Chivu: "Happy with the win, this group deserves to be defended"

“The team put in a good performance. It was a proper match, and we showed a lot of quality and some great passages of play. We wasted a bit too much and should’ve wrapped it up in the first half, but that’s football. You have to accept it, read the moments, do good things when you can and know how to dig in when you need to suffer. You have to understand what your opponent allows you to do. They surprised us a bit with their system, but they stuck to the same principles. We didn’t manage to finish it off earlier and had to dig in a bit as they grew in confidence. However, we eventually killed the game to come away with the three points, so we’re happy. We hit the post twice ourselves against, if I’m not mistaken, the tallest team in Europe. We knew the danger they could create from set pieces. With the substitutions we had to lower our physical presence a bit, but we didn’t concede and that was important. With our substitutions, we lost a bit of height, but we didn’t concede and that was important. All the lads are good at reading the moments and understanding what to do, especially those who started today. They have quality and experience, and they know how to do a lot of things. Little by little they’re starting to show what they can do and who they really are. That’s why I’ve always said this group deserves to be defended. Not many are doing that right now: a lot of people have forgotten what this team was last season. We know that the new arrivals have quality and can give us a hand – they’re showing it and doing it. To be honest, they make things difficult for me because I have to make choices. The team is growing and gaining confidence and self-belief. We always have to look forward and give everything to prove that this team is still strong. Pio is just 20 years old and has his whole future ahead of him. He needs to keep working in this manner. He has room to improve and must stay grounded. I already talked about him three months ago – he’s surprising me and doing very well, but we need to take it slowly and not expect too much from him. He plays for the team, isn’t afraid of anything and has a cool head in front of goal, and I’m happy he’s got off the mark. As for Martínez, the situation regarding him and Sommer was already clear a few weeks ago during the international break. The future will tell, but, as I mentioned in my press conference, things can change from one day to the next, or from one month to the next.”