Inter coach Christian Chivu takes responsibility but emphasizes that squad “must find extra motivation” following shocking 2-1 defeat to Udinese | OneFootball

Inter coach Christian Chivu feels that his squad is “a work in progress” and they  must “find the right motivation” following their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Udinese at the Stadio San Siro in match-week two of the Serie A.

The former Parma coach and Nerazzurri player provided his thoughts on the match in the post match press conference, as relayed by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Coming off an impressive 5-0 victory over Torino in the opening match of the season, the Nerazzurri aspired to continue gaining momentum and string a pair of great results. Rather, the Biscione failed to impress on Milanese soil.

Dutchman Denzel Dumfries broke the deadlock in the 17th minute from point-blank range with a low-driven cross served by Frenchman Marcus Thuram.

However, the full-back went from hero to zero as he caused a quite unnecessary hand-ball in the box, providing the Zebrette with a penalty.

27-year-old forward Kenian Davis stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty, obtaining the equalizer in the 29th minute.

Roughly 10 minutes later, a slow anticipation from veteran defender Francesco Acerbi enabled Davis to play provider for midfielder Arthur Atta.

The 22-year-old play-maker pounced on the open space as the Nerazzurri back-line kept retreating, and curled the ball past shot-stopper Yann Sommer to provide coach Kosta Runjaic with the lead.

Despite Chivu’s efforts in attaining a goal by deploying a four-man attack towards the latter stages of the match, bringing on promising forwards Yoan Bonny and Italian international Pio Esposito onto the pitch, the Milanese club were quite slow and sloppy, unable to break down the Udinese back-line in which Oumar Solet Thomas Kristensen served as the back-bones of the defence.

Ultimately, Inter were stunned on home soil, acquiring their first loss of the season in match week two against an Udinese side that truly merited three vital points on the road.

Following the underwhelming performance against the Friuliani, Chivu provided his insight on the match.

“We need to rediscover the motivation, enthusiasm, and desire to perform that we had a few days ago. Today we struggled to create play, we were sloppy, and we didn’t look for superiority.

“These are all aspects that ruin matches. And the penalty incident did us some damage mentally. We shouldn’t be as frenetic as I saw today, because that way you lose the ball and tackles.

“Instead, it became a ‘let’s see what happens’ game with four strikers, and we tried to open them up with Pio to exploit structure and crosses. Solet and Kristensen did a great job in their penalty area.”

In addition, Chivu attempted to dismiss the critiques of the Nerazzurri’s transfer market as they were not able to attain a quick central defender and a forward that is capable of dribbling past his man to unblock cagey affairs.

“I have to implement my ideas with the players I have; there are no other solutions. But we need to look less at ourselves and play more vertically: it’s not easy, the guys have been through years of habits that can’t be erased in a week.

“The responsibility is mine, but we need to find some extra motivation. We’re no longer weak after the first matchday and we’re still a work in progress. We need to find the right motivation and work hard; the championship is long.”

Julian Faustini Ι GIFN