Simone Inzaghi’s Tactics and Coaching Philosophy
Simone Inzaghi is a name which has been linked as a potential candidate to replace Erik Ten Hag if Manchester United decide to sack the Dutchman. So who is Simone Inzaghi?
Inzaghi is a 48 year old Italian manager who is currently in charge of Inter Milan in Serie A. The former striker spent the majority of his playing career at Lazio (1999 - 2010) where in 11 years he won a Serie A title, three Coppa Italia’s, a Supercoppa Italiana and a UEFA Super Cup.
He is the younger brother of legendary Italian striker Filipo Inzaghi who had prolific spells at Juventus and AC Milan during his career. Simone was always passionate about wanting to pursue a career in management so he began studying his coaching badges towards the tail end of his career as a player.
MANAGEMENT
When he retired in 2010 he was already equipped with his coaching credentials and joined Lazio’s academy where he worked his way up through the academy teams, eventually taking charge of the senior team in 2016.
Inzaghi won one Coppa Italia and two Super Coppa Italiana during his time in charge of Lazio. In his third year at the club, Inzaghi helped them qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 13 years.
Inzaghi then joined Inter Milan in 2021 where in his debut season he won the Coppa Italia and finished second in Serie A. In his second season he once again won the Coppa Italia and whilst Napoli won the Scudetto that season, he took Inter on an incredible run to the Champions League final where they ultimately lost to Manchester City. Inzaghi was gradually and progressively putting Inter Milan back on the map.
In his third season (22/23) at Inter Milan he finally got his hands on a Scudetto, winning Inter’s 20th Serie A title with five games left to play. The 19 point gap between the Nerazzurri and their fiercest rivals AC Milan was the season’s cherry on top of the cake. Inzaghi was consequently also voted Serie A coach of the season for his achievement.
Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo claimed “It could only be Simone Inzaghi.”
"Inter have both the best attack and best defence and also went on a 28-game unbeaten run," said the statement, adding that Inzaghi "has had his players continuously play an exciting brand of football while maintaining compactness and solidity.”
SIMEONE INZAGHI’S TACTICS AND PHILOSOPHY
Simone Inzaghi’s tactics, at both Lazio and Inter Milan, deviate from traditional positional play by emphasising fluidity and rotations. His favoured 3-5-2 formation is characterised by dynamic movement and frequent positional interchanges, especially in wide areas and inside channels.
Inzaghi’s approach involves staggered structures, such as a 2-3-3-2 setup, to counter high presses and facilitate quick vertical progression. This structure allows players to rotate positions seamlessly, maintaining the team’s shape while confusing opponents. The wing-backs play a crucial role, often positioned high up the pitch to stretch the opposition and create chances to deliver crosses into the box. Since Inzaghi likes to play with two strikers he encourages the wingbacks to deliver crosses regularly and according to FootMob, Inter have the highest accurate crosses per match in Serie A with 7.5. Inter will also at times switch to a back four in deep build-up. One wingback will often drop deep to help in the first phase while the other wingback will position himself higher up the pitch to provide an outlet for the attack.
Rotations are a key element of Inzaghi’s style, with players frequently swapping roles to exploit spaces and maintain attacking momentum. This tactic not only disrupts the defensive organisation of the opposition but also ensures that Inter can adapt to various in-game scenarios. Inzaghi’s emphasis on rotations and fluidity over rigid positional play has been instrumental in his teams’ ability to break down defences and sustain pressure throughout matches. It is this freedom to rotate positions which makes his brand of football exciting and in some ways he has revolutionised the traditional 3-5-2 formation. It can at times perhaps be best described as “organised chaos” as players will be so heavily rotated. The two wide centre backs will regularly attack forward with midfielders and strikers building the attack by dropping deep. It’s not usual in Inzaghi’s system to see three midfielders start the build up, with defenders pushed further forward. Of course with the risk involved in this strategy, it does mean the team can be left exposed if they have defenders in advanced positions when Inter are dispossessed.
Wingbacks will also play centrally, rotate and invert frequently, allowing free flowing quick attacks. Inter have good depth in this position with Dimarco, Dumfries, Darmian and Carlos Augusto. Speaking to DAZN, Denzel Dumfries jokingly claimed,
“Inzaghi is always agitated on the bench. He yells all the time, sometimes too much and then I don’t listen to him. When I change wings I’m happy.”
Talented wide centre backs Bastoni and Pavard also contribute to the teams attacking intent and offer a threat when joining the forwards. Their progressive runs will often mean a midfielder drops into defence to cover. Inter also have good balance of creativity, defensive awareness and experience in midfield with the likes of Calhanlogu, Mkhitryan, Barella and Zielinski.
Inzaghi likes to plays with two strikers and his current options at the club are Marko Arnautovic, Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram and Mehdi Taremi with each profile somewhat different to the others. The strikers in Inzaghi’s system can initiate the press, disrupting the opponent’s build-up play from the back. Playing with two strikers also allows one striker to drop deep to link play or create space for the other, rotating as Inzaghi likes most positions to do.
The team’s priority is progression and whilst they don’t tend to overly dominate games, they always maintain a good level of possession and control. When opposition teams decide to press high, the Inter players can easily exploit the space, given the options they have in various positions due to the rotations.
Inzaghi’s philosophy goes against traditional rigid positional play and is undoubtedly a lot more flexible. Players will look to occupy space available in the moment opposed to taking up set positions. The versatile rotations whilst remaining defensively sound and compact makes Inter Milan’s new tactical identity under Inzaghi enjoyable to watch.
INZAGHI IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE?
Inter Milan certainly held their own in the 2023 Champions League final against Pep’s Manchester City and once again in this season’s competition, we seen Inter frustrate them at the Ethihad in a 0-0 draw. So it’s clear Inzaghi’s system could be successful in the Premier League but would he have the players to execute his philosophy? Could Manchester United perhaps play a ‘back three’ of Martinez, De Ligt and Yoro? Does the squad possess full backs capable of the providing an attacking threat, defensive awareness and the ability to rotate as Inzaghi wants? The most problematic aspect might be the question of what United would do with the vast array of talented wide players they have in Rashford, Garnacho and Amad? Inzaghi likes to play with two central strikers and wingbacks (not specifically wide forwards) and Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee are both very different profiles to the strikers at his disposal at Inter. Inzaghi also reportedly doesn’t speak English so would this pose a communication problem for his coaching style to be understood fully by the players?
Unquestionably there would be concerns if Inzaghi’s tactics can translate to the profile of players which make up the current Manchester United squad. Erik Ten Hag has already been backed with approximately £600 million spent on players to assemble his team so the word “rebuild” is something United fans don’t want to hear again anytime soon. One thing we do know is that, Simone Inzaghi has built an effective tactical philosophy which we could no doubt see in the Premier League in the not too distant future.