Inter, interview with Cristian Chivu: “Inter will evolve to win. I’m still hungry”

The announcement is pure form, the substance is that Cristian Chivu has extended his Nerazzurri contract until 2028: a well-deserved reward for the doubling coach. Between the assessment of the Inter that was and the intentions of the Inter that will be, the Romanian coach speaks from the tenth floor of the Viale della Liberazione headquarters, just before leaving for holidays.

Chivu, then what President Marotta says is true: will you stay at Inter longer than him?

“If I don’t lose three games in a row, maybe… (laughs, ed.). Those are enough and there’s the risk that I’ll go home early. Jokes aside, this is the reality of football, I’ve accepted it for some time: I understood why players get five-year contracts and coaches only two… The coach is the one who pays first in everything. Whether it’s fair or not, that’s how things go.”

Was there a moment in this first season when you thought about paying for everyone?

“Some thoughts came to me, especially after the defeats against Udinese and Juve… There for a moment I thought he might skip the bench, but then I saw that the club didn’t have the same perception as me. In fact, they immediately supported me. I only felt support and closeness.”

Looking back on the season, what was the turning point and what was your biggest mistake?

“I have never had time to look back, my concern has always been the next match. I thought about how to give continuity to the good things done, but I can say that we have learned to react to difficulties and defeats: there lies the turning point. The mistake? I am the first critic of myself, even and above all when I win. I have made many mistakes and I always tend to ask myself questions, after the matches but also during…”.

What did you do after the double challenge with Bodo?

“I know you wanted to get there… With Bodo we should have and could have done better, but today it’s late and there’s no point in dwelling on it. We analyzed the double challenge extensively with my staff: many small details that led to that result. It’s part of a process, of a journey during a long season.”

Your first Inter was born from the suffering of defeat, the second from the joy of victory: what changes?

“It’s more difficult now. We have to be good at finding the right stimuli and motivation even in this new condition. The same mentality, the hunger, the balance day after day. It’s never easy to repeat yourself after a victory, but I’m dealing with great champions who know how to do it. And then we have a club that supports us, a staff capable of understanding and managing certain moments. No one can know the future, but we will all work hard to repeat ourselves and improve.”

When you say “improve”, are you referring to results or something you want to see on the pitch?

“I’m talking about evolving. Accepting evolution. Getting out of the comfort zone and accepting starting from scratch. These are things we will always work on, but what gives me hope is that this group has always been at a high level for six years. And, I assure you, it will remain there for a long time: mine are men who put their faces forward, who always try and want to demonstrate that cycles can continue. And evolve, precisely.”

Will his cycle evolve in the Champions League, then?

“I would be cautious with certain obsessions, there is too much talk about this cup. We have to accept our reality and that of other countries. It’s obvious that we have ambitions, our history dictates this, but I would start slowly and I believe that the first objective in Europe is to qualify among the top eight in the group and reach the round of 16. Let’s remember that there are teams that spend half a billion to win the Champions League and don’t make it, in fact maybe they exit in the quarter-finals or round of 16. And there are others like the Inter of previous years reached the end by doing things well.”

Does this mean that the economic gap can be filled with ideas?

“To win you need many things: ideas and, above all, players. Because, in the end, it is the players who make the difference. Everyone talks about projects, but it is always the results that keep a club alive. Today perhaps the top clubs capable of buying the players who ‘move’, who make the difference, start out as favourites, but we must be different from them. We must accept it: at the moment no Italian team is capable of doing what the English teams do. This does not mean that we will not do everything and more to try.”

In the Champions League he often “moved” Dumfries: are you sorry about his farewell?

“Denzel did his thing… He had a clause and Inter couldn’t do anything to stop him. We must be ready to have the solution, the right alternative, and understand what allows us to make the leap in quality in the future.”

Is this player called Marco, by any chance?

“Marco Palestra is a nice profile but today he is not one of my players, so I can’t talk about it… We already have many strong Italians who know what Inter means and identify with the club: this is a good advantage and it is a path that we want to continue to follow. However, it is obvious that there is also a need for other players, a mix that allows you to be competitive at all levels.”

A goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder, a winger: is this your shopping list?

“I don’t make transfers here, that’s up to the managers, but there’s always a need for players to improve and, why not, give signals to the group and the environment. We’ve planned everything, there are plans A and plans B for each role, but then August arrives and anything can happen because situations can arise that you didn’t expect. Among other things, in the summer of the World Cup everything can become agony…”.

Don’t you think that we talk a lot about other coaches but, perhaps, not enough about those who have won two trophies?

“I don’t care, not everyone knows what it means to coach a big team like Inter, where the obligation isn’t just to play well, but to win. And we also played well, as well as winning! It’s not easy to coach great players with a strong ego, knowledge of the game and deep self-esteem. It’s easier to work with a young player, because you can shape him as you want, but this has nothing to do with the alleged game-player-achievementist division.”

But how did you manage to convince a group with so many egos to follow you so much?

“In front of my boys I just want to be a man, not an authoritarian figure. Then it’s always a give and take and from the players I only received the same attention. Even the best coach in the world can come to a club, with his most advanced ideas, but if the group doesn’t accept him it’s all useless. On the dance floor you always have to dance with two people: if you dance alone they’ll take you to a mental hospital. Probably, I convinced with my humanity, with words, with work that matters much more than throwing punches on the table. Then maybe next year I lose three times and they send me away, but I’ll always be like that.”

After a year in the blender, however, will he have changed as a man?

“No. I don’t get excited because we won, just as I didn’t get depressed when they criticized me. I’m the same and open to growth. I can also change, starting from the game system, but that matters little to me. I repeat, I want to evolve, not change. How I want this team to be able to evolve next season.”

However, were you surprised to immediately start your adventure by winning two trophies?

“No. I’ve always had clear ideas and the right self-esteem: I was just waiting for an opportunity and Parma gave it to me, then I immediately found myself in the place where I spent 20 years. My home. I’m not even enthusiastic now that I’ve won, in fact I think it’s part of the normality of such a big club. Now I move forward, more worried about next season because I’m competitive and ambitious: I want to win, always.”

This season, he was accused of having changed his communication: from the ecumenical beginning he then pulled out his claws to defend his own. Do you see consistency in this change?

“I’m accused of everything, even of having only won two trophies… I won’t waste energy on speeches of this type from those who don’t know. I know what my role is in this club, I have a certain amount of experience to feel comfortable in such an important dressing room and I understand how to change my content based on what I want to convey. I’ve never spoken about other teams and I’m not interested in doing so in the future either, but I will defend mine until I die.”

In this regard, is Bastoni the best signing of next season?

“Bastoni is one of our champions. It’s normal that there are transfer stories around him because for me he is one of the strongest central defenders in the world. I know what a man Alessandro is, but above all I know what he has given, what he gives and what he will give in the future for us…”.

Looking to the near future, do you feel you have a certain advantage over others, given at least stability?

“Many things change from one season to the next and last year we were the ones who didn’t have stability for everyone. It was said that a cycle was over, and instead… We are aware that all the teams start from scratch with many unknowns, so I don’t see any advantage at the start.”

You often repeat that the old head injury made you look at the world and life differently: in what, exactly?

“From that moment on, I don’t see ghosts, I don’t dedicate myself to things that I don’t consider significant, I don’t worry about what people say, I go straight on my way trying to be the best person possible towards those who love me. I learned to tame my thoughts, which is the most important thing.”

A lighter thought, then: who wins the World Cup?

“My favorites are Spain, France and Argentina. But watch out for Morocco, it will be the surprise.”