Chivu praises Inter spirit in derby loss to AC Milan
Cristian Chivu was pleased with the spirit shown by his Inter players in his side's Derby della Madonnina defeat to AC Milan, but he admitted his side is losing too many games.
Hakan Calhanoglu had a penalty saved by Mike Maignan as Inter dropped to fourth, with four defeats after 12 rounds of matches.
Inter has failed to beat Milan in its last six meetings in all competitions and it three points adrift of new league leader Roma.
"When you suffer the fourth defeat in 12 rounds, that is too many," Chivu said. "However, the table is still pretty tight. We are up there and need to deal with this frustration, because losing a game like this can leave a mark.
"We hardly allowed any counter-attacks, despite knowing the two strikers could cause us problems.
"The one time we lost the second ball in midfield, they scored. This is football. I take home the good performance.
"The lads kept going to the end, despite the disappointment of conceding the goal, and the frustration after hitting the woodwork twice.
"They tried to score in every possible way, and that is the spirit I want to see."
Despite looking the livelier side for large parts, though, Inter was undone by a goal on the counter-attack for a fourth time in Serie A this season.
"I know what we create and what we concede, and these are the risks we take," said Chivu, whose side travels to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Thursday.
"I don't analyse individuals in public. I would never do that. When I see my players give their all in training, I could never point the finger of blame.
"We are all in this and all responsible, for good and bad. We all could've done better; we could've scored earlier.
"Our duty now is to get back on our feet, as on Wednesday we have an equally important match."
