Media view on Perisic - James Horncastle, Italian football expert
Fri 03 June 2022, 10:45|
Tottenham Hotspur
James Horncastle, European and Italian football expert, The Athletic’s Serie A correspondent and part of the Golazzo Live and Champions League Goals Show on BT Sport, gives us his view on our new arrival from Inter, Ivan Perisic.
‘A proven, established winner’
James: "Ivan Perisic was one of Inter’s best players last season. They didn’t retain their title, they lost it on the final day, but it was a good season because they won the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italia, they beat Juventus, arguably their main rivals, a number of times. In the second half of the season, Perisic was arguably their best player. He kept Inter’s big January signing out of the team, Robin Gosens, a German international left wing-back signed from Atalanta. Gosens arrived injured, but even if he was fully fit, the form Perisic was playing would have made it impossible to drop him. Not only does he guarantee you high intensity, an elite work rate, he’s also decisive in the final third, be that setting up goals or scoring goals. He’s a proven, established winner."
‘He set standards last season’
James: "Perisic is adaptable. He started his career playing as one of the strikers at Bruges. Then, when he went to Germany and then Italy, he was a winger, so he’s always had that attacking instinct. He’s also good in the air. What Spurs fans will see a lot is him crossing from the left for the right wing-back. It wouldn’t surprise me as well, if ever Heung-Min Son needs a break, he could fill in there as well - having said that, Sonny’s one of the fittest players out there! Perisic will mainly be a threat down the left. One of the interesting things about his story at Inter is that when Antonio Conte got the Inter job, he challenged Perisic. He tried him as a striker at first, in a 3-5-2, but that didn’t work. Perisic went on loan to Bayern Munich, won the treble, came back and proved he could play left wing-back. He responded well to that challenge and became an integral part of Conte’s title-winning Inter side. He's an excellent trainer, Perisic, and that is bottom line, non-negotiable for Conte. Even at 33, there are no doubts about Perisic’s athleticism. He was Inter’s high-intensity player alongside Nicolo Barella - sprints, covering ground, tracking back - he really did set standards in that regard."
