Marcelo Brozović was seen as a rotation player at Inter for a long time.
The Croatian wasnt a player to trust or build the team around for a long time.
He was good at times, poor at others and always inconsistent.
Not anymore.
Since Luciano Spalletti changed Brozovics position to a deeper one, just in front of the back-four, the midfielder has gone from strength to strength, established himself as Inters most important player and been key in Croatias run to 2018 World Cup final.
Alongside Mauro Icardi, Brozovic is the player who Inter cant replace.
This tactical analysis will look at what he brings to the Nerazzurri.
Why Marcelo Brozović is vital for Inter
Inter Milan normally plays in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Brozovic starts as one of the two defensive midfielders when defending.
In attack, he drops deep as a lone defensive midfielder and dictates Inters attacking play as the shape turns into more of a 4-3-3.
Lets look at what he brings to the team.
Marcelo Brozović positioning
Brozovic has all the technical and physical abilities youd like from a midfielder at a top club.
But just as important is his football intelligence and understanding of space.
Brozovic is absolutely key in terms of Inter breaking through the pressing of the opposition.
He always looks to position himself behind the opponents first line of pressing.
This is probably due to Spalletti trusting his defenders Milan Skriniar and Stefan De Vrij to use their ability to break the first pressure.
The image below shows how Brozovic moves into the empty space behind Lazios attackers.
This allows Inter to progress the ball cleanly and force Lazio into a reaction while Brozovic can continue the attack by finding Vecino in the right-sided half-space.
The below image is just another example of this clever positioning.
Brozovic finds a position behind Lazios attacking duo and Skriniar breaks the first line of pressure and Brozovic can turn and progress the ball forward.
If you look closely, you also see how Brozovic has turned his head
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