Former Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni has offered his tactical assessment of Saturday’s Serie A showdown between Roma and Inter at the Stadio Olimpico.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Stramaccioni discussed Donyell Malen’s extraordinary scoring form, the importance of Paulo Dybala and the tactical areas that could decide the match.
Stramaccioni backs Malen to challenge Lautaro
Malen has scored six goals across Roma’s opening four Serie A matches, placing him alongside Francesco Totti and Pedro Manfredini in the club’s history.
Asked whether the Dutchman could maintain his pace and challenge for the Capocannoniere award, Stramaccioni identified Inter captain Lautaro Martinez as his principal rival.
“Now he has become a ‘special target’ for opponents,” Stramaccioni said. “The key will be Dybala’s assists, but I think it will be between him and Lautaro.”
Dybala created Malen’s opening goal during Roma’s 2-0 victory over Torino, continuing the productive understanding between the two attackers. Gasperini has described the pair—now commonly referred to as “Dybalen”—as two players whose qualities naturally complement each other.
The tactical keys to Roma vs Inter
Stramaccioni expects Roma to adjust the positioning of their attacking midfielders to limit Inter’s ability to build from defence and prevent Piotr Zielinski from controlling the game.
“Roma will invert the attacking triangle to deal with Zielinski and will not allow Inter’s outside centre-backs to build,” he explained. “Then, keep an eye on the wings. The key will be the unusual duel between Wesley and Diouf.”
The former coach believes Inter’s forwards and Nicolo Barella could create problems for Roma’s aggressive man-to-man defensive system.
“For Inter, I would highlight the movement of the forwards in combination with Barella,” he continued. “That could cause problems for Roma’s man-marking.”
Stramaccioni also noted that Gasperini’s teams have historically encountered difficulties against opponents using a 3-5-2 formation.
“It is undeniable that Gasperini’s philosophy suffers against certain aspects of the 3-5-2. Since January 2010, against coaches who use this system—such as Conte, Simone Inzaghi and Chivu—Gasperini has lost ten times and drawn four.”
Roma have reduced the gap
When asked which players have impressed him most, Stramaccioni selected Zielinski for Inter alongside two important Roma performers.
“Zielinski, Balerdi and Dybala,” he said. “I’m happy to see Dybala in such good form. Both teams have strengthened, Inter have greater depth, but Gasperini has significantly reduced the gap.”
Roma and Inter enter Saturday’s meeting with perfect Serie A records, making the contest an early opportunity to evaluate Gasperini’s side against the defending champions.
Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport
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