“It's very difficult what he did”

With the former defender on the bench, Inter is in 4th place in Serie A, with 12 points in 6 matches (4 wins, two draws). And in the UEFA Champions League he is still on 4, with two victories in two matches.

Victor Pițurcă praises the work of Cristi Chivu at Inter: “You can see that he left his mark”

Victor Pițurcă, the one who had Chivu as a student at the Romanian national team, spoke to Gazeta Sporturilor about how Inter looks under the command of the Romanian. And he says the Chiefs should bring him at least one or two more players.

– What do you think of the job that Chivu is doing at Inter?
– Excellent. He made his mark. His arrival at Inter can be seen. Players have grown a lot lately, physically. But also mentally. They had a slump after losing the championship and the League final in that manner. Now the team is on the right track. Sure, Cristi would need 3-4 more valuable players. He needed it from the start, but it didn't bring him leadership. Not even an attempt was made to bring in big names. I hope that if everything goes well and the team plays well, Inter will bring in one or two top-level players.

– Is it difficult to take over a dressing room after a 0-5 in the UCL final and a lost title?
– It's very difficult! He came at a very difficult time. Glad he had that Club World Cup. He had time on his hands. Now Inter is playing very well. I hope they keep it up. It is fantastic for Romanian football to have a coach at Inter.

Cristi Chivu took over Inter in the summer // PHOTO: Imago

Victor Pițurcă: “I can't say that I am excited about any player from the Super League”

The former selector also spoke about the situation in the Superliga. He believes that FCSB and CFR Cluj have a difficult mission to catch the play-off and that Craiova University needs to be more consistent to hope for the title.

– What do you think of the Super League?
– Nothing is certain. I mean we don't know who will be in the play-offs 100%. Here I am primarily referring to FCSB and CFR Cluj, teams that lost a lot of points. If we talk about the championship, Craiova University is in pole-position, but the team seems to be in a bit of a slump lately. To win the championship you have to be consistent all the time. You have to win the games, especially against the lower ranked opponents. There are also Dinamo and Rapid. Here, up there, is FC Botoșani, which not only has a good and ambitious coach, but also a good team. He didn't get there by chance. Anything could happen.

– What do you think of Craiova University? You know well what is there and you know Mirel Rădoi.
– Craiova seems to have a small setback. I don't know why. I saw that it was, like, a… I don't know if I should call it a conflict. But I think that Mirel Rădoi knows very well what he is doing. I am referring to the fact that in the match against FCSB, the most fit player of the team, Baiaram, was not a starter. I don't know what's going on. But you wonder why the player who scored imported goals and brought points did not perform. It is certain that the University of Craiova started very well. But to win the championship he has to play at a level, period!

– How do you see the situation at FCSB?
– It won't be easy for FCSB. It is organized on three levels and has many national players. It won't be easy! They need to be focused in every game to catch the play-offs. It's not what it was last year. I don't know what the causes are, I have no idea what's there. The same for CFR Cluj. Good, it doesn't have a batch of the value of those from FCSB. It will be very difficult to catch the play-off.

– Is there a player from the championship that attracts you? One that catches your eye?
– I couldn't say it's one that excites me. They are players of a certain level, but they have to fight and work hard to reach a high level. I don't know why, but I feel like it's not the same job anymore. Please, maybe I'm picky.