a 40m wonderstrike and a penalty, but still.

Wingbacks and strikers are outlets, then they try to make an advantage with quick link-up. Things tend to get tedious against catenaccios because noone except for Thuram is a good dribbler one on one.

I'm not going to lie, I tried re-creating Inzaghi's setup in beta, but as always FM doesn't value this kind of tactics and I just had way too many defensive issues with WCBs, same as last year.

Switched it to 352 full-on press with 3xBPD, 2xCWB and 2xAF, won two trebles in a row in second and third season. 35-3-0 in the league, the game's just broken if you play full press and it's so frustrating.

[avenger22]

6 hours ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Great post, but I'd say that FM roles aren't suitable for what's Inzaghi been using.

First issue is that you can't really replicate middle-CB role.

For goal-kicks and free-kicks after offsides, middle-CB usually gets in line with DM and two wide-CBs move a bit narrower, making a square for build up. Sometimes one CM will also drop deep if pressing from the opposition is harder.

So you'd need middle-CB to be a BPD-cover on defense, but have more freedom to move at the initial build-up phase.

Bastoni specifically is an unique player in world of football and is most definitely closer to libero than WCB role.

Him and Dimarco are over/underlapping duo on the left and that definitely should be an instruction. Idk how to instruct it, though, because Bastoni often goes all the way wide and overlaps on the flank, but sometimes he underlaps and gets to the edge of the box.

Right CB is more conservative, but also has surging runs that aren't as common. Think of Darmian getting a penalty from such run in Bergamo a few games ago. We'll see if Pavard gets even more freedom, unfortunately he got injured.

Defensive winger is actually great thinking for Dumfries, as he contributes on both ends of the pitch. I'd say that he most definitely has a low crosses instruction because he just can't float a proper cross in. He's poor with the ball and best used when he either gets the ball into space for a quick cross or he's the cross receiver himself.

Dimarco on the other side would even be wide playmaker for me. If you think about it, back in the day Mourinho talked about Sneijder and Maicon being two playmakers on either flank as Sneijder often moved to the left and now that's the case with Dimarco and Barella. Dimarco is technically amazing, but lacks physical attributes to be a wingback that just goes up and down the pitch. He also has plays where he ends up in the box and even scores from the inside, but he's mostly a playmaker.

Calhanoglu is what completely ruins the system for me in FM, because apparently him having such stellar season backed with defensive stat is enough for 12 stamina and 10 work rate. Just a disgrace.

If you watch games, three midfielders are always in line when defending, but they often switch places, as in Calhanoglu can end up on the left or right due to transition.

Mkhitaryan is everywhere, maybe even a roaming playmaker role or a central midfielder with more creative instructions would be better suited. Barella is a classic mezzala on offense.

Lautaro's pressing forward role is a no brainer, but I'd even say that Thuram is CF-S instead of DLF. For me, DLF is more suited for someone like Dybala or Correa (ugh). Thuram finds himself at the end of actions in the box plenty of times.

Now what I disagree with is high defensive line, it's simply not the case. Obviously happens when Inter is chasing result like the Roma match you mentioned, but if there's no rush, it's a deeper defensive line. That's what saved Inzaghi's job, giving up on high press because defense was just shambolic and the entire team was disjointed.

With Hakan in Brozović's place, everything is more direct. Brozović was better at recycling possession, but Hakan makes way more direct plays.

Defensive block is kind of 8+2, making it really difficult for opposition to press Inter hard. Two strikers are always up forward, meaning that opposition has to commit at least three defenders at all times and then they're unable to create advantages against 5-3 block. If opposition creates an advantage on the flanks, Lautaro or Thuram will drop deeper and help the extrernal midfielder and wingback. I'd even say defensive instructions should be defend narrower and invite crosses. But in reality, noone even bothers with crosses against 3 at the back.

I'd even say that passing should be more direct, with quicker tempo. Counter-attacking football. You mentioned Frosinone game, both goals happened from counter-attacks. Yes, it was a 40m wonderstrike and a penalty, but still.

Wingbacks and strikers are outlets, then they try to make an advantage with quick link-up. Things tend to get tedious against catenaccios because noone except for Thuram is a good dribbler one on one.

I'm not going to lie, I tried re-creating Inzaghi's setup in beta, but as always FM doesn't value this kind of tactics and I just had way too many defensive issues with WCBs, same as last year.

Switched it to 352 full-on press with 3xBPD, 2xCWB and 2xAF, won two trebles in a row in second and third season. 35-3-0 in the league, the game's just broken if you play full press and it's so frustrating.

Yeah high press is much better than mid or low block big difference, i think if SI makes the WB(a) to attack like a DW or W in offensive phase so he attack the box makes run in behind and is a threat to score not just stay wide and crosses the 3-5-2 will be huge cause that is what is missing, also WCB can be improved the movement so he can underlap and overlap better and more frequent.

Edited November 18, 2023 by avenger22

[Tangzila]

@GCVS00

Great work with this tactic!

I'm curious if in your second season you kept some of the most promising youngster at Inter (Zefi, Carboni bros, Owusu, etc.).

If so how did they develop? And did you retrain some of them to fit the tactic?

Cheers!

[GunmaN1905]

On 02/12/2023 at 11:36, Tangzila said:

@GCVS00

Great work with this tactic!

I'm curious if in your second season you kept some of the most promising youngster at Inter (Zefi, Carboni bros, Owusu, etc.).

If so how did they develop? And did you retrain some of them to fit the tactic?

Cheers!

Not the guy you asked, but Esposito and Carboni are must keeps. Others not so much.
I kept Fontanarosa for a season, he could be maybe used as a backup CB.

[Tangzila]

Thanks! That's quite helpful!

And what a result last night 🥳

[Ermes Messaggero Nerazzurro]

Hi everybody!
I created a new topic about Wide-Centre-Back on FM.
Another role that developers should refine, beyond Wingbacks. I believe that you, lovers of the 352, may be interested.

 

 

[GunmaN1905]

Great and really long thread about Inzaghi's setup.

Shame a lot of it can't be replicated in FM, but it should help anyone trying to recreate his tactics.