Inter have played 34 league games, which means the maximum number of subs they could make is 170; they’ve made 167. Manchester City, by contrast, have also played 34 games, but they have made just 110. There’s no right or wrong here: it’s just a different approach based on what suits your team. But what’s interesting here is that Inter tend to always make the same substitutions. Inzaghi will often replace his two forwards and his two wing-backs — here too there is a fair amount of rotation, with Federico Dimarco and Robin Gosens on the left and Denzel Dumfries and Raoul Bellanova or Matteo Darmian, when he’s not playing centre-back, on the right — usually around the hour mark.
The benefits here are evident. Opposing defenders have to face fresh legs and strikers with different characteristics in the final half-hour. Wing-back in Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation is probably the most physically demanding position and obviously, going all-out for 60 minutes is less taxing than doing so for 90 minutes. Inter aren’t a high-paced pressing team, but it’s a fair bet they’d press even less if their forwards had to play a full 90 minutes.
The load management also keeps players motivated: you may start on the bench, but if you’re a wing-back or forward, you know you’ll probably come on and play: Inter’s forwards have come on in more than 85% of the games in which they are benched, while for wing-backs, it’s 78% of the time. And, of course, it helps keep players fresh — especially important in the case of older guys — while minimizing the risk of injury. (Basically: if you’re on the bench, you probably won’t get hurt.)
