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Inter Milan were on the verge of collapse not more than two weeks ago with manager Simone Inzaghi's job status in serious doubt. After losing a Serie A mat at home against AS Roma on Oct. 2 (you can catch all the Serie A action live on Paramount+), everything was ready for him to see his time as Nerazzurri head coach come to an end. Then, something suddenly changed in the dressing room and Inter Milan were able to beat FC Barcelona at home, won at Sassuolo, drew away against FC Barcelona and won their last match at home against Salernitana. Three wins and one draw that feels like another win, considering that the Nerazzurri are now close to qualifying for the UEFA Champions League's round of 16. This has put things back on track after a difficult start to the season. It's probably too late to be involved in the Serie A title race (there are eight points separating Inzaghi's side and Napoli at the top of the table), but considering that it's a very strange season with the 2022 World Cup starting next month, never say never. Let's see how Inter Milan and coach Simone Inzaghi managed to overturn a very unstable situation and rediscovered themselves once again. 

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New goalkeeper

It's pretty easy to explain what has changed in the past two weeks. Sometimes a single match can change the course of a season and Inter Milan seem to have found, once again, their character on the pitch by winning a key match against FC Barcelona at home. That seemd to instill a new confidence in a side that seemed lost in their first matches of the season. Most importantly, Inzaghi made some choices that had some important benefits for the whole roster and environment of the team. It started at goalkeeper. Samir Handanovic, who is also the captain of the club, was benched after some poor performances that culminated against AS Roma with a goal scored by Paulo Dybala. From that moment on, Inzaghi decided to start all the following matches with Andre Onana in goal, and the former Ajax goalkeeper has been one of the best players on the pitch as he proved that he deserved the chance to be the starter. 

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A change in the middle

Inter Milan didn't change the way they play, but there was a big forced change in the midfield. Marcelo Brozovic, who sits at the base of Inter's midfield got injured in September with the Croatia national team and missed all the following matches. Inzaghi decided to play the most important matches with Hakan Calhanoglu as a playmaker where Brozovic usually plays, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan played alongside Nicolò Barella in the midfield. This new role of Calhanoglu gave a new fresh air to the team and he proved to be a good option in that position, one who can continue to offer a new tactical solution in the future when Brozovic is back. 

The Nerazzurri improved substantially in both attack and defense over this stretch with Lautaro Martinez finally back on the scoresheet in both UEFA Champions League matches and Serie A games. However, despite his summer move, Romelu Lukaku hasn't really been a part of this improvement as he only played three Serie A games and then got injured. Edin Dzeko was called to replace the former Chelsea striker and played alongside Martinez just like last season. He was also a key player in the past games and gave much more freedom to the Argentinian striker who was able to score two goals in the last two matches against FC Barcelona away and against Salernitana at home. 

The issue now for Simone Inzaghi is quite a paradox. Inter Milan have now found a new way to play after the injuries of key players Brozovic and Lukaku, and after captain Handanovic was benched. While the first two are expected to be back before the end of the month (Lukaku should be called for the crucial Champions League match against Viktoria Plzen), the most critical decision will be about the goalkeeper. It is now clear that Andre Onana deserves to be the starter, but it won't be easy to deal with it internally with Handanovic, who has a lot of influence in the dressing room. However, considering how bad the situation looked like for Inzaghi two weeks ago, all these decisions will be easier to take after a positive trend of results.