Cristian Chivu admitted there was frustration after Inter Milan were held to a 2-2 draw by Napoli at San Siro, but accepted that the outcome fairly reflected a match contested by two evenly matched title contenders.
Speaking to DAZN after the final whistle, the Inter head coach brushed aside broader statistical narratives and focused instead on the ninety minutes.
“I talk about the match, about two strong teams who did everything to win,” Chivu explained.
“There is regret because we went ahead twice, but it’s never simple against a team that knows how to put you in difficulty. We didn’t have the clarity to see it through to the end, but there is also credit to the opponents, who believed until the end and did everything to equalise and maybe even win.”
Asked what positives he took from the performance, Chivu highlighted his side’s mentality and attacking intent.
“The attitude, the desire to always go forward, sometimes even excessively, because they are very good at short passing,” he said.
“But we tried to stay in the game, aware that in front of us was an equally strong team that we knew could hurt us.”
Inter 2-2 Napoli – Chivu Reflects On What Went Wrong
Chivu analysed the flow of the match in detail, admitting Napoli caused problems early in the second half.
“They did it in the first twenty minutes of the second half, then we came out with longer spells of possession and straight after that the penalty arrived,” he noted.
“It’s a shame, but there were two strong teams on the pitch who raised the level of modern football.”
Despite the disappointment of not winning a direct clash, the Inter coach stressed the wider context of the title race.
“We remain with the regret of not winning a head-to-head, but we move on. We do everything to achieve our ambitions in a league that will be a battle until the end between four or five teams,” Chivu said.
Indeed, pointing out that Inter, Napoli, Bologna and Milan all still have a game in hand.
Chivu Praises Opponents After Hard-Fought Draw
On Napoli’s intensity and enthusiasm, Chivu insisted nothing came as a surprise.
“We expected a match like this. We were stretched in our distances when pressing,” he admitted.
“They circulated the ball very well with McTominay and Lobotka to find Elmas or Politano. We made mistakes there, but I take the players’ attitude in wanting to apply that pressure, sometimes even exaggerating, knowing that it could all come to nothing.”
He concluded that “in the end it finished rightly in a draw for what was seen on the pitch.”
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Chivu also commented on the injury suffered by Hakan Calhanoglu.
The Turkish midfielder went off late on with a suspected ankle sprain.
“I don’t know, it’s fatigue,” the coach said. “The last time I said something, I said Thuram had cramp… it’s better if I keep quiet.”
Inter 2-2 Napoli – Chivu: ‘We Knew It Wouldn’t Be Easy’
Chivu echoed similar themes in his post-match comments to Inter TV, once again underlining the balance of the contest.
“They are two strong teams who tried to win this match. Napoli are champions of Italy, we have the ambition to do something more,” he said.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy, both teams tried, and a draw came out of it. I’m satisfied with the mentality; we lacked a bit of clarity in some pressing phases, but in terms of desire and wanting to be proactive rather than passive, we gave everything.”
Reflecting on the second half specifically, Chivu added.
“In the first twenty minutes they put us in difficulty with quality. We could have had more patience in letting our players recover positions but we weren’t able to maintain the lead until the end. We move forward. Napoli are strong and can put you in difficulty at any moment.”
Our GK Sommer is not good enough to be our GK.
Agreed. He is starting to look like Handonovoc as he aged. Slow to react, immobile, and his distribution is even becoming inaccurate. If he was 23 he would have been benched.
Too many times our defenders have to block shots and headers when a bigger, younger, more confident goalie would have come out for the ball.
I don’t blame Chivu, idk why these crybabies are blaming him. We have no rwb available, so our right side is practically deadweight and we have sommer in goal. Every time there’s a shot ok target i have no confidence in his saving capabilities it’s that bad. I can’t wait until he’s gone in the summer. grateful for him for the scudetto year and champions league last year, but this year… abysmal. We will keep conceding with again and again with an old small goalkeeper.
Love chivu as a player and person but as a coach can’t expect much specially since management don’t even get good players to improve the squad just average.
