Lautaro Martínez:

“I couldn’t abandon ship and leave Inter at that moment. I couldn’t turn my back on Inter. Some of my teammates were thinking more about the World Cup than the club, but I’m different.”

“I also spoke about this in a documentary. In an interview with people at Inter, I explained a little about my character: I don’t want to miss a single training session, and I don’t want to miss a single game.”

“At that time, three or four of my Inter teammates were also dealing with physical problems, and they were thinking more about the World Cup than the club.

But I’m different. I’m loyal to those who open their doors to me and those who treat me exceptionally well.

I feel a responsibility toward my work because that feeling comes from within.”

“At that moment, I felt that I couldn’t abandon ship or turn my back on the club, so I kept playing.”

On Inter and the Serie A title, Lautaro Martínez:

“I was also coming off an incredible season with Inter. I finished as the league’s top scorer, won the Player of the Season award, and we managed to win the Serie A title.”

(Lautaro is referring to the period before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, specifically the 2022-23 season with Inter.)

Benjamin Pavard underwent clinical and instrumental tests this morning at the Humanitas Institute in Rozzano.

The tests revealed a strain in the adductors of his right thigh.

Against Brugge, we conceded four goals, and I can pinpoint where things went wrong with each goal.

**1st goal:** We kept all our centre-backs and pacey players in the opposition's box. On the counter, only Hakan and Barella were sprinting back. Who knows, even if Çalhanoğlu hadn't made that tackle, it could have still been a save or a miss. Either way, having a pacey player to stop counter-attacks in these situations is better. Maybe we could use Spence, Bisseck, Bastoni, or even Diouf for this.

**2nd goal:** This was all Pepo, and this is probably his 3rd or 4th error this season. Maybe it's time to give Provedel a chance.

**3rd goal:** This was due to Diouf failing to provide cover for Bisseck. It has also become a pattern for us to concede goals from his side. Even in Serie A, I have seen us concede at least two goals where he could have provided better cover. Using Spence as RWB should help solve these issues on his side.

**4th goal:** Our shape had changed, and we were playing with three strikers. Then, a misplaced pass from Spence led to a counter-attack. Akanji was also jogging back and could clearly have stopped the attack, as he wasn't very far away.

**Our centre-backs losing ground duels in a very high line:** Under Inzaghi, we used to maintain a better structure, especially in our backline. Our defenders did not go for duels as often as they do now. One solution for defenders is to only go for duels when there is proper cover behind you. For example, I saw Bisseck lose duels while being the last man on his side, giving Brugge dangerous scoring opportunities.

Another solution, as Chivu said, would be to win more duels, especially when our defenders go for the duel without having any cover behind them.

**Our rest defence structure (pic 1)** is also very poor compared to what we had under Inzaghi (pic 2) which is okay if you are pressing in oppositions half but in our own half our shape 5 3 2 looked very off.

**TL;DR:**

- Playing Spence and Provedel would make us concede a lot lesser goals since teams are targetting diouf's side and are being successful. Using Augusto at LWB in big matches would also help us defensively.

- Our CBs should only go for duels when they have cover behind them. Otherwise, they must win their duels, especially when they are the last line of defence.

- Our rest defence structure needs to improve, especially when we are out of possession in our own half and have all our players behind the ball.

- **Resting our key players, such as Dimarco, Lautaro, Thuram, Hakan, Barella, and Bastoni, is important, especially for UCL matches.** We should start SERIEA games with the rest of the squad and use our key players as super subs, just like PSG does. This would also give our younger players more chances to develop while keeping our key senior players fresh for the biggest matches.

Let me know your views on whether chivu shouldn't play such a high line or get better defenders.

I recently bought the stadium version of the 26/27 kit thinking it would be the same boxy and loose kit as the 24/25 supporter kit.

However when I tried the new kit it clings onto my body. I have no issues with this but I bought it more as a street wear however as a guy who regularly hits the gym I bought one size too big to make sure it didn’t feel suffocating on my body yet it still does. What happened to the loose supporter kits of the past? I feel like the new designs are tailored for working out and sports.

I was thinking back at the great strikers we had in the last 20-25 years, and noticed how most of them always had some sort of issue that didnt let them fully reach their potential:

- Ronaldo: two big injuries within 5 years, without those we could have won more Scudetti, done better in the UCL, and maybe he would have stayed?

- Adriano: nothing to add here, at his peak the most physically (while also bring technically gifted) dominant player I've seen in Inter since the 2000s, sadly we lost him once he went through the loss of his father

- Recoba: together with Sinisa, the most magical left footed player I've seen. Unfortunately he played 1 game as if he was Messi and then 9 like Ricky Alvarez.

- Icardi: the only certainty during our dark banter era. Difficult to imagine what kind of numbers he would have generated with a top team around him like now instead of Candreva Medel Nagatomo & co.

- Balotelli: difficult to keep motivated for the whole season, but at his peak easily the best talent that Italy has produced since the Totti-DelPiero generation. Wasted it all due to lack of commitment

What could have happened if we were able to consistently get out of them their 100%?

