Filippo Inzaghi with the ball at Benevento 2019/20 – Tactical Analysis | OneFootball

Benevento could well be the most in-form team in Italy. Unbeaten since November and comfortably top of the Serie B table. This tactical analysis isn’t about right and wrong or an opinion. It is about winning and how it is achieved. It will look at this remarkable run that Filippo Inzaghi and Benevento have been on and whether that run is notable for more than just the winning. It will look at the process behind how they find themselves top of Serie B, 20 points clear of Crotone in second place and the game model, tactics, and philosophy Filippo Inzaghi has implemented that has meant only one defeat in 28 games.

The objective facts of football will never change. Two teams of eleven players try to prevent and score goals to win games.

From here, the subjectivity of the coach and the football club takes over. How you achieve the ultimate objective is cultivated by a belief in the way the game should be played by whichever coach is in the hot seat. If winning is the highest priority then does it really matter what it looks like? If success is paramount to your club do you care if that success clashes with your beliefs on how the game should be played?

In short, this two-part tactical analysis will aim to answer the following questions;

Club History and Coaching Context

Gli Stregoni or The Sorcerers were promoted to Serie A, for the first time in their history in 2017, after winning the Serie B playoffs. You may remember, they set a record for the worst start to a season in any of Europe’s top five leagues by losing their first 14 Serie A matches. This streak famously ended with a 95th minute equalising header from goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli for a 2–2 home draw against A.C. Milan. Benevento’s time in Serie A lasted one season and they were relegated after a last-place finish in Serie A, although they ultimately won six of their last 23 games.

Filippo Inzaghi took over in June 2019. A world-class, former striker for several Italian clubs, who spent the most notable spells of his club career with Juventus and Milan, winning two UEFA Champions Leagues and three Serie A titles. He is the 7th highest scorer in Italian football history with 313 goals.

Inzaghi started his coaching career at the beginning of the 2012–13 season as the Head Coach of Milan’s reserve team. He was promoted and named manager of Milan’s first team after the dismissal of Clarence Seedorf. From there, Inzaghi guided Venezia to a fifth-place finish in Serie B, finishing in the playoff positions to earn promotion to Serie A After losing in the semi-finals he moved to Bologna, however, following a record of two wins in 21 games, he was dismissed.

Statistical Overview

It is not an understatement to suggest in this analysis that Benevento has some stats that are quite remarkable that have already been mentioned. As always, these stats tell very few lies and we will look at the major ones with the ball now.

In Possession

Tactical Overview

The standard 4-4-2 system has been used by Inzaghi for most of the season. The odd flick into 4-3-3 in one or two games aside it has been normal to find system on show each week.

Christian Maggio and Gaetano Letizia have been almost ever-present on each side of the back four while captain Luca Caldirolta has played in every game to date at centre back. Nicholas Viola and Pasquale Schiattarella have anchored the midfield together for the second half of the season while Roberto Insigne has been a key contributor from right midfield. Massimo Coda has led the line in every game so far and has been a huge part of the attacking threat Benevento poses from crosses into the box. Continuity has been key for them but it is hard to change a winning side. Players like Perparim Hetemaj have made key contributions throughout the season in central midfield, mostly from the bench.

Possession Through the Zones

How they build

Serie B is a league with high energy, excellent defensive structures and organisation and a large emphasis on direct play. This emphasis on the direct play is a result of the high energy and the focus on pressing high up the pitch to force turnovers for chances. Benevento built up under high pressure on 473 occasions across the season to date. This is only on average six times per game. The best way to think about Inzaghi’s process in this third of the pitch is “no risks”. Benevento uses their build-up to play around the opposition rather than through them with a focus on width. This is largely down to the opponent shape, for the most part a midfield diamond with a high pressing focus with two players in the first line of pressure. This lends itself to being easier to go around rather than through.

It is not unusual to find the goalkeeper to play long into the wide forward or a striker coming off the line, usually under pressure from the pressing front two. However, it is the use of the Benevento fullbacks that we will focus on for this area of the pitch.

How they create

Benevento gets the ball into this area of the pitch using the methods stated above. Either longer from the goalkeeper to avoid high pressing teams and the associated risks or by playing around with their fullbacks then progressing the ball forwards from there. In this third it is all about getting the ball into their preferred positions to cross from or get in behind the opponent to create chances to score.

