Artificial counter-attacks, penetrating runs, and a 5-3-2 that shouldn't
work — but absolutely does. The complete FM26 tactical breakdown of
Inzaghi's Inter Milan.
Before Simone Inzaghi joined Inter Milan in 2021, the Nerazzurri hadn't gone beyond the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals since they won the competition in 2009/10 — in fact, they had failed to reach that exact stage in every campaign between 2011/12 and 2021/22, with a lengthy hiatus between 2012/13 and 2017/18. However, Inzaghi completely revived Inter Milan in European competition, guiding them to an unlucky Round of 16 exit at the hands of eventual Finalists, Liverpool, before an extraordinary run to the Final.
They would achieve this feat for a second time in three years in Inzaghi's final season, after a scintillating run to the Final after beating Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in a frantic frenzy at San Siro. Of course, they would go on to lose both Finals, however, they were particularly unlucky in their 1-0 defeat to treble-winning Manchester City, whilst the heavy 5-0 defeat to one of the greatest teams in recent history, PSG, was likely the result of sheer fatigue, heartache — having fallen short in two domestic competitions prior — and stagnation from a relatively older crop of players. Despite these unfavourable conditions, Inzaghi was able to achieve incredible things with the club, whilst playing an extremely attractive and entertaining style of play...
Disclaimer: Parts of Inzaghi's system are simply impossible to recreate on Football Manager 26, so this is more of an interpretation with Inzaghi's key principles at the absolute forefront.
Ingenious Invention
Typically, the 5-3-2 formation would resemble that of an extremely pragmatic, dogmatic, and defensive side that were comfortable in winning ugly. However, Inzaghi's Inter completely revolutionised the sheer potential and reputation of the seemingly rigid formation, as their wacky tactics stemmed from this exact formation.
In-possession, Inter didn't have a particular structure they were wedded to — rather, players were given complete licence to roam and drift wherever they felt would be best suited to the game's situation: this was all with the intention of creating and attacking space. For instance, you could observe a midfielder dropping into the backline with a centre-back moving higher to occupy that exact space created. However, a key part of Inzaghi's Inter was the idea of penetrating space, not occupying space — that way, his side would be far trickier to mark and track.
This is a great example of what I mean: Mkhitaryan drops deeper (red line) to occupy Bastoni's left-sided centre-back position, and Bastoni counters this by penetrating (green line) the space (orange circle) that Mkhitaryan used to occupy.
Artificial Counter-Attacks
A major facet of Inter's game under Inzaghi was the idea of manufacturing artificial counter-attacks: in build-up, Inter would circulate possession patiently, with the aim of luring in the opposition's high-press. Then, as the opposition begin pressing high, they would play through this pressure with a string of quick, short, and vertical passes to create an attacking situation that resembled that of a classic counter-attack, typically with as many as four players attacking space in-behind the opposition's defence and bearing down on goal.
The aforementioned nuance of penetrating space, rather than occupying space, becomes crucial for this part of Inter's game, as they could — after a string of passes — find a player running in-behind from a deeper position. As a result of this emphasis to attack space in-behind, Inter would rarely sustain possession in the opposition's half for longer periods, rather opting to go backwards in an attempt to draw out the opposition again.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
In build-up, Inzaghi's Inter would remain patient in their passing as they would encourage the opposition to press them higher — to do this, Sommer would take time on the ball, before distributing short to the centre-backs. From here, as the opposition edged higher in their press, Inter would bypass said press with quick, short passing combinations primarily in central areas.
From these central areas, Inter would primarily look to find two main 'receivers' of the ball: the underlapping wide centre-back on the left-side, usually Bastoni, and the overlapping right-back, Dumfries. In the final third, Inter would waste no time in whipping in an early cross to the striker/s; by crossing early, Inter could catch out the retreating defence with a cross into the path of their striker/s.
In general, Inzaghi's Inter emphasised attacking space in-behind, whilst using quicker, shorter passes to draw in the opposition's high-press. Additionally, to accentuate their shorter, quicker combinations between players, they would tend to operate within tighter confines. Finally, upon regaining possession, Inter would look to punish the opposition with rapid counter-attacks.
Out of Possession
When Inter didn't have the ball, they would press the opposition high in an aggressive, man-to-man manner. To supplement this high-press, the defence were instructed to hold a higher line to compact the space in midfield. Finally, upon losing possession, Inter were instructed to incessantly harry the opposition to try and regain possession as quickly as possible.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
Sommer was one of many astute purchases by Inter during Inzaghi's reign, as he completely transformed Inter's build-up phase. He possessed the composure to move higher and support his deeper team-mates in the build-up phase, and the quality to find team-mates with passes across various ranges — he would tend to go long towards the strikers or wing-backs if the team were under severe pressure from the opposition. When Inter didn't have the ball, Sommer was more than comfortable sweeping any loose balls in-behind and claiming any crosses into the penalty area.
Advanced Wing-Back | Wing-Back
Of the two wing-backs in this system, Denzel Dumfries was definitely the more aggressive and adventurous in his positioning, as he would advance really high on the right-flank, often moving into a typical 'right-winger' position. Additionally, as Inter reached the final third, Dumfries would tend to attack the box as a secondary crossing option.
Upon receiving the ball, Dumfries would take on his man frequently as he tried to reach the byline often — alternatively, he could link play with the right-sided central midfielder or Thuram dropping off the frontline, before running in-behind to receive the one-two. Finally, when Inter didn't have the ball, both wing-backs were incredibly aggressive in closing down the opposition.
