Cristian Chivu insists Inter ‘do not fear anybody’ in Serie A or Europe, will wipe the slate clean after winning the Double, and has fresh ideas for Benjamin Pavard and Andy Diouf.
Last season was his first full campaign in Serie A, yet he finished it with the Serie A and Coppa Italia trophies, so now the pressure is on to continue that extraordinary start.
Pre-season training begins today at the Appiano Gentile ground, so the coach sat down with Inter President Beppe Marotta for a press conference.
Chivu and Inter won’t stop at the Double
“The most important thing right now is motivation, because it’s never enough in terms of ambition and what we want to do next. It was a strong season, but we don’t want to stop here,” said Chivu.
“I have 50 games under my belt now, no longer 13. I’ll do my best, we want to be competitive on every front, and have the ambition to do even better than last year.”
Inter are revitalising the squad, as veterans like Yann Sommer, Stefan de Vrij, Francesco Acerbi and Denzel Dumfries have left.
“We lost players who wrote the history books here, and we want to thank them. We have a mixture of youth and experience, our squad is competitive. We want to have intensity and courage, without complaining.”
While last year so many coaches insisted the target was a top four finish, Chivu stood out by never hiding the depth of his ambition to win the Scudetto.
So he has a similar approach this time around when going in as reigning Champions of Italy.
“We do not fear anybody,” assured the Inter coach.
“I have nothing to prove, if not to myself. I still have a lot of responsibilities, doubts and duties towards these lads, even if I lifted two trophies last season, we always start from scratch.”
Whereas they excelled domestically in Serie A and the Coppa Italia, Chivu’s Inter did not go far in the Champions League, crashing out in the play-offs.
“You cannot have everything in life. We got two games wrong, but I take the positives from the experience. We lost at the last second to both Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, I took responsibility for my mistakes in the play-offs, but we overall played on level terms with everyone.
“I’d like us to improve in our courage, being more determined and going for the victory, not resting on our laurels. We can always be the best version of ourselves.
“I don’t think about what we won, but about what we need to do.”
When it comes to the transfer market, Chivu gave an update on the Benjamin Pavard situation after his failed loan at Olympique Marseille.
“He is our player, we all know the choices he made last year. He’s back now, we’ll see him at work, and then make a decision.”
The search for a Dumfries replacement has been tortuous, as first Chelsea poached Marco Palestra, then Anan Khalaili failed his medical, ending the move from Union Saint-Gilloise.
Instead, Chivu revealed he has a cunning plan to revitalise his squad.
“I have this crazy idea to use Andy Diouf as a wing-back, and at times in games he really does have the right courage to take men on. He changed some games like that, for example against Como.
“There will be matches where he is used in midfield, but I like him as a wing-back, he has characteristics we are lacking.”
