Fabio Capello, a guest at the microphones of Gazzetta dello Sport, analyzed in detail this afternoon’s challenge between Inter and Roma, identifying the main tactical themes of the confrontation. These are his words to the newspaper.
What a show Calha and Paredes: they are at the top of maturity. Lautaro-Soulé goal tango.
“Ball to Calhanoglu and Paredes, they are the great beauty of this challenge: they will mirror each other from afar and can direct the course of Inter-Roma between throws, changes of play and shots from distance. From them will pass the best of the match and from their plays can blossom the scoring chances. Both the Turk and the Argentine come to this face-off in the fullness of maturity, and both owe a lot to their coaches: Calha became one of the best directors in the world thanks to the intuition of Inzaghi who moved him in front of the defense, Paredes looked like the ghost of himself, then Ranieri touched him with his magic wand and brought him back to the high levels of his golden days. Around their ideas will revolve the midfield battle, where the contribution of other departmental companions will be crucial: Roma is counting on Koné’s muscles and Cristante’s experience, Inter on the quality of Barella and Frattesi, in his big chance as a starter against the club that would have liked to sign him in January. Further ahead, the Argentine derby between Lautaro and Soulé will ignite Svilar and Sommer’s afternoon: it will be quite a sight to see, I vote for the concreteness of the Inter player. It’s hard to see him running on empty in games like this.”
Dimarco uncatchable, Carlos Augusto will help him. But watch out for Angelino.
“If I were Ranieri or Inzaghi, I would first worry about one aspect, and that is limiting supplies for Dimarco and Angelino. Because one thing is for sure: when Inter and Roma’s two left-handed outfielders receive the ball in the three-quarter and start towards the back, something always happens. The Inter player is among the best around in his role: he fabricates assists on repeat, creates danger even when he gets on his own by going for a shot and is a guarantee of absolute commitment because he never spares himself. Without Bastoni and Mkhitaryan, who are disqualified, his interlocutors will change today but I don’t see any problems on the horizon: Carlos Augusto is among the brightest in Inzaghi’s squad and will help him read Saelemaekers’ dynamism, Barella remains a professor even when he acts as a left halfback. Angelino, who under Ranieri has become a highly effective all-around man, is the ideal switch for an area center forward like Dovbyk: Darmian has all the experience to go toe-to-toe with the Spaniard, but a lot of energy will be needed. And Darmian comes from two tough tests between the Bologna rips and those of Leao and company in the Coppa Italia derby…”
Inactive balls a factor Inter, how many specialists. Roma always suffers us.
“In balanced matches like I expect this afternoon’s at the San Siro could be, set pieces can make the difference. And on paper, from this point of view, Inter have an advantage because Lautaro and his teammates specialize in exploiting set pieces. In fact, Inzaghi can afford the luxury of sending out kickers like Calhanoglu and Dimarco, who are adept at brushing the right balls into the opponent’s box for their teammates: Pavard, who celebrated his first goal for the Nerazzurri against Bayern on Calhanoglu’s assist from a corner, is just the latest of many Inter players to have picked up the invitation of one of the two specialists on the developments of a set piece. On the other side, however, set-pieces are Roma’s Achilles’ heel: 16 of the 49 goals conceded in the season have accrued this way, so Ranieri will have to demand the utmost attention from his side in order not to fall from set-pieces against the Nerazzurri as well. Watch out, though, because Inter not only exploits set pieces in recent times but also suffers them, just look at Jovic’s double in the Cup derby or Dier’s equalizer in the quarterfinal return against Bayern. And Roma has the men to hurt them, from Mancini to Cristante.”
Dumfries can affect but how is he? Taremi does not add.
“The bench splitter par excellence, Inzaghi has him this time — on the field from the first minute. Because Davide Frattesi is the man who most of all can change the face of a game but today he will start from the beginning. So, headlights on Dumfries and Zielinski: the Dutchman has great physicality and insertion skills and can shift the balance of the match, the Pole ensures a replacement of technical quality in the midfield. The unknown factor, however, is fitness: both have just put two major injuries behind them and it is to be seen what condition they will be in again. Speaking of condition, then, looking at the alternatives in attack, it would be fair to say that Roma is much better off: Shomurodov scored heavy goals between Juventus and Verona and is the Giallorossi’s man in the lead; if Ranieri decides to bet on Dovbyk from the start, he will have a fine wild card to drop on the run. Otherwise, Inzaghi has no choice: given the paucity of Correa and Taremi, the Lautaro-Arnautovic pair is not the best but in fact the only possible solution.”
Giallorossi lighter. Nerazzurri for the shake-up: trouble thinking of Barça.
“Two mirrored systems of play call a question: who will go pressing high and who will wait with the low block? I expect an aggressive Inter, which will try to break through right away by exploiting the quality of the midfield and the forays of Frattesi and Barella, and a more wait-and-see Roma, also because challenging the Nerazzurri would mean exposing themselves to a risk that Ranieri will not take: Inter in quick exits with the ball knows how to be lethal. Never as this time will the approach count: Roma is chasing Europe but has less to lose than Inter, which is in a very delicate limbo. On the one hand the two knockouts against Bologna and Milan, which consumed a lot of mental energy, on the other hand the double championship-Champions commitment in the space of three days. I’m sure Inzaghi tried in every way to put up a wall in the heads of his team between now and Wednesday: now only Roma has to count, also because, in my opinion, the Scudetto remains the goal most within reach. In A, with five matches to play, a mistake can be made up; in Champions everything will be uphill.”
Source: Sports Gazette
Capello article, “Calhanoglu and Paredes the great beauty of this challenge. Roma has less to lose. Frattesi can be decisive” comes from Giallorossi.net, exclusive news, news and soccer market.
