Chivu's Inter still a work in progress ahead of Juve clash / Photo: Piero CRUCIATTI - AFP/File
Chivu's Inter still a work in progress ahead of Juve clash
Cristian Chivu's Inter Milan have failed to convince ahead of Saturday's grudge match at fierce rivals Juventus, as Serie A returns this weekend with champions Napoli travelling to Fiorentina.
Replacing Simone Inzaghi would have been a tough job for anyone, least of all novice Chivu whose senior coaching record contained a handful of matches in charge of Parma before Inter took a gamble on a club legend.
Inzaghi won Inter's 20th league title -- securing it in a Milan derby, no less -- and also re-established Inter as one of Europe's top teams despite a budget dwarfed by those of other continental giants.
Meanwhile Chivu, who won the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble as a player with Inter under Jose Mourinho in 2010, was hired after the club failed to snatch Cesc Fabregas from Como.
Inter head into Saturday's match in Turin after the international break which was preceded by home defeat to Udinese, a loss that dampened the enthusiasm generated by their opening 5-0 thumping of Torino.
"We're a work in progress but we can't be that for very long. But we weren't the best after our first match and we're not rubbish now," said Chivu after the Udinese match.
"You can't change long-term habits in the space of a few weeks."
Inter's opening Champions League fixture of the season at Ajax on Wednesday night follows on from the Juve clash as Chivu prepares for the relentless rhythm which eventually broke Inzaghi's ageing Inter team.
However, the team has since been freshened up with the likes of France's Ange-Yoan Bonny and Petar Sucic, who are both in their early 20s, arriving in the close season.
Inter trail Juve and Napoli -- and Roma and Cremonese -- by three points, and defeat would be a big early blow to Chivu's team.
Napoli will face in-form striker Moise Kean, who is fresh from scoring three times on international duty, with new boy Rasmus Hojlund ready for his Serie A debut after signing from Manchester United and netting for Denmark in the World Cup qualifiers.
Hojlund was brought in to cover for Romelu Lukaku who could be out until the end of the year and joins Kevin De Bruyne and Scott McTominay in leaving the Premier League for Naples.
Player to watch: Jamie Vardy
Vardy has the bit between his teeth ahead of his first fixture as a Cremonese player, as his new team head into the weekend level on points with Napoli and face a trip to neighbouring Verona on Monday.
The 38-year-old former Leicester stalwart made it clear during his first press conference with the promoted club that he is raring to go and keen to show that he isn't just in Italy to wind down his eventful career.
"It's obviously not down to me, I'd happily say yes, but that's definitely down to the manager," said Vardy when asked if he was going to start.
Should he take part at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi he will be playing in a team that has already won two fixtures against AC Milan and Sassuolo since returning to the top flight.
Key stats
6 - Juve are one of four teams on six points from their first two matches.
200 - the number of goals Vardy scored in 500 matches for Leicester.
Fixtures (times GMT)
Saturday
Cagliari v Parma (1300), Juventus v Inter Milan (1600), Fiorentina v Napoli (1845)
Sunday
Roma v Torino (1030), Atalanta v Lecce, Pisa Udinese (both 1300), Sassuolo v Lazio (1600), AC Milan v Bologna (1845)
Monday
Verona v Cremonese (1630), Como v Genoa (1845)
D.Findlay--EWJ
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