Chivu: “Dreaming of the Champions League? Right now, the priority is to win a match... We’re not perfect, but if we lose, it isn’t a national tragedy”
Ahead of Inter-Shakhtar Donetsk, the third Champions League match.
Inter can no longer afford to slip up. They must win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Champions League round of 16 by the end of the league phase. Shakhtar Donetsk arrive at San Siro having made a much better start to the competition than Inter, and they want to keep that form going.
Speaking first to Sky Sport and then at a press conference, Inter manager Cristian Chivu explained how he had prepared for the match, what he plans to change and how he intends to improve the European performances of a team thriving in Italy.
Anyone who plays against Inter has nothing to lose
"Every Champions League match is difficult. We face well-prepared, sophisticated opponents who know how to play: they come to San Siro wanting to take centre stage and have nothing to lose. Champions League matches are never easy: we need the right desire and determination, and we want to show both from tomorrow evening onwards."
That “I have to change something”
"After Brugge, I was talking about myself, about the way I approach the lads and how I could explain things better: I wasn't referring to anything else. I always take responsibility for what I don't do and what I could improve. I'm very concerned about finding the right key and the things that work for our identity. That's what I was referring to."
Seven defeats in eight
"Yes, we are aware of those results; we don't need to be reminded of them all the time. We've lost two matches this year, and we want to rediscover that feeling and energy in line with our ambitions. There's too much talk about the past. We need to focus on tomorrow and go onto the pitch ready in every respect to get the result."
With players as with children
Have you heard me shout? I speak quietly, laugh, joke and get angry. I do with my players what I do at home with my children. The love is very similar because we spend so much time together. My love for them never changes.
Perception of danger
"I’m pleased the players are taking on certain responsibilities, but I’m the one chiefly responsible for failing to get certain things across. If last season was important, it was because everyone at this club took on major responsibilities."
Are Inter good enough for the Champions League?
"If we are asked about certain things, we answer out of politeness and a sense of duty. We have said that the Champions League is a dream, but right now, after two defeats, it is better to focus on tomorrow. Winning a Champions League match is the priority at the moment."
What should change?
"More concern, more motivation, a better reading of the game — and that applies to me too. For everything that happens on the pitch, especially the negative things and individual mistakes, because perhaps there is a lack of energy because I have not managed to convey it. This group have played under certain pressures for years. All the expectations are on them, and sometimes rightly so, because they have earned that regard through their competitiveness. I have a duty to take certain responsibilities: if the manager is not the main one to blame, what are we talking about?"
"Arrogance is the one thing I believe, and hope, I do not have, but there is too much talk about nothing. I am optimistic by nature, and I also look at the positive side: the reaction to the goals we conceded and what was missing during the match. I need to analyse the reasons in depth, and I can find a thousand of them that I do not want to discuss, otherwise we would be here all evening. But I take responsibility: I am the one to blame, and rightly so."
They know what to do to respond to adversity. We are not perfect as a team or as individuals: we have problems too, things that affect how a match unfolds, but what matters to me is that the group do everything they can to get the result. We are not perfect and we do not want to be portrayed as perfect, but I do not want to see an Inter defeat portrayed as a national drama either. There is a sense that Inter have an obligation and the others do not, and that is not right.