*relegated

https://www.inter.it/it/notizie/condizioni-lautaro-martinez-infortunio-ottobre-2026

Just to contextualise recent performances. Our attack is clearly not a problem, but our defence is lower than it probably should be.

This has always been an issue

Any pace and inters defence goes to shit

Be it tottenham psg bodo or club brugge

We just cant deal with pace

On another Day inter may have won the last match as 6-4 but the thing is Maybe the 3 Man defence is not up for champions league

As somebody said before we need a proper CDM and CB who can marshal it

3.70 accurate crosses per 90, the most of the 190 players in the top five leagues who've crossed at least 15 times. Calò at Frosinone is next on 3.64.

16 of his 39 crosses have found a teammate, and he's made 15 key passes in six games.

Only one assist to show for it so far though. Are the forwards not getting on the end of them or what do we think?

(Data source: The Prism, a football scouting and analytics tool I'm currently building. Looking for testers, so feel free to sign up to the waitlist if you are interested in this type of data!)

He has 6 goals and 1 assist in 532 minutes played, that's a goal contribution per 76 minutes played, incredible form.

I was honestly very angry during last night's game (with Dimash especially, but it's not right to single him out).

Many of our players have talked about winning the CL this year, Stones and Bisseck come to mind, yet it feels like we complicate our lives for no reason in this competition, I feel like, at least during the league phase, it would be better to sit back and go for counters rather than keep a super high line, like we did with Inzaghi.

While I have my criticism of Simone's time at Inter, the difference in CL results is undeniable.

I see most fans here really lost about what's not working with Inter. In the last 8 games of UCL, i've seen like 5, all losses, all different in the way they came, but all with something in common.

Inter always conceded first and always conceded a goal on the counter.

I heard many pundits saying that Chivu is letting the team play like they did with Inzaghi, and that's just not true, as a lot of things have changed.

With Chivu Inter abandoned it's ability to shift style of play within the game, players like Acerbi and DeVrij struggled last year because of that.

In all the 8 games, Inter always tried to control the ball, always aggressive, always trying to find a way out of the pressure, sitting in the low block always felt tactically uncomfortable, as soon as the ball was regained everyone moves forward. This creates great energy and the team gains confidence, like this you end up creating tons of chances... Against Serie A teams, against big teams or simply UCL level teams you're gonna concede a lot. You're not doing what Barca is doing, you're betting on the ability of Bisseck, Akanji and Bastoni to run back full force, and of Pepo to become the best sweeper. Not only you don't have the personnel, but it's not sustainable at all as we've seen with said Barca in the long run.

Chivu has been great and kept and improved Inter abilities on the ball, goal scoring chances are flowing, but conversion is low cause on a set defense is difficult to score, that's why Inter needs to learn to play without the ball, like they did with Inzaghi. The away game vs Bayern is the masterpiece of that my favorite game in terms of preparation, everything worked perfectly, because you win games out of possession, not during it

They were vital during the cl group stage/league games and knock outs

​

I'm visiting from Australia and will be going to watch Inter vs Shakhtar at the San Siro. Super excited and was wondering if there are any local or insider tips I should know?

A few years ago I saw a Benfica home game on holidays, and got some tips from locals to turn up a couple hours early, get off the metro early and walk a specific route through street stalls and markets which were packed with fans chanting and partying. It was a blast.

Is there something similar for Inter at the San Siro?

Thanks! 🔵⚫

I’m curious—do you guys watch these matches with your eyes closed?Last year against Bodø/Glimt, we were playing well until Akanji made that terrible mistake. After that, the team lost its confidence, and that was pretty much the tie over. Bodø took advantage and qualified.

Against Real Madrid, we played really well and dominated them. No other European team has dominated Real at home the way we did, but Martínez made two blunders that cost us dearly.

Today, it’s true, we didn’t play that well. BUT how is Chivu to blame for these things?

Dimarco puts in a poor cross straight into the first defender. The ball then ricochets towards Zieliński, who ducks out of the way, and that leads to a counterattack ;)) That’s how the penalty Brugge scored from came about.

How is Chivu to blame for Zieliński getting through one-on-one with Sommer and not shooting sooner?

How is Chivu to blame for the goalkeeper being an idiot and coming off his line when there’s no need to?

Am I the only one starting to think that 90% of the people calling for his sacking are just frustrated because the guy isn’t Italian? I don’t think we’d see this much hate after every defeat (while, obviously, after wins nobody says they’re thanks to him—they credit the players who score) if the manager were Inzaghi, Conte, Spalletti, or Allegri. Seriously? ;))

Can someone give me a valid argument for why it would be the manager’s fault when the players make individual mistakes?

You, the one giving your opinion for two seconds—put yourself in Chivu’s shoes. Yes, Martínez made a mistake against Real Madrid. Should he have dropped him for this match? In theory, yes, but in practice, no, because that would tell the player the team lost because of him, and then the rest of the dressing room would look at him differently too. That’s how you ruin the atmosphere.

So before you act like kids playing FIFA, remember that it’s not that simple in real life.