Hellas Verona lined up in a 3-4-3 formation in this game against Inter’s 3-5-2. They were on the defensive for a lot of the game and looked to spring forward on the counter attack when looking for goalscoring chances. They seemed fairly comfortable defensively for most of the match despite giving up a lot of possession and shots to the opposition. They conceded their two goals in a five minute spell and were perhaps a bit unlucky to be behind at that point. They managed to equalise and draw the game 2-2.
Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Sofyan Amrabat
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Moroccan
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 21/08/1996
- Current Club: Hellas Verona, on loan from Fiorentina
- Career: FC Utrecht (Y), Feyenoord, Club Brugge, Hella Verona (L), Fiorentina, Hellas Verona (L)
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Amrabat was one of Verona’s two centre midfield players and he often found himself picking up deeper central positions. He was comfortable dropping into the defensive line if needed and made a good extra body when Verona were coming under pressure from Inter. At 6’1″ he was capable of winning aerial duels and he used his body well. He was strong in the tackle, but he sometimes seemed a bit slow to react to developing situations and was guilty of making some lazy tackles in transition and giving away a number of fouls.
He read the game very well and was able to step in to cut out passes and pick up loose balls before starting attacks for his team. His defensive positioning was good, it allowed him to move in to press opposition players as they approached the area or to back off the provide cover for potential through balls. He wasn’t especially aggressive when pressing, he didn’t hunt the ball down across the pitch but he was able to put pressure on opponents at sensible times and his physicality made it easier for him to do so.
He demonstrated an impressive passing range, he was able to play longer passes to switch play and change the angle of the attack well, He could play diagonals to the wing backs to open up space to start attacks from wide areas as well as being able to play shorter, sharper, vertical passes to break the lines and beat the press. He also showed that he was comfortable picking the ball up and driving into space. Despite his size and larger build he showed good agility and was able to draw defenders in before making a quick move away from them.
Rating – A2
Marash Kumbulla
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Albanian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 08/02/2000
- Current Club: Hellas Verona
- Career: Hellas Verona
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Kumbulla played on the left side of Hellas Verona’s back three and he was given the unenviable task of man marking Inter’s Lukaku for a lot of the game. Up against a striker of Lukaku’s size and stature Kumbulla coped well physically, he demonstrated good strength and he was able to use his body well to make it difficult for forwards to influence the game. Kumbulla’s man marking job saw him following and pressing Lukaku quite high up the pitch, he was comfortable stepping into more advanced areas and he chose good moments to follow and when to allow midfielders to take over. He was able to stay tight to the striker and get in front of him in various positions to intercept balls up to him.
For Inter’s first goal, Kumbulla found himself sat off Lukaku a bit which gave him time to turn and shoot which ended up leading to the first goal. This was one of the only times he found himself not as close to him and demonstrates how well he did his job for the rest of the game, he was concentrated and stuck to his task well.
When Kumbulla was able to get on the ball he showed that he had a decent passing range, he wasn’t afraid to attempt some longer passes but they came with limited success. He showed the ability to play some good vertical passes into midfield but he didn’t try this enough and kept things fairly simple in possession otherwise. He was able to win the ball back himself high up on occasion an showed he had a fairly good first touch and was able to move forward with the ball into space.
Rating – B1
Federico Dimarco
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Italian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 10/11/1997
- Current Club: Hellas Verona on loan from Inter Milan.
- Career: Inter Milan, Ascoli (L), Empoli (L), Sion, Inter Milan, Parma (L), Hellas Verona (L)
- Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Dimarco played as Verona’s left wing back in this game against his parent club. He proved to be a fairly regular threat out wide, especially in the first half. A lot of Verona’s better attacking moves were built down the left and he linked up well with Lazovic on the wing.
He was able to get himself an assist early in the first half with a good clipped ball down the line into space for Lazovic the run on to. He played a similar ball a few times and did well to hit space and turn the Inter defenders to make things difficult for them. His passing otherwise was pretty simple stuff and wasn’t always the most accurate, in combination with some other scenarios he lost possession 13 times in the 66 minutes he was on the pitch. He was able to find space in wide areas well against Inter’s 3 at the back, he showed good pace to get up and down the left and he was comfortable running at defenders with the ball at his feet.
Despite playing out wide, Dimarco was able to find some space in central areas which made him difficult for defenders to mark. He moved well across the defensive line to get in between defenders in good attacking areas. This meant the he was sometimes caught out of position in defensive transitions and couldn’t help his defence out with Candreva.
At 5’9″ with a slight build, Dimarco sometimes struggled physically and even though he played as a left wing back he wasn’t involved in many defensive situations and he tended to lose out in the duels he was involved him. He may have felt a bit unlucky to have scored an own goal after a cross deflected off him and crept in at the near post but he could’ve avoided it by being a bit tighter to Candreva as he tried to close down the shot. He could also come under a bit of criticism for being drawn to the ball rather than sticking to the man he should’ve been marking at some times.
Rating – B2