Napoli – Internazionale: Neres As The Nine, Spaces For The Ten (3-1)
Acknowledgement is the first step in recovery. Another defeat could have ramped up the pressure on Antonio Conte, but a win over Internazionale has got Napoli back in pole position: amidst David Neres starting upfront, and the rewards reaped by Scott McTominay and Frank Anguissa.
Tactical analysis and match report by Joel Parker.
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After a defensive collapse in Eindhoven, Napoli were under huge pressure to fix themselves before last season’s runners-up visited the champions for the first time this campaign.
Away to PSV, Conte’s team constantly conceded on the transition, poorly arranged themselves around the long ball to Lorenzo Lucca (especially after PSV had found a third) and lost all defensive capabilities as they conceded six. Conte and the players agreed that something needed to change, but what would this involve? Conte has pushed Napoli into several different formations during his tenure, and even though the defensive performance has improved, issues in the buildup have remained, even when the squad depth has been bolstered.
Inter know all about recovering after humiliation. Cristian Chivu’s team have won seven in a row, which included a comfortable victory away to AS Roma last weekend, as well as blitzing past Union Saint-Gilloise with some key figures being rested. Chivu has kept to the same format as his predecessor, and Inter top the table in terms of underlying performance. A win at the Maradona would take them above Milan and first in the Serie A standings.
Conte made two changes from that night away at PSV. Lorenzo Lucca was replaced up front by David Neres, which saw the Brazilian start in the striker position. In the defense, Sam Beukema came out for Juan Jesus. Napoli still had the presence of four central midfielders in their 4-1-4-1 formation.
Chivu reintroduced some key figures from their 4-0 win against Union Saint-Gilloise. Manuel Akanji, Francesco Acerbi, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Nicolò Barella, Federico Dimarco and Ange-Yoan Bonny all returned to the starting eleven.
An indictment of Serie A
Serie A games have fallen into a similar pattern. It has always been labelled for its “tactical” intensity (which, in translation, means the game is slower in tempo compared to other divisions), and with the elite teams tending to replicate one another, this often leads to similar issues. A lack of high pressing leads to more medium-to-low blocks being the common defensive approach, yet the team in-possession is not in the required set-up to consistently break through and apply pressure. Exchanges in phases lead to similar patterns, so the minute details in matchups or defensive errors are maximized in balanced game states.
At the start of the game, it was Inter that controlled the balance of play by keeping the ball in its back line. Napoli did situationally break into their very cautious man-marking in the opposition half, but after the events of mid-week, the intention to drop into their 5-3-1-1 or 5-4-1 medium block was a lot more prominent. Despite Hakan Çalhanoğlu having free rein to drop into the defensive line, the progression from Inter was minimal as the front four (including the two wing-backs) remained static in their arrangement. In the defensive organization, Scott McTominay was very strict in following Barella, whilst Alessandro Bastoni was often left free in the second line as Frank Anguissa followed Mkhitaryan.
6th minute: Inter’s buildup against Napoli’s 5-3-1-1/5-4-1 medium block. Bastoni was left free as Anguissa followed Mkhitaryan inside, but a static Inter quickly lost their advantages as Anguissa jumped onto Bastoni, Bonny was doubled up by Jesus and Di Lorenzo, whilst Dimarco remained outside with Politano in proximity. Bastoni passed backwards as a result.
Bastoni received in space within their circulation, although Inter did not make use of the wide distances Anguissa had to cover, like some opponents have exploited against Napoli. As a result, much of Inter’s circulation was ineffective as both Barella and Mkhitaryan had to drop in front of the midfielders to interact with the ball, whilst Napoli had plenty of bodies around Lautaro Martínez as he tried to drop into pockets of space. When Napoli was in their man-to-man state, Inter did not bait them onto their defensive line either: Yann Sommer made passes but did not hold onto the ball to encourage more movement from earlier in the build.
Despite Inter not creating through their possession, they did force two situations in which they nearly broke through the deadlock. A deflected ball into the left channel led to Dimarco’s cross being cleared, and Inter’s first corner of the game saw Bastoni’s header shave the far post. Thirteen minutes in, Napoli’s first buildup phase led to problems. Both Kevin de Bruyne and Billy Gilmour moved up the pitch as the ball as Leonardo Spinazzola moved the ball back to his right foot. Inter’s own man-to-man high block was bunched onto its right side, but Barella pushed up and forced an error out of the fullback. The ball spilt to Martínez, clean through for a first-time attempt, only to fire his shot straight at the tall frame of Vanja Milinković-Savić.
Creative conditions for Napoli’s right side
The out-of-possession approach from Inter struck a similar chord to Napoli’s as they dropped into a 5-3-2 formation, although the activity from the midfield was more aggressive than that of the hosts. With Inter still positioned in a medium block, this became the right environment for some of Napoli’s right-sided combinations to be played with some more efficiency. Di Lorenzo often moved into the highest position (something he has done with more regularity this season), and this encouraged Politano or Anguissa to drop into the right fullback position. With De Bruyne and Gilmour in the pivot positions, either man could peel into the space as Mkhitaryan jumped into the channel (Dimarco could also jump up the chain at the same time), and a clean route could be played through.
On the same side, Dimarco struggled to stop Politano from not only playing the inside ball, but turning into that space if he chose to, as long as Mkhitaryan had jumped and Inter were vertically stretched through Di Lorenzo and Scott McTominay moving into high positions. With the defense on different lines, there was plenty of space for Napoli to charge into and perhaps Inter had underestimated some of the players that were moving into these spaces. The key dynamic of the game was Francesco Acerbi man-marking of the makeshift number nine, David Neres. Acerbi gave Neres a two-to-three-meter separation, even dropping behind other center-backs if it meant he did not need to engage. However, this opened Inter even more off the ball.
