After the away game in Reggio Emilia, the Nerazzurri winger has reached 18 goals and assists: “In soccer, when you’re doing well, you’re phenomenal, but when you’re doing badly, you’re useless. I just keep working as I know how.”
Inter’s tactical weapon clears the fog and creates a void. Chivu’s mantra is simple: pass to Dimarco and something will happen. Most of the time, goals follow. In Reggio Emilia, we saw yet another demonstration of this. Three of the five goals came from the left foot of Fede, the boy from Porta Romana who is having the best year of his life: 13 assists in the league.
More than Nico Paz, Soulé, McTominay, Barella, Jesus Rodriguez, and many others, from second strikers to playmakers. Dimarco runs like a marathon runner, churns out winning passes like a number ten and makes Inter fly, in yet another rout of the season: behind the 5-0 win over Sassuolo is above all his left foot, capable of hitting the crossbar with a free kick from a tight angle. In the first half, after setting up Bisseck, he saw Muric off his line and tried to strike as he knows how. When asked if he is currently the best wing-back in the world, he dribbled with style: “I don’t feel like anyone special. In football, when you’re doing well, you’re phenomenal, but when you’re doing badly, you’re poor. I continue to work as I know how, I don’t think about the rest. Besides, we didn’t start very well today, we conceded a couple of counterattacks. Thank goodness they disallowed that goal…“ He always keeps his head down. That’s Dimarco. Lautaro, who has now scored 171 goals like Boninsegna, was more forthright: ”Yes, he’s one of the best wingers and he changes games. I hope he stays in this form until the end.” Chivu’s treatment has improved him: compared to last year, he plays more until the 90th minute, for example. In 13 out of 22 games, he has not been substituted. In four games, he has remained on the field for over 80 minutes. His form has benefited from this.
What numbers— The numbers are impressive: 5 goals and 13 assists in 1717 minutes in the league. Added to these is his free kick goal against Borussia Dortmund. Dimarco has never been in such good form, never so strong, never so decisive – he has been involved in eight of Inter’s last 12 goals – and the numbers say it all: since 2004, he is the second defender to produce three assists in a Serie A match since Oddo, who produced three winning passes against Ascoli in 2006. Speaking of the Italian world champion: in the last 22 years, only he has provided more assists in a single league season, 13. Dimarco will soon surpass him.
