Cristian Chivu took a clear stance in the press conference after Inter–Udinese 5-3, strongly defending Josep Martinez from criticism regarding the defensive phase. The Nerazzurri coach analyzed the team’s performance and answered questions from reporters present at San Siro.
“Three points, which are the most important thing. I am not worried at all,” Chivu began. “We knew that after Napoli and Madrid we would leave something behind, I take responsibility for not transmitting the right energy tonight. We had little energy but I take the reaction and the fact that we stuck to the game plan with more quality and aggressiveness. The three points matter and, thank God, we have room for improvement.”
On the injury front, there are concerns about Hakan Calhanoglu‘s condition. “He is a great player, important, he will continue to do well this year too. He has always shown what kind of player he is. We need him, but I don’t know how he is. He hasn’t had tests, tomorrow we will be able to say after the examinations. He had a strain, we hoped it was nothing but this morning he was in pain.”
Regarding defensive problems, the coach provided a detailed analysis: “If I analyze the details of the goals conceded in the last three games, six are individual errors. That we can correct, by raising the level of attention and responsibility. We like to attack, we take some risks. We haven’t conceded goals on transitions. I don’t count the third goal because we were switched off.”
Chivu then emphasized the desire to give everyone playing time: “I’m trying to give minutes to everyone, I’m happy for Mkhitaryan, Bonny, Thuram and Esposito. Lauti rested, we put Stankovic on the field. I didn’t put in Sucic and Luis Henrique, these are my concerns, not the goals scored or conceded. I care about the value of the men I have at my disposal.”
The goalkeeper issue sparked the coach’s most decisive reaction, who even banged his head against the microphone during his answer. “Last year the problem was Sommer, now we’re already starting to shoot at Pepo. I will defend him to the death, he is an important goalkeeper like Provedel and Di Gennaro. He is part of a group that works hard, I would ask you not to make headlines every week about the goalkeeper problem. We are trying to improve, I would like to emphasize this. Provedel is a great goalkeeper and he will show it. Everyone makes mistakes, myself included. Now the focus is on the goalkeeper, I defend him because he has never been a problem. Mistakes are part of the game, please write this headline: ‘Martinez will never be a problem.’”
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