Di Canio: “Inter are unplayable when they are like this. Spence plays blindfolded in Italy. Defeat against AC Milan came down to a reckless decision”

The win over Como has changed the narrative around Inter

Inter beat Como 2-0 and have shifted the narrative around them once more after several difficult weeks of widespread criticism, particularly following their derby defeat. In Italy, at least, their pursuit of league leaders Lazio is back on, with the same -1 deficit they took into the break.

That emphatic win over fairytale side Como, who had dominated in the Champions League with a 9-1 thrashing of Lens that rewrote the history of the club and Italian football, also prompted long-standing TV figures and pundits such as Paolo Di Canio in the Sky Sport studio to come out strongly in favour of Inter's dominance.

"If Lautaro is missing, it makes a difference. He's a leader, and even at 60%, especially in certain matches, he has the technical quality to find space and can shoot like few others... But Thuram is making the difference: even in recent matches, when Inter weren't creating chances, he was moving, working hard, looking for the ball and roaming across the front line. It's the team that changes, and today we saw the real Inter."

"You can lose your way for a moment because we've become too comfortable, because everything seems easy. But when things stop going your way, does that mean we're no longer the same? The good thing about Inter is that there are safeguards within the club, so they cannot ruin what they have built over these six years: they absorb what the club and its serious environment demand."

"For the first 6 matches, we talked about dominance, about Inter being unplayable, which is what I think when I watch them as I did today. If they lose their way, they find it again because there is a healthy, serious environment. Akanji's challenges showed strength in his legs, and they played during the week: it is just a question of mentality, aside from a few flaws they may have, like many other teams."

"This freshness, this sharpness, is not down to chance, just as it was not down to chance when Inter were conceding goals. That approach was a weakness: slow, ponderous, in their thinking, in moving the ball, mistiming their recoveries. This is Inter: if they press you and come after you, it is not that the other teams are phenomenal at defending. The change of formation against AC Milan seemed a reckless choice to me, you make the team lose their identity: it happens even to the best managers in the world."

"Diouf, a left-footer, a dribble-happy central midfielder who starts playing at wing-back, inattentive, without a natural right foot... Spence? He plays blindfolded in Italy... he plays with a blindfold on. But he was a starter at the World Cup for the world's third-best national team. We're not talking about just anyone... he's got a good left foot, technique.

The ball he puts in is a Premier League assist: a fiercely hit ball — either you score an own goal or my team-mate scores. But he also has the technical ability to play out from the back. Then sometimes he'll switch off because he's a bit like that, but if they can get rid of that flaw, it'll be easier for him to play at wing-back with that athleticism, that quality and that technique."