The arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan at Inter he was greeted by Simone Inzaghi with particular satisfaction: “He has always put me in difficulty and will help us in the growth of the team“. In fact, the Armenian was the only one to save himself by scoring a nice goal in the 3-1 soundtrack from Inter to Roma in the last part of April, but the Nerazzurri coach undoubtedly also remembers the Roma-Lazio derby 2-0, in May 2021, when Pedro and again Mkhitaryan laid out his team. The good news, therefore, is that the former Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund will no longer be able to hurt Inzaghi’s teams. But there is more.
COMPETITION FOR CALHA – The reserve of Calhanoglu, like in reality those of Barella and Brozovic, last season, there was no: in the case of the Croatian there was just no other director in pink (but now Asllani has arrived), while the replacement mezzali – Vidal, Vecino, Gagliardini, Sensi until January – they did not perform at all up to the level of the owners. Calhanoglu, therefore, was very upset when, in the moment that turned out to be decisive, the final quarter of an hour of the return derby, Inzaghi took away him and Perisic. And he did not fail to underline this during an interview in Turkey. Here, probably now the coach from Piacenza can afford to replace his number 20 without raising much controversy, given the specific weight of the player who has been available for a few days. And from his side, Calhanoglu will have to pay more attention to his exits, such as diving from the highest point of a yacht.
COMPARISON NUMBERS – At first glance, however, if you put the numbers of Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan in the 2020-21 season, there is no match. For the midfielders, more attention is paid to the blocking of data on passing, The count of assists is 12 against 6 and the average of key passes per game is 2.6 against 1.3. As for passing in general, here too the Turk has a higher average in Serie A, 47.5 versus 35.6. Calhanoglu, therefore, touches more balls than his new partner, especially forward, where he perfectly double Mkhitaryan in numbers. The Armenian compares better in terms of dribbling and shots on goal, confirming his offensive and imaginative nature. But the data on the passages is also explained by Mourinho’s decision to withdraw Mkhitaryan’s range of action in the second half of the season, alongside Cristante and leaving Zaniolo and Pellegrini ahead. Playing as a midfielder, undoubtedly, there are fewer assists and key passes than as an attacking midfielder. And as a mezzala? All that remains is to wait for the start of the season with the first friendlies. The start was certainly exemplary: the Armenian and Bellanova were among the first to show up at the rally yesterday.
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