Inter's Dramatic Journey: Chivu Defends Martinez Ahead of Roma Clash

Inter have turned Serie A into a weekly drama series. For the second straight home game, the champions fell 2-0 behind, this time to Udinese, and for the second straight time they clawed their way back, echoing the recent comeback against Napoli. The scorelines are starting to look familiar. So is the emotional whiplash.

Cristian Chivu, though, refused to panic. He almost welcomed the madness.

“These are our qualities and what we know how to do. We can score a lot of goals and keep a high level,” he told Sky Sport Italia, before admitting the first 25 minutes were off, the energy wrong, the attitude punished by Udinese. The reaction, not the early collapse, was what he chose to highlight: “We stayed in the game, didn’t want to lose, and I am pleased with that.”

No illusions, no perfectionism. Chivu cut that idea down immediately.

“There is no perfect team, never seen in my career. We will try to maintain our identity, for the human values and the principles of this group,” he said, fully aware that this approach will bring bumps along the way. “Obviously in some matches you pay more or less and we are aware of the fact that we could run into difficulties in the future too.”

Goals, gaps and a calculated risk

Inter’s numbers tell the story of a side that lives on the edge. Four games. Fourteen goals scored. Eight conceded.

They are the most explosive attack in Italy right now, but they leak chances and Chivu knows exactly why. He has built a team that attacks with numbers, presses high and accepts the risk that comes with it. Control is not the word he is chasing. Identity is.

“If I don't say I'm worried, I'm not a coach,” he admitted when asked about the defensive record. Then came the explanation, stripped of any excuses. This is “today's football,” as he put it: high intensity, big risks, a lot of men committed in possession, and vulnerability when the ball is lost.

“We want to play this style of play, we bring a lot of men into possession and when we lose the ball we expose ourselves to risks,” Chivu said. The example he chose to defend the idea was telling. On Barella’s goal, the counter-press worked exactly as designed. “The counter-pressing on Barella's goal was done well, we're not perfect, we don't even want to be and we have to keep working, because the season is long and there are things we need to work on.”

No goalkeeper crisis: Chivu draws a line

If the defending has raised eyebrows, the noise around the goalkeepers has irritated Chivu far more.

Josep “Pepo” Martinez has been under the microscope, just as Yann Sommer was last season. The cycle is familiar: a goal goes in, the cameras zoom in, the debate starts. Chivu has had enough of that narrative.

“Last year Sommer was the problem and you pointed it out immediately, now it's Pepo Martinez,” he snapped. “I will defend him to the death, just like [Ivan] Provedel or others. I kindly ask you not to always make headlines about our goalkeepers. We don't have problems with goalkeepers.”

He reminded everyone that Martinez was “wanted” by the club, just as Provedel is now. The hierarchy, he insisted, is built on merit, not pity, not media pressure.

“Today it's Pepo because Ivan is wanted. Who is a great goalkeeper and will have his chance. But not out of pity, but because they deserve it. Everyone makes mistakes and so do I,” Chivu concluded, shutting down any suggestion of a brewing crisis between the posts.

Roma next: perfect records on the line

There is no time to breathe. The fixture list won’t allow it.

Next up is Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, a clash that already carries the weight of a Scudetto marker. Both teams arrive with a perfect record after four rounds. Something has to give.

For Inter, the concern now moves from tactics to bodies. Hakan Calhanoglu is a doubt with an adductor muscle strain. John Stones is also in serious question after limping off around the hour mark. Chivu knows he could be stripped of key pillars just as the intensity of the season spikes.

“Against Roma it is an important match before the break also because then I will be left with three players,” he said, half-joking, half-resigned to the reality of international call-ups and injuries. “But we will continue like this, because this is the status of this group and we will try to improve along the way.”

Inter are not perfect. They are not trying to be. They are chaotic, fearless, exposed and lethal — and now they walk into Rome with their style, their doubts, and their unbeaten record all on the line.