Simone Inzaghi’s Davide Frattesi Gamble Nearly Pays off Against Monza

Ask Simone Inzaghi about his preferred starting XI and in all likelihood he will point to the fact Inter Milan do not have starters and reserves, but a 25-man squad.

The implications are clear. With the Nerazzurri competing on three fronts, Inzaghi wants his players to seamlessly slot in and out of the team, as and when required.

But it speaks volumes for Inzaghi’s loyalty to some of his most trusted lieutenants that Davide Frattesi, arguably Italy’s most in-form player, had to wait until the fourth match of the season to make his first start.

He very nearly had his first Serie A goal of the season too, blazing a glorious chance over the bar as Inter chased a late winner against Monza at the U-Power Stadium on Sunday night.

Dany Mota headed the hosts ahead with 81 minutes gone, before Denzel Dumfries levelled seven minutes later as Inter finally rallied in search of a win they had seemingly taken for granted.

And the three points briefly looked there for the taking for the Nerazzurri as the ball dropped to Frattesi in injury time.

Scoring has been second nature to Frattesi of late, but for once composure deserted him. The match-winning opportunity went begging and with it Inter’s chances of returning to the top of Serie A.

It would be cruel if the miss came to define the midfielder’s first start of the season.

Can Frattesi replicate his form for Italy in Serie A?

Frattesi played a combined 54 minutes of football across Inter’s first three Serie A fixtures, before being given the nod against his former side.

The 24-year-old had not so much knocked on the door of the starting XI but almost ripped it off its hinges with his performances for Italy.

His goals against France and Israel in the Nations League during the international break brought his tally for the national teams to seven in 21 appearances.

Six of those goals have come since Luciano Spalletti replaced Roberto Mancini in charge of the Azzurri last September, making Frattesi Italy’s top scorer over the past 12 months.

Bruno Fernandes is the only midfielder to have scored more international goals over the same period.

Inzaghi is not one to wilt in the face of public pressure, but omitting Frattesi on Sunday night would have been a difficult decision to justify.

“Even if Inzaghi has [Nicolo] Barella and [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan, I’m convinced that this season at Inter he will have many more opportunities to prove his worth because there will be significant rotation,” Fabio Capello told La Gazzetta dello Sport last week.

His prediction proved to be prescient, as Frattesi and Kristjan Asslani replaced Barella and Hakan Calhanoglu in the starting XI.

With a trip to Manchester to kick-off their Champions League campaign on Wednesday followed by the Milan derby three days later, Inzaghi understandably opted to freshen things up.

Mkhitaryan, Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Darmian all started, but made way for Piotr Zielinski, Mehdi Tahremi and Denzel Dumfries 10 minutes into the second half. 

Inter struggle but Frattesi impresses

And Frattesi very nearly made an instant impact as he did against France nine days ago, looking to play Martinez through with his first touch of the game.

Speaking last week, Spalletti attributed Italy’s post-Euro 2024 revival to a tactical approach that allowed players to play in a system mirroring those they are used to at club level.

How Frattesi must have wished the opposite was true. Just over a week after Italy shredded France to ribbons at the Parc des Princes, Inter laboured to unlock Monza’s low block.

Opportunities were at a premium for Frattesi, but not for the want of trying. 

He dropped deep as Inter looked to build up from the back and he looked for pockets of space as the Nerazzurri spread the ball wide to Federico Dimarco and Matteo Darmian.

He spurned Inter’s best chance of a cagey first half as he side-footed Dimarco’s cross just wide.

In a second half with even fewer chances, he again went close, dragging a speculative effort wide with just over 15 minutes to go.

Then came the real chance and the opportunity to perhaps cement himself into Inzaghi’s starting XI for the foreseeable future and justify the £21m Inter paid Sassuolo to make his loan move permanent this summer.

For Frattesi and for Inter it was not to be. But don’t think of this as a failed audition.

The midfielder scored six Serie A goals last season, despite starting only six league games and playing a total of just 935 minutes of football.

As if to further underline his status as a fringe player, 276 of those minutes came after Inter had already sealed the Scudetto.

Expect him to feature far more prominently this season. And to start converting the chances that come his way.