27th minute: Napoli dynamics come into play. Gilmour dropped between the center-backs, and this made room for some adaptations ahead. De Bruyne dropped for the wall pass to Juan Jesus, Mkhitaryan jumped towards the Brazilian and the ball was made to Politano with plenty of space to turn. Di Lorenzo moved back onto the outer channel as Acerbi’s deep positioning made room for McTominay to charge from center to right. As Politano dribbled, Neres slipped into plenty of space behind Akanji, but Denzel Dumfries cleared up the loose pass into the box.
From the halfway line, Napoli could gain territory quickly as Neres sprinted into the outer channels, dragging Acerbi with him, and both Spinazzola/Politano were playing the ball inside with their stronger feet from the touchline. Acerbi constantly kept his distance from Neres and these dynamics led to the momentum moving into Napoli’s favor after fifteen minutes had been played.
At the half-hour mark, Napoli applied the pressure after connecting with Neres down the left side and circulating against the low block. In the low block, Çalhanoğlu was not able to occupy the zone ahead of the center-backs, so Napoli had access to players around him in quick exchanges. Politano played the pass inward to Anguissa, a flick found Di Lorenzo, and he was brought down by a combination of Mkhitaryan’s pressure from behind and Acerbi’s slide. The contact from Mkhitaryan was deemed a penalty offense and saw the Armenian pick up an injury in the process (replaced by former Napoli player, Piotr Zieliński). De Bruyne stepped up and converted the penalty, pulling up in the process. Another change was made, De Bruyne replaced by Mathías Olivera in a bizarre sequence of events.
Now Napoli had Spinazzola higher up the pitch, although his role did not change as the width provider, whilst McTominay/Anguissa situationally positioned next to Gilmour in buildup, but the first half ended with momentum in Inter’s favor. This is where their physicality came into action, Dumfries a target at the back post against Olivera and Napoli showed some vulnerability when defending in the box. From another corner, Bastoni hit the crossbar, whilst Martínez went close off a cutback, after Milinković-Savić parried a bouncing shot from Çalhanoğlu. At the back post, Dumfries showed his advantages on Olivera once more, as Bastoni floated a ball towards the center and the Dutchman maneuvered towards the penalty spot. His header hit the outside of the post. Napoli had the lead, but it was Inter that showed more threat around the box.
Acerbi on Neres produces more space
Inter started the second period as they had the first, but with more direct intentions. This could appear through Sommer going long towards Dumfries on Olivera, or through Bonny pealing behind on the same channel with Olivera engaging with more central actions if Inter started the move with shorter exchanges. Nevertheless, Inter could then move the ball back onto the left as Napoli tried to reset in the defensive line, but as Chivu’s team recirculated, their openness on transition (especially in front of the center-backs) creaked open as Napoli relieved themselves from pressure. Seven minutes into the half, Napoli struck once again, with Acerbi awarding Neres with space and this dynamic created space for others.
52nd minute: Buildup to Napoli’s second goal. After an Inter cross was cleared, McTominay poked the ball to Neres and back out wide towards Spinazzola, to start the transition. As Spinazzola opened his body, Acerbi kept the distance on Neres, whilst neither Bastoni nor Çalhanoğlu got goal side of McTominay as the Scotsman charged through.
Spinazzola found McTominay with a looping long ball before the midfielder released an extraordinary strike that flew past Sommer and into the bottom corner. His first goal at the Maradona since last season’s title-winner. By this point of the game, Napoli’s defensive line was willing to drop deeper but this came at a cost shortly after McTominay’s incredible goal. Bastoni took a quick free-kick, and a cross from Dimarco found Martínez before striking the arm of Alessandro Buongiorno. Another penalty and Çalhanoğlu made no mistake.
Of course, such an important clash in Serie A could not go without some conflict as Conte and Martínez got involved. From this point, Inter struggled to stabilize themselves in possession as a few direct balls went astray and a number of throw-ins went straight back into Napoli’s control. Inter were punished for failing to put Napoli under pressure after scoring, as Politano dinked the ball over towards Neres, and the avenue opened for Anguissa to receive underneath Neres and behind Acerbi. Dumfries and Akanji tried to close the space, but Anguissa pushed the ball into the space before he fired a powerful shot past Sommer.
65th minute: Buildup to Napoli’s third. From a throw-in, Acerbi still left space for Neres even when the man-marking roles began to switch. This meant that Neres faced no pressure on receiving from Politano, whilst Anguissa underlapped into the space with the Inter midfielder redundant in the move.
Napoli nearly added a fourth when Neres teed McTominay on the edge of the box, the ball played through by Di Lorenzo and McTominay in plenty of space between Akanji and Acerbi, but the shot did not have the spin to find the corner. Inter struggled to threaten after this point in the game as they found no solution to earlier problems. No routes inside the block meant no shorter routes to get close to the box: Barella and Çalhanoğlu were replaced, so abilities in creative passing went with them.
With Zieliński, Luka Sučić and Davide Frattesi all pushing high up the field, more space opened for Neres to take the ball forward, although he did not have much support in these situations. A shot may not have been taken, but Napoli could still circulate with the ball up the field to see out a significant win.
Takeaways
The security around Conte was not in question, but a defeat to Inter would certainly have added more heat to a job which has shot up in expectation. Instead, Napoli came out of a clash against Inter with even more reaffirmation and belief in the current project, as well as overtaking the Milan clubs to go back to the top of the table. A big win for Conte, who still has a lot to prove amidst a fixture list that gets a lot more intense going into November.
Inter is still in recovery under the same blueprint, but there will be alarm bells as their two big games in Turin and Naples have seen them ship seven goals. Chivu has inherited a successful squad, but how much success would he find in making the team’s rotations less prominent and its structure more static?
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