Inzaghi Criticized For Second Half Tactical Confusion In Napoli 1-1 Inter Milan Serie A Draw | OneFootball

Simone Inzaghi is facing criticism for creating tactical confusion in the second half of yesterday’s Serie A draw between Napoli and Inter Milan.

TuttoMercatoWeb highlight the mediocre scores for the Nerazzurri coach in the player ratings in Italian media. The second half decisions particularly come under fire.

Inter Milan coach SImone Inzaghi had a tough situation on his hands in the second half of yesterday’s match.

Before the match, all of Matteo Darmian, Carlos Augusto, and Nicola Zalewski were missing.

That left Inzaghi with just two senior wingbacks available.

Then, Federico Dimarco was unable to play for more than a few minutes of the first half.

The Italian international’s injury left Inzaghi with just one senior wingback on the pitch – Denzel Dumfries.

Inzaghi Criticized For Tactical Confusion In Napoli 1-1 Inter Milan Clash

Inzaghi put Benjamin Pavard onto the pitch as a substitute for Dimarco. Hardly a like-for-like change.

Initially, the Inter coach switched the system to a back four.

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 10: Benjamin Pavard of Internazionale warms up ahead of the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Fiorentina at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 10, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Pavard played on the right, with Alessandro Bastoni on the left. Then, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck guarded the penalty area.

This meant that Denzel Dumfries pushed up as an attacking winger.

That system had worked well enough for Inter as an emergency solution in the Coppa Italia against Lazio last week.

But yesterday, it caused the team to look disjointed. Therefore, Napoli were able to rapidly push up, increase the tempo, and gain territory in the wide areas.

Therefore, Inzaghi had to react. He put Dumfries onto the left, and played Pavard as a right-wingback.

Neither Dumfries not Pavard were playing in their natural positions.

However, the system did keep some sense of normalcy and chemistry. That allowed Inter to largely withstand the Napoli onslaught.

In the view of Italian media, it was what Inzaghi should have done to begin with. Rather than the confusinng 4-4-2 experiment.