On September 6th at 00:00 CEST, Inter will host Napoli in Week 3 of Serie A. On the eve of the match, Inter coach Chivu attended a press conference. This is the fourth part of the press conference.

Good afternoon, coach, nice to see you again. Last season we saw a dominant Inter team that played almost the entire match in the opponent's half, but in some specific matches, you also proactively dropped back. In the first two rounds of this season, we've seen Inter remain very proactive and aggressive, always pushing the defensive line into the opponent's half to immediately win back second balls. I actually want to ask, facing Napoli, coached by Allegri, who is extremely good at solidifying their defense and looking for counter-attacks, will you still stick to this high-pressure style tomorrow, or will you make tactical adjustments based on the opponent, such as appropriately dropping back and lowering the defensive line?

Allegri knows our tactics inside out, and he will certainly make targeted deployments for both possible scenarios. We have no doubt about this, because he has extensive coaching qualifications and practical experience, and he has also publicly stated multiple times that playing against Inter requires this counter-attacking approach. However, we must do our own thing, stick to our tactical integrity, high morale, fearless courage, and strong desire to dominate the game. I absolutely do not want to lose these, because this team has an extremely clear and firm positioning in their minds regarding the football style they want to display.

Moreover, since I made some mistakes last season in judging situations and preparing for certain matches, I hope I have learned my lesson. I hope I can convey the necessary information to my team to consolidate everyone's confidence, maintain our tactical identity, and continue to steadily build the grand blueprint we envision.

Hello, Cristian, I know you've talked about Pavard many times recently, and I don't want to repeat myself, but there's a detail that might not have been deeply discussed before, which is that his situation at Marseille last season wasn't good, neither on a collective team level nor in his individual performance. His performance was below his usual excellent standard, so I'd like to know, how much did you pay attention to him last season? Did you continuously follow his performance when he played at Marseille? Did you personally intervene and guide him this summer to help him regain his form and re-establish the "Inter-level player" standard to escape the shadow of his time at Marseille?

Regarding Benjamin, I can only talk about what I have experienced and shared with him. As for what others say, or what he experienced elsewhere... If I remember correctly, Roberto De Zerbi was coaching Marseille at the time, right? I think you should ask him what happened; I only care about what Pavard is doing now. Currently, he has once again become a player fully dedicated to the team. He showed extremely high training quality during preseason preparation and also demonstrated extremely solid strength – although he doesn't need to prove his talent to anyone. He is very eager to stay here, very eager to contribute his strength to our grand ambitions.

Good afternoon, coach, regarding player rotation, I want to ask if Akanji will start tomorrow? Or will he be rested considering the Champions League next week? Since we're going to discuss the starting lineup... I've always looked forward to asking this!

To be honest, I really don't know. Let's be frank, I never decide the starting lineup in advance. Sometimes my own mind is full of struggles because I have 25 equally excellent and strong young men under me, and I often make the decision at the last minute. I'm also not the kind of coach who needs to clearly separate the main lineup from the substitutes three days in advance in tactical drills to show everyone who's starting and who's on the bench, because we have a tactical system that we practice daily, which allows us to "hide" the starting lineup well and prevent the outside world from noticing. I hope that by doing this, everyone under me feels the responsibility on their shoulders and feels that they are an extremely important member.

For a player, the worst thing is when the coach only drills tactics with the predetermined 11 starters from Tuesday onwards, and everyone else is completely out of the coach's sight. This is my way of doing things. I know sometimes it doesn't satisfy everyone, and I know some players might not understand why they weren't put in the starting lineup, and it might indeed cause some psychological fluctuations in their mental state. But since we have been working together in this mode for a whole year, I will firmly follow this path.

So, regarding tomorrow's specific lineup, the starting players... I have a general idea in my mind. But as I have learned from past lessons, plans often change, and my thoughts might change by tomorrow. We will see on the field tomorrow.

Good afternoon, coach. Last season, in Italy's three domestic competitions, thanks to your excellent performance, you made winning the Serie A and Coppa Italia seem almost effortless...

Sorry, I got a bit distracted, are you talking about me? Could you please repeat that?

Yes, last season Inter's performance in the three domestic competitions in Italy was impeccable. Your high standard made winning the trophies seem so easy, whether it was the league, which you dominated and won with a huge lead, or the Coppa Italia, which you won by defeating Lazio in Rome. My question is: what more does Cristian Chivu need to do to be considered the best coach in Serie A? Because last year, that is, last season's best coach award was ultimately given to Fàbregas...

This is the kind of question where no matter how I answer it, it might be over-interpreted by the outside world. Therefore, I just want to first extend my sincerest congratulations to Cesc Fàbregas. In my eyes, he is an extremely excellent coach, and he has proven his extraordinary coaching talent to all of us colleagues. And in fact, this doesn't even need to be proven, because we know too well his extreme desire for victory and competitive spirit. We all know the work he has done at Como in recent years, watching him start from scratch and lead Como to its current heights. From my perspective, he completely deserves this best coach award.

In addition, I personally might have some "stubbornness in character" that prevents me from ever caring about personal face or self-interest. I am inherently this kind of person. All my thoughts and all my attention are for my players. The only thing I want to see is the happy smiles on my players' faces when they lift the trophy at the end of the season.

Seeing their happiness at the awards ceremony a few days ago—we had almost half of the players in the Team of the Season, a total of 5 people selected, plus Dimarco winning the Player of the Year award, it filled my heart with endless pride. Because I work for them, I have never planned anything for myself. And there's something I must make clear: I will absolutely never trade any team's championship trophy for personal honors, especially the supreme Serie A title.

What kind of season will this be for Pio Esposito? He just extended his contract, is deeply loved by the fans, and previously scored an incredibly stunning backheel goal against Monza. The national team is also waiting for him with open arms—although he had a somewhat unlucky episode with the national team before, everyone has high hopes, just as Mancini previously described him as a powerful center forward who can solve many tricky problems in the attack. In short, he is no longer the young Pio of last year; he has become a new, more mature Esposito. You might say, "I still have Boni and Lautaro, they are all very capable," but will this be the year he truly completes his ultimate transformation and enters the ranks of superstars?

He is indeed no longer the Pio of last year; he is undergoing a transformation... I hope this "new version" of Esposito will be even better. He has now been with the team for a full year, and in my opinion, in the past year, he has given his all to the team, made significant contributions, and genuinely played a crucial role in our two championship trophies last season.

I have such wishes not only for Pio but also for Lautaro, Thuram, and Boni, because we have these four top strikers, and they must establish themselves on the field with goals. They must truly understand how indispensable they are to the team's attack and our overall tactical operation. Overall, my expectations for Pio and the other three main strikers are the same: to continuously make breakthroughs and reach new heights.

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