Cristian Chivu has already made three notable changes to Inter Milan evident in their Club World Cup opener against Monterrey.
Today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, highlight formation changes, defending on corners, and pressing higher as three alterations.
The Cristian Chivu era at Inter Milan truly begun on Wednesday morning.
The Nerazzurri took on Monterrey to kick off their group stage at the Club World Cup. That was the first match that Chivu was on the touchline for after replacing Simone Inzaghi as coach.
And against the Mexican team, there were a few notable features.
Cristian Chivu Makes Three Notable Tactical Changes To Inter Milan
First of all, there is the matter of the formation that Cristian Chivu has set Inter up in.,
Naturally, the Romanian has not made any truly dramatic changes to the team. He has kept the back-three defense from the Inzaghi and Antonio Conte years.
However, as Wednesday’s match went on, some changes became evident.
Inter started out by lining up in a 3-5-2 shape – the familiar system under Inzaghi.
However, in the second half, with the introduction of Petar Sucic, the Croat formed more of a two-player central midfield unit with Nicolo Barella.
That meant that Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved to an attacking midfield role. Inter’s shape became a 3-4-1-2.
Then, the Nerazzurri underwent a second change in formation – to a 3-4-2-1 shape – with Nicola Zalewski’s introduction to the pitch.
Meanwhile, notes the Gazzetta, there is already a clear change in how Inter defend corners.
Under Simone Inzaghi, the Nerazzurri always man-marked from set pieces. But Chivu evidently prefers a more zonal approach.
That broke down on Monterrey’s opener. The one clear man-assignment was for Francesco Acerbi to keep track of Sergio Ramos. However, he failed to keep track of the Spaniard.
But it is clear that that is the approach that Chivu wants Inter to learn.
Lastly, notes the Gazzetta, Inter pressed higher in attack than they had typically done under Inzaghi.
