Cristian Chivu analyzed the victory over Cagliari at the microphones of reporters in the press room. The Nerazzurri coach addressed several topics: from the role of Jones to statements about Pavard, as well as the condition of players returning from the World Cup.

On the English midfielder, Chivu replied: “Is Jones a wildcard who can play in Calhanoglu‘s role? I don’t know. He can definitely play as a central midfielder, on the right or on the left. He can play wide, he did it at Liverpool too. As a playmaker we have Calhanoglu, Zielinski, Stankovic, last year we also saw Sucic or Barella. With players of exquisite technique, we can also change depending on the opponent.”

On the French defender, the coach stated: “Pavard? I have never spoken about him, neither when he left nor because something happened between me and him. I know who Benji is. There was a bit of misunderstanding about one of my choices, a bit about what happened last season or in the summer, but I have never doubted his value. I saw a player with a great desire to be part of this group, because Inter is Inter, he feels good in Milan, his daughter was born and he got married. If in training or preparation someone shows their qualities, for me there has never been a problem.”

Returning to the performance against Cagliari, Chivu explained: “This is football, you have to understand the moments and take the good things you did. We weren’t able to close it out and when you create so much you then lose your shape and become disjointed. The players wanted to defend because they understood the opponent’s enthusiasm, that’s how this type of match was born. Today we really created a lot, unfortunately we didn’t close it out and you also risk not taking it home. We were good at understanding the moments of suffering. In the end, some hearts could have given out, but we managed to win, which was the most important thing.”

Finally, on the condition of the players involved in the World Cup: “First of all, and here I refer to those who played in the World Cup, we are forced to get them fit in official matches, but you can see a bit of rust and lack of preparation. Stones played more minutes, Calhanoglu played 60, Sucic the same, Thuram 30, Akanji 70 and Lautaro 90. At the moment, this is what we have, we have to make certain choices to get them all to the same level. We have to prepare them as best as possible, we can’t wait for the break. Sometimes we also have to understand that the team may drop in terms of aesthetics, but they are important and soon they will be fit and ready to give 100%.”

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