Again the emphasis is on the wide areas but there is a little more influence from the two deep-lying midfield players with the fullbacks now pushing on allowing the wide midfield players to move inside, creating at times a very loaded top line.

This attacking structure allows Benevento to also slice open teams when the opportunity arises.

How they score

As we explore the ways in which Benevento has created these chances, it is important to have this quote in your head. “That lad must have been born offside”. Sir Alex Ferguson is so famously quoted as saying in relation to Inzaghi’s capabilities as an unconventional forward who cunningly and skilfully snuck in behind defensive lines preying on mistakes or lack of concentration to finish ruthlessly from six yards out over and over again.

If ever a team was created in the image of their leader, Benevento would be right up there with the big names right now. Sure they are less than fashionable and not one for the purists but the ruthless efficiency they create and score with is hard to match.

If you buy enough tickets to the raffle you can win, but its always better to stack the odds in your favor.

It took 89 shots from within this area to produce those 31 goals. Just a tick under one in three goals/chances created which is a gold standard mark for chances created in the top five leagues. What makes that even more remarkable is that only four of those chances were deemed to carry an xG of 0.6, these chances had a 75% conversion rate. Thirty-Eight of those 89 chances carried an xG of 0.2 and below with five goals coming from those chances. Of the thirty-eight mid-ranged chances, twenty-six were on target and fifteen of those were converted. This should give you a much better understanding as to why Benevento has been so much more productive than their opponents, week in and week out and why they possess the record that they do this year. It is also clear that Inzaghi as a player and the team he currently coaches are one and the same in terms of style.

There are three major themes. Crossing, Incisive play to forward runs, set pieces.

As outlined previously in how they create, they get the ball to certain areas of the pitch to create chances in ways that show they have a clear understanding of their game model and work endlessly to achieve the ultimate outcome.

We will now break down each of those themes and look at some key principles within them.

Crossing

21 goals from a cross. 38% of goals this season have their origins from a ball delivered from wide areas either deep to the far post, where the majority of chances were from second balls or cutbacks to finishes from runners from the second or third lines.

Forward runs onto incisive passes

Set Pieces

Benevento has made set pieces a key aspect to their attacking threat during the season. 264 set pieces that have resulted in 39 shots on target for 11 goals scored. 14% of set pieces resulted in a shot on target. Nothing special about that however, 11 goals from 39 shots still puts Benevento in and around that one in three conversion rate. When you dig deeper, 4 goals from 20 shots come from within the width of the goal, to continue with the same principle as earlier from corners alone but of the 9 that were on target, they scored 44%, an impressive number when none of those chances carried an xG of greater than 0.6.

Wide free kicks

Benevento treats their wide free-kicks like a free cross. Get numbers into the box, separate the defenders out and create space. The principles don’t change. In these images you can also see the cunning and deception that were hallmarks of their coach’s career.

Possession Conclusion

At times of possession Benevento shows themselves to be more than capable of dominating possession in order to carve out chances. The use of the fullback to create the overload in the first line is a nice variation and allows them to spread the pressing opposition out across the pitch. At times it is difficult to progress the ball from these deeper, wider positions hence their reliance and more direct play at times. However the distance opponents have to cover to press in these areas allows Benevento to execute their preference to dominate central areas in the middle third through their box of midfielders. This action attracts pressure to the central areas in order to release the progressing fullbacks into positions to cross from into dominant numbers making their way into the box.

Once the ball gets into the box, either from incisive fullback passes into forward runs from the pocket or from deeper crossing positions, this is when Benevento show their true qualities. Ruthlessness in front of goal is the major difference between them and everyone else. The numbers they get into the right areas and the efficiency they get the ball into these areas is really something. The desire to pick up rebounds and mistakes is linked so heavily into Inzaghi’s style it is strikingly obvious that it is a major part of their weekly work.

Are they enjoyable to watch? At times, when the opportunity arises for sure. They are not for everyone but you cannot help but admire their commitment to the process and their desire to implement the playing style the manager has put in place for them.

In part two, next week, we will explore the other side of the ball, how they have maintained such a watertight defensive line through the season and how much this has contributed to their overall dominance leading into the lockdown.