The Stankovic brothers have reached the first pause of the season from very different places, yet with the same need for a response. Aleksandar is waiting for room in Inter’s crowded midfield, while Filip has been exposed week after week behind a Venezia defence still searching for its first point. Their call-up to Serbia’s Nations League squad offers a brief change of scene, but the domestic questions will still be waiting for them on their return.
At the beginning of his Inter journey, Aleksandar Stankovic was asked to describe himself in three words. He chose “funny, professional and serious”. The serious side has been most visible lately. The 2005-born midfielder has made only brief appearances in a season that has otherwise moved quickly around him: five Serie A matches and one Champions League trip to the Bernabeu have produced just 15 minutes on the pitch, split between the games against Monza and Udinese.
It was not the opening Chivu seemed to envisage before the campaign began. Ahead of Stankovic’s debut against Monza, the Inter coach said the youngster was fully part of his plans and would compete for meaningful minutes across the season. During pre-season, there had been encouraging signs that Inter’s decision to bring him back from Club Brugge was justified. Against Manchester City in early August, Stankovic took responsibility in midfield, directing Nicolò Barella and Henrikh Mkhitaryan around him.
Since then, however, he has slipped down the order. The reasons are both tactical and numerical. In the holding role, Hakan Calhanoglu and Piotr Zielinski stand ahead of him, with the Pole becoming the regular starter after Calhanoglu’s injury. Zielinski had begun the Monza match as a more advanced midfielder, but has developed into a complete central presence: recovering possession, moving the ball forward, attempting shots from range and producing the kind of final pass that set up Esposito against Udinese.
Stankovic possesses elements of that same range, but his development now depends on patience and opportunities. Inter’s next month could provide them, with nine fixtures scheduled across 28 days. Yet competition remains considerable even away from the deepest midfield position, particularly after Curtis Jones arrived and Mkhitaryan returned to prominence. For the moment, Aleksandar has been the least-used player in the dressing room of the Serie A leaders.
Filip’s harder battle in Venice
Some 270 kilometres away, Filip Stankovic has had no shortage of football. Venezia’s goalkeeper has started every match, but his side’s opening month has brought 13 goals conceded, no clean sheets and no Serie A points. After five rounds, Venezia have the division’s most porous defence, placing immediate pressure on a team whose survival prospects require a rapid change of direction.
The contrast with Filip’s earlier spell at Venezia is sharp. On his first top-flight experience with the club two years ago, he made 16 appearances and left a strong impression, notably with two outstanding saves against Cagliari and a penalty stop against Romelu Lukaku in Naples. Last season, in Serie B, he played all 38 league matches as Venezia finished with the best defensive record in the championship. He had become a dependable figure; this season, he has too often been left with little protection.
The responsibility does not sit with the goalkeeper alone. The defensive unit in front of him has underperformed in each of Venezia’s five league fixtures, and Filip’s task is to make his goal smaller while hoping the collective becomes more secure. The Serbian expression for making amends is, in English, “to atone for one’s mistakes”; for Venezia, it will require more than one player’s resilience.
The brothers will meet in opposing colours soon enough. Venezia host Inter on 28 October, a fixture that will place one Stankovic’s pursuit of minutes against the other’s fight to keep his side alive. Until then, Aleksandar must find a way into Chivu’s rotation, while Filip must help turn a difficult opening chapter into a season that can still be saved.
