Chivu: ‘Inter try to be beautiful, but must be ready to play dirty too’

Although the coach threw on every striker he had, ending the match with Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram, Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny on the field simultaneously, they rarely tested the Udinese goalkeeper.

“It was better after the break, more determination, more grit, better moves, even though we lost sharpness again as time wore on and were unable to finish off our chances. We were unable to create more,” continued Chivu.

“At half-time I asked the players to move more, make different runs to create spaces and find the vertical passes, so we could open Udinese up by moving them around. It got more difficult as time wore on.

“We put on four strikers, we tried everything, including Pio’s height to get on the end of some crosses, but Solet and Kristensen did a great job defending in the air for Udinese tonight.

“You must try to play beautiful football, but also be ready to play dirty when necessary, as a ball pumped into the box can do more damage sometimes than a lovely pass.

“We weren’t magnificent after the first game, we aren’t terrible after this one. We remain a work in progress. We’ve got to learn to find that balance, focus and work hard. There’s a very long way to go this season.”

It is not a good way for Inter to go into the break for international duty, knowing they must face Juventus after the restart in Serie A, then head into the Champions League.

“There are still two weeks to go. We won’t have many players left in Milan during the break, as they are all off on international duty, but I hope that this time off can let them return with more determination and fire,” concluded Chivu.