After the dream debut against Torino, Cristian Chivu had to suffer his first league defeat as coach of Inter. In fact, at San Siro, the Nerazzurri lost against Udinese in the 2nd matchday of Serie A. A tough setback for the Nerazzurri, coming just before the international break, which will be followed by the big match against Juventus upon return.

To comment on this defeat, the usual and popular column of Passione Inter returns: ‘Things you didn’t see in Inter-Udinese’. Below we present our analysis, enriched by the contribution of our stadium correspondent.

1) Inter-Udinese was the match that marked the return of Hakan Calhanoglu to the field for the first time since the Champions League final. Several months have passed, but the Turkish midfielder showed the same lackluster version as on the night in Munich. Few balls touched compared to his standards and a poor pass completion rate. A disappointing performance, which affected the entire Nerazzurri midfield.

2) After the match, Cristian Chivu expressed many concepts in the press conference, emphasizing how Inter is “still a work in progress”, how quick solutions need to be found and, above all, how new motivations need to be found. What did the Nerazzurri coach mean? His words should not be misunderstood: the coach was almost certainly referring much more to the specific situation of the match with Udinese and not to a general problem related to the Inter group.

3) The atmosphere at San Siro was already a topic in the match against Torino, but Inter’s goal fest somewhat softened the feeling, fueling spontaneous support. With the team struggling against Udinese, the stadium returned a heavy atmosphere, without much support and enthusiasm from the crowd. The push from the home fans can often be a decisive factor and this situation risks penalizing the Nerazzurri in other matches as well.

4) The Dumfries penalty is clear according to the rules: the defender’s arm was too wide, even if the movement was not aimed at playing the ball. The real mistake by the Dutchman, however, came earlier, when he lost track of Bertola, being attracted solely by the ball. At that point, he was late to recover on the Udinese player and became the protagonist of an awkward intervention. Paradoxically, at that point, it would have been better to avoid the challenge altogether.

5) Dumfries’ handball was sanctioned only after a VAR review by referee Marchetti. From this season, the decision made is communicated by the referee himself to the entire stadium audience. That was not the case yesterday, as there was a technical problem in the VAR room in Lissone. The issue was resolved in the second half: in fact, the offside cancellation of Dimarco’s goal was communicated without problems.

6) Inter reacted well at the start of the second half, but then the momentum faded a bit as the minutes passed, also due to some of Chivu’s choices. The coach threw all four strikers onto the field, but the effect was not as desired: the expected goals in the second half were lower (0.75) than those in the first (1.22).