This season, many are talking (rightly) about Barella, Eriksen or Vidal to analyze the Inter midfielder. They sometimes forget to mention Marcelo Brozovic, Conte’s silent and indispensable lieutenant who, if he is going through a relatively bad patch in 2021, is no less a cornerstone of a club which is finally starting to dream of Scudetto again.
Low point, the primordial position of 3-5-2
In his steadfast 3-5-2, Antonio Conte rests the stability of the midfielder on the shoulders of one man in particular: the low point. Having become master of this post at Inter, Brozovic is the player through whom the whole game nerazzurro passes as much as he is the guarantor of the balance of the system. Less technically skilled than the Pirlo of the great era at the same post, the Croatian compensates with other qualities. He is thus the player who runs the most per match in Serie A with an average of 11.8 kilometers, which allows him to be everywhere at the same time: at the construction of the offensives, at their conclusion (Brozovic is also the 3rd championship passer with 6 assists), but also to compensate for the climbs of other midfielders, whom Conte likes to see playing “box-to-box”.
So, when some like to say that Inter are dependent on Lukaku, it is best to put Brozovic more forward, who is perhaps the most important player in Antonio Conte’s tactics.
2021, the relative decline
Since the start of the year, Brozovic has had a much more sinusoidal level than at the start of the season. Rather productive at the offensive level (4 TCC assists), the Croatian has dropped in terms of influence in the defensive aspect and transitions. His relative decline in speed thus coincided with that of Inter in January (1 defeat and 2 draws in 4 Serie A matches between January 6 and 23, elimination in Coppa against Juventus). On the pitch, Brozovic suddenly became more absent and above all less sharp in his interventions. Fatigue which should not come as a surprise given the marathon that this season represents (even without the Champions League) and the multiplication of matches in January, which the Croatian has almost all played in their entirety.
What role against AC Milan in the derby?
In this afternoon’s derby, Brozovic will have a central role as usual. More than Kessié or Tonali, the Croatian midfielder will have the thankless but crucial task of containing and curbing Calhanoglu, who rediscovers and brings back to Italy the joys of the trequartista position.
Elusive, with no particular position on the pitch, Calhanoglu will constantly prowl in Inter’s no man’s land between the low point and the defenders, who will already have to manage Ibrahimovic, Rebic and normally Saelemaekers. It will therefore be up to Brozovic to do everything to limit as much as possible the impact of his Turkish opponent, who is the best passer in Serie A while being a player who suffers very few faults, which shows his ability not to be made. to catch.
Here is what awaits the Croatian for this capital derby. If Inter want to make the Scudetto dream a reality and finally succeed Juventus, whatever happens, they will need an excellent Brozovic, this very silent but essential lieutenant of the immutable system of Antonio Conte.
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