Precious win, even more so because it came after a poor performance.
It's clear by now that most mid to low table Serie A coaches have come to the conclusion that the best way to play against Conte's 3-5-2 is mirroring it. Which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for us, as oftentimes a game played by teams adopting the same formation results in a win for the one with the better average technical quality. Our problem, however, is that lately we've been quite unable to assert our superiority, mainly because we lack the intensity and the cutting edge required to unlock the opposition's defence or even catch it off guard. If you compare our games from the first few months of the season to the most recent ones, you'll notice how our ball circulation has become more sluggish and uninspired and our pressing less and less organised. That, of course, allows the opposition to set two lines of players up in front of their box and to block all our passing lanes, ultimately forcing us to move the ball laterally in a sterile possession. Thankfully, today we managed to score and, most importantly, to hold on to the lead until the end, but we definitely need to switch up gears as soon as possible if we want to keep the pace.
Lukaku scored a brace and won us the game. It wasn't his finest performance, clearly, but he got us through the line. His hold up play was rather good in the first 15-20 minutes, then for some reason we stopped playing the ball to him. He should have buried that glorious chance in front of Musso, though. Honestly, I didn't expect Esposito to start today, but Conte proved he actually trusts him. He missed a couple of easy chances and lacked a bit of presence up front, but he's a kid and I never criticise youngsters for their inexperience. Alexis was very good in his 30 minutes. He was surprisingly sharp and inspired (compared to his lackluster display against Fiorentina), providing that much needed spark in the final third in form of lay-offs and one-touch passes. Hope he picks up from here and gains some form because I expect him to start against milan.
As I said, our midfield couldn't really take control of the game. We had a lot of the ball, yes, but we hardly knew what to do with it. On top of that, we allowed Udinese to break on the counter too many times, especially in the first half. Barella was easily the best of the three, always trying to put pressure on the Udinese's ball-carrier. Unfortunately, pressing works only if it's brought as a unit, and he often seemed not to get too much cooperation from his teammates. I found Eriksen a bit too soft, which I expected actually, both on and off the ball. He is a catalyst, though, and needs his teammates to make movements so as to offer him options to pick a pass. If no one moves, there's little he can do. Vecino played one of the games that earned him the nickname of "the Uruguayan antelope". A lot of uncoordinated running around, some occasional involvement with the ball, and an almost-goal. He had played better against Fiorentina, but he's definitely played worse than this in the past, so let's not be too picky. Brozovic tied up things a bit in the second half. Nothing particularly fancy, but he helped us running down the clock.
Young saved our asses with that vital block in the first half. Aside from that, I think he was generally good, having the best of Larsen quite easily. Moses' night was a bit more complicated, as he seemed to have a hard time coping with Sema at times. He had a few good breaks going forward, but was mysteriously ignored throughout the first half, even when he had acres of spaces ahead of him. D'Ambrosio is back. Let us all rejoice.
The defence was shaky at times. Both Skriniar and Bastoni had their WTF moments, but luckily Udinese didn't take advantage of them. De Vrij tidied up things with his usual composure. Padelli finally made his Serie A debut with Inter. He was shaky as fuck on his first involvements (both with his feet and his hands), but ultimately saw the game off without having/causing too many heart attacks.
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