Marcelo Brozovic deserves more opportunities in Mancini's midfield

After yesterday's match, a question looms that must be answered: "Is Marcelo Brozovic Inter's answer in the midfield?"

GdS's Adriano Boin seems to think that's the case, so we're gonna take a look at Brozovic's strong performance in yesterday's match to see if we can draw some conclusions.

Brozovic started the match positioned just below lone striker Mauro Icardi in the 4-2-3-1 formation. His time spent in this position was unimpressive, as it clearly does not suit his particular skill set.

However, when Inter shifted into a 4-3-1-2 formation, Brozovic was pushed further back into the midfield behind lynchpin Ivan Perisic and the striker duo of Adem Ljajic and Icardi. It was here that Brozovic began to contribute more to the match and make the effect of his presence felt.

After Felipe Melo was sent off in the second half, Brozovic's performance only continued to improve. The Croatian suddenly had much more real estate with which to work, and he effectively covered ground in a much less congested midfield.

So, the answer to the question posed above is "Yes, but only when Brozovic is allowed to play more freely from a deeper position." Broz was certainly more effective as an individual from this position than Melo and Geoffrey Kondogbia were when combined as a midfield pairing

While Mancini clearly favors Melo's physical play, Brozovic's performance in yesterday's match (particularly the second half) should not be overlooked by the Inter manager. Personally, I think Brozovic showed enough control and finesse yesterday to merit more chances in the role on a regular basis.

I wouldn't say this performance (or even many more like it) would enough to "build a team around," but completely discounting Broz's skill in the deep-lying position seems like it would be a pretty big mistake for Mancini to make.