Inter’s New Identity Comes With a Defensive Cost

Stefano Borghi believes Inter are moving towards a distinct identity under Cristian Chivu, with the shift from Simone Inzaghi’s side still taking shape and bringing a defensive trade-off.

The journalist and commentator made the comparison during Sky Sport 24 programming after Inter’s victory over Parma. FCInterNews and FCInter1908 reported his assessment: the Nerazzurri remain formidable, but the way they seek to impose themselves is changing.

That developing identity has already been a focus in coverage of Inter’s tactical identity under Chivu. Borghi’s distinction is specific: Inzaghi’s team controlled possession and build-up within the 3-5-2, while Chivu’s version aims to attack more directly, vertically and aggressively.

From control to a more direct Inter

Under Inzaghi, Borghi said, Inter interpreted the 3-5-2 with a strong command of the ball and the movement around it. His comparison does not suggest that the formation itself has disappeared. Instead, it points to a change in how the team uses it: less emphasis on extended construction, more intent to move forward quickly and put opponents under pressure.

Chivu’s Inter, in Borghi’s reading, are seeking to turn that intent into a defining feature. The shift is a metamorphosis in progress, rather than a finished break with the previous cycle. That matters for a side whose recent strengths have included control as well as attacking output: the question is how much of the old command can be retained while the new approach takes hold.

Borghi also described Inter as the best team in Italy. His praise came with a caveat, however. A side that attacks with greater urgency can give opponents more opportunities, and he said the change in style necessarily involves conceding something. The assessment aligns with broader discussion of Chivu’s ideas at Inter, while keeping the focus on the cost Borghi identified rather than adding claims about tactics beyond his comparison.

The point is not that directness automatically makes Inter less controlled. It is that the balance is different. If the team commits to a more aggressive approach, the quality of its reactions when possession changes becomes part of the same equation as its forward play. Borghi’s comments leave that tension unresolved: the evolution may make Inter more forceful, but it also raises the standard required to protect their goal.

Parma’s chances and the Champions League test

Parma provided the clearest example in Borghi’s analysis. Inter dominated and won, yet Parma still managed nine shots on target. Borghi cited that figure not to dismiss the result, but to underline the defensive exposure that can sit alongside control of a match.

He separated that concern from a broader pattern: Inter had gone two goals behind on four occasions, including in their Champions League meeting with Real Madrid. Those deficits are a different measure from Parma’s nine efforts on target, but both informed his concern about the margin for error as the team changes its approach.

That distinction becomes sharper in Europe. Borghi considered Chivu’s developing configuration interesting for the Champions League, while warning that allowing an opponent nine shots on target at that level could end with the opponent celebrating. The challenge, then, is not simply to be more vertical; Inter must make that aggression count and avoid giving elite sides repeated chances to punish them.

For now, Borghi believes Chivu is likely satisfied with what he is seeing. The win over Parma and the more assertive style offer reasons for that view, but his assessment is not a declaration that the transition is complete. Inter are still negotiating the balance between the possession and movement associated with Inzaghi and the direct, aggressive football Chivu is trying to establish.

The next measure is whether that approach can produce the same authority without leaving the Nerazzurri so exposed. As Inter’s progress under Chivu continues, the European test will make that trade-off difficult to ignore: attack with conviction, but ensure that the chances conceded do not decide the contest.