Serie A Women 2022/23: How Inter Milan exploited Milan’s defensive and attacking issues – tactical analysis

Inter Milan Women hosted Milan Women in the sixth fixture of Serie A Women and the match ended with a huge 4-0 Inter Milan win over their rivals. In fact, this was a surprising result for all Serie A Women followers since Milan was required to make a reaction following their disappointing losses against Fiorentina and Roma. Yet, the Rossonere embarrassed their fans once again by losing one of the most important games of the season both in relation to the value of the Derby and in relation to the standings.

With this loss, Milan are holding the sixth spot with nine points while Inter are at the top of the league with 16 points, ahead of both Roma and Fiorentina who have 15 points. This is the first time in a while we have seen Inter topping the league while Juventus are in the fourth spot. This means that teams like Inter, Roma and Fiorentina are becoming more powerful lately and are challenging both Juventus and Milan for the top spots. In fact, they are ahead of both Juventus and Milan in terms of points. Such news can only make Serie A followers happy since it adds a lot to the competition and makes the league more entertaining.

However, Milan will have to revise numerous aspects and focus on enhancing their performances before it becomes too late. If the team wants to stay competitive and challenge for the top two spots, they will need to show more determination and more organisation on the field in order to win more points and be at the same level as their rivals.

On the other side, Inter proved that they are going through a very positive period and a great run of form after winning against Parma, Pomigliano, Sampdoria, Como and drawing with Juventus. They should exploit this form and keep winning points even though they will be facing some more complicated opponents soon as they will face Sassuolo, Roma and Fiorentina.

In this tactical analysis article, we will focus mainly on Milan’s defensive and attacking issues in order to identify the reasons that led to their failure in the derby. The analysis will also aim at exploring Inter Milan’s tactics to see how the Nerazzurre succeeded in scoring four times without conceding any.

Line-ups

Inter Milan started the game using the 4-3-3 formation with Francesca Durante as a goalkeeper, Anja Sønstevold, Stefanie van der Gragt, Lisa Alborghetti and Chiara Robustellini in defence, Ghoutia Karchouni, Mana Mihashi and Flaminia Simonetti as central midfielders, Elisa Polli and Ajara Nchout as wingers and Tabitha Chawinga as a striker.

On the other side, Milan opted for the 3-4-3 formation with Laura Giuliani, Laura Fusetti, Małgorzata Mesjasz and Guðný Árnadóttir in defence, Valentina Bergamaschi, Christy Grimshaw, Greta Adami and Linda Tucceri Cimini in midfield while Kamila Dubcová and Lindsey Thomas played on the wings and Kosovare Asllani was the team’s striker.

Milan’s tactical issues

Milan lost once again against one of their rivals and this one was even heavier than their previous losses. In fact, the Rossonere looked a bit lost on the field and committed numerous defensive mistakes that led to losing the match from the start. The team conceded the first Inter goal in the eighth minute from a corner kick. Defending set-pieces is representing a problem for Milan so far this season and the coaching staff are failing to fix this issue.

Training on marking during set-pieces and providing adequate instructions for such situations would help the team a lot in this aspect since it is causing too many problems for Milan. As you can see in the picture below, Árnadóttir left her direct opponent unmarked as soon as the corner kick was executed and went towards the direction of it to try to win the ball. However, Árnadóttir had to keep marking van der Gragt in this action in order to prevent the ball from reaching her.