(DCR & DCL) Overlapping Centre-Back | Wide Centre-Back
Both wide centre-backs in Inter's back-three were used in the same roles, with the same ideas at the forefront: both centre-backs would consistently move higher and make runs off the ball, typically overlapping/underlapping the wing-back on their side and penetrating space. On the ball, both centre-backs would regularly carry the ball forward, whilst focusing on releasing passes without much risk — although, both centre-backs could, at times, go more direct into a striker. Finally, when Inter didn't have the ball and the wing-backs would move higher to engage in closing down the opposition, both of Inter's wider centre-backs would actively move across to cover for them.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back
This is where the discrepancy between this tactic being a 'recreation' and a 'replication' comes into play: in real life, Acerbi could also make runs into space beyond the midfield line. However, in Football Manager 26, there is no way to recreate this, as the 'Advanced Centre-Back' role doesn't penetrate space — it occupies space as a result of the match engine's preference for positional play. As such, I decided to use this role as a compensatory measure for the Overlapping Centre-Backs' aggressiveness.
Wing-Back | Wing-Back
Whilst Dumfries, on the other side, would advance much higher, Dimarco was a bit more reserved in his attacking endeavours, often remaining in-line with the midfield line and, at times, moving narrower to create space for Bastoni to overlap him — this situational central positioning would also create ideal conditions for him to combine with Inter's central players.
This deeper positioning was also perfect for him to release an abundance of crosses from deeper positions, but, also, he was in a perfect position to release Lautaro Martínez or the overlapping/underlapping Bastoni in-behind with a riskier through ball — this is where Dimarco could showcase his wonderful technical quality! Upon receiving the ball, Dimarco would tend to release the ball shorter if the through ball wasn't on — alternatively, he could carry the ball inside, although this wasn't too frequent. In the final third, Dimarco wasn't against taking a speculative effort from range — however, more frequently, he would cross the ball into the penalty area, typically aiming for Dumfries at the back post.
Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder
In this system, Çalhanoglu was omnipresent in-possession, constantly dropping deeper to get on the ball and rotating positions with Inter's wider centre-backs. Upon receiving the ball, Çalhanoglu would tend to recycle possession with shorter passes, although he could switch the play and/or find a player running in-behind at times.
Box-to-Box Midfielder | Central Midfielder
Barella's role, in this system, epitomised the 'Box-to-Box Midfielder' role — in build-up, he would drop deeper to aid build-up before advancing higher and crashing the box as Inter progressed higher up the pitch. Upon receiving the ball, Barella would primarily distribute shorter — however, he did have the tendency to carry the ball forward. Additionally, Barella would tend to make runs into the channels, latching onto progressive passes from deeper players. Finally, when Inter didn't have the ball, both central midfielders would mark their opposite number tightly.
Midfield Playmaker | Central Midfielder
On the other side of midfield, Mkhitaryan would tend to drift wider on the left to link with Bastoni and Dimarco — although he could roam from his position and temporarily swap places with a team-mate.
Deep-Lying Forward | Centre Forward
Of the two strikers in this system, Thuram was the more likely to drop off the frontline to link play, and he did this often. When Inter had the ball, Thuram would tend to roam and drift from his position and, upon receiving the ball, he could either link play with a simple, short pass, take more risk in cheekily flicking the ball to find a team-mate close to him, or turning and running at the opposition himself, wherefrom he could slip a team-mate in-behind.
Centre Forward | Centre Forward
On the other side of the attack, Lautaro Martínez was Inter's primary goalscorer, and, as such, would position himself higher. Additionally, he would tend to shoot more often if the chance was there. However, much like Thuram, Martínez could roam and drift from his position, before holding up play and/or releasing the ball short to a team-mate close to him.
Results
Serie A
In Serie A, in testing with Inter, we tore apart the league, winning 30 of our 38 league games, whilst drawing 6 games, and losing just 2 games. Additionally, we scored 103 goals (2.7 goals per game) and conceded just 19 goals (0.5 goals per game) all season — the league's best record for each statistic.
Domestic Cups
We secured our first piece of silverware of the season, as we thumped Napoli 5-0 to win the Supercoppa Italiana! In the Semi-Finals, we would score 5 again as we overcame Bologna, beating them 5-2. We made it a domestic treble, as we won the Coppa Italia, beating Sassuolo 4-1 in the Final — on the way to the Final, we beat the likes of Bologna (1-0) and Venezia (4-1).
UEFA Champions League
Despite topping the League Phase and looking like the best team in Europe throughout our Champions League journey, we fell short. A commanding 1-0 victory in the Semi-Final first leg against Liverpool gave us the advantage going into the second leg at Anfield but, despite taking the lead in the game, we were left heartbroken. Following a chaotic 3-3 tie across the 180 minutes, the tie went to penalties, wherefrom Alisson saved two penalties as Liverpool went through to the Final.
Read Also
- FM26 Tactics Hub
- FM26 Best Youth Academies
- FM26 Wonderkids by PA, Price & Position
- FM26 Transfer Budgets
Conclusion
Over the past two decades, European success has been few and far between for Inter Milan and, for a sustained period, it looked thoroughly improbable... that was until Simone Inzaghi arrived. The Italian masterminded overperformances in his previous role at Lazio, and he would go better in his time at the Nerazzurri, winning the Scudetto in 23/24 and leading Inter to two unlikely Champions League Finals in three years, despite possessing a squad relatively unequipped and significant financial constraints — and he did this whilst coaching one of the most exciting and entertaining styles of play football has seen in a generation!
If you want a taste of this beautiful tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!
