Inter: Chivu Accepts the Criticism and Points Out a Worrisome Statistic

Cristian Chivu spoke at a press conference, starting with Diouf: “I’m trying to get him ready as soon as possible, because the goal is for him to play 80 minutes at a high level instead of 60. The longer he lasts, the better it is for everyone. As soon as he sees the goal, he beats his man. Then there will be times when the plan will be different, and we’ll need other things, but given how he’s put himself at the team’s disposal, we can’t fault him for anything. We’re happy with his progress and what he’s doing.”

“Pressure? That’s old news by now; we’re used to it, we don’t think about it. Self-esteem and self-confidence are important. There will always be criticism—it’s not our problem, because it’s always free. Everyone is free to express their opinion. We have a responsibility, and we must be aware of who we are.”

“Let’s focus on the ultimate goal. Our last few Champions League matches didn’t go as we’d hoped—we’ve won just one out of seven, and that’s something we need to improve on. I didn’t see a loss of confidence, but I did see a team feeling disappointed: we missed an opportunity in Madrid, even though we played a good game. We could have done better; we need to improve.”

Chivu also spoke about the loss to Real: “The team is calm. It’s too early to pass judgment. If we look at the results, some criticism is warranted, but we’re not paying attention to that. We’re focusing on the principles we want to uphold without losing confidence or forgetting the good things we did against Napoli and Real. I view the two matches together because we expended a lot mentally against Napoli, and just 72 hours later we went to the Bernabéu. I liked the courage, the character, and the reaction after making mistakes. I’ll take the positives.”

Now our focus is on Udinese: “We prepare for matches the same way, knowing that they’re physically strong and have quality—they can give us a hard time. Their coach has done a great job in recent years; he’s shown he can create problems for opponents, even though he’s rotated many players.”