I don’t expect us to win the league with Esposito, bony, diuof, bisseck and henrique level players.
We used to have Davids, crespo, cordoba, cruz – on the bench! That’s how good our team used to be now those average players are starting
Do you even realize he is top on the standing with 4 points more than the second? with great teams like bologna, Atlanta, Roma, Milan, Napoli…etc??? you wanted him to be 22 points more in order to give him credit?? give him a break my friend. he is doing an excellent job with a team of mostly average players.
.. and yet he has not won even 1 game against any top team.
It’s middle of January now and league and ucl started last August.
This game against Napoli at home they were missing not 1 or 2 or 3 but 4 starters:
Neres, Lukaku, Anguissa and De Bruyne. Yet we could not beat them.
Inter 4 life, There are years when Inter (and other teams) beat the big teams and not the small ones, that used to be classic Liverpool. This was a good performance in a big match. We should have won 3-2 at the end. We beat up the small teams and are in first, and we are improving against the bigger ones. Some of the matches against the big ones were also robbery!
the big teams are only 15points out of 117points totals so you need to know how to chose your battles. We had seasons were we will beat the big guys but then end the season 5th or 6th without qualifying for the champion league and so for. Not saying with should lose any game. And if you really think that Anguissa, Lukaku and old DeBruyne were going to do better than McTominay, Lobotka and Hojlund then you need to stop smoking that thing strong….
Inter is building a culture and a sustainable model. Being clear at the top of the league in January by 3 points with a first time coach and we are complaining?
The teams you are remembering were bankrupting the business of this club. It was not sustainable. It was essentially what we are seeing now from oil-money plaything teams. This is an obsolete business model and we are YEARS ahead of our rivals at building a modern club that is financially stable while also being highly competitive.
It still is a positive result. We were losing these big games, now we drew with Napoli after beating Atalanta and Bologna. We are improving.
Another mistake by Bisseck , another opportunity squandered and that’s the way things go…Bisseck cannot defend but yet still he always running forward and out of position. Politico knew exactly where to put the ball close to bisseck and it worked . he made a mistake to cause another goal. Sometimes it’s easier to admit when Inter has problems but Bisseck has cost the team far too much. It’s about time he is sold.
Chivu cannot play Bisseck in big games. He always make mistakes and the team cannot count on him. He is trash.
bro you really didnt see Barellas mistake for the second goal when he decided he could let the ball go out for a goal kick and basically let the napoly player pass the ball to McTominay? really?
What is bissecks mistake? Not being 9 feet tall? You are less an inter fan and more a Bisseck hater.
Chivu’s team mentality must be as strong as an eggshell…
Weak coach!
weak coach is ahead on the standing with 4 points more than the second. I think you should stop watching soccer and try poker cuz you cannot handle soccer well…
Correct. And on pace for 86 points, 5 more than last year. Some people do not have the ability to see the big picture and will only ever look for things to complain about.
Weak? He is the strongest mentally coach in serie A, our team was lost and he lead us on 1st place in January.
First draw of the season the match on paper was tough but Inter and Napoli knew how a win could mean. The right approach with pressing Napoli forcing mistakes then aggressively looking for the second goal. However when winning at 70+ minutes it’s time to lock in the results with any tactic possible like taking out any liability in defence and just waste time. Napoli knows fully they’ll struggle to win against smaller teams and Inter’s style must continue because 3 points against Lecce carries the same value. It could’ve been better defensive display but hopefully Chivu takes the lesson from the match which awareness in defence against big teams that can hurt you out of nothing
Why is Boni is on the bench u squarehead !!!!!!!! The same thing u did against Liverpool!!!!!! This boy is the best Player inter has but u just can’t see it. u can only see Barella, Mikhatrian and the rest of those old bums like Acherbi!!!! Dior doesn’t play, Peter Sucic doesn’t play !!! All the young talent is sitting outside for players who have been playing like crap for 2 years straight !!!!
Barella is an old bum???????? How come is Barella “playing like crap for 2 years straight”?
How can you say such things? Did you watch Inter in the past 2 years?
Demoor, Bonny is returning from injury no?