Walter Mazzarri insists the 4-1 defeat to Cagliari was mainly down to his failure to rotate the Inter squad. “I take the blame.”

The Nerazzurri had been unbeaten and conceded only one goal in all competition this season, but were hammered at San Siro after Yuto Nagatomo saw red.

Walter Mazzarri insists the 4-1 defeat to Cagliari was mainly down to his failure to rotate the Inter squad. “I take the blame.”

The Nerazzurri had been unbeaten and conceded only one goal in all competition this season, but were hammered at San Siro after Yuto Nagatomo saw red.

“I probably made some mistakes when evaluating the squad rotation,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“I thought the team was in great shape this week and didn’t pay enough attention to the fitness levels, so kept some players who were on their third or fourth games in a row. It showed.
“Cagliari were vehement on the ball and we could not keep up our style of football without good fitness levels.

“Of course, once it rains then it pours, as we went down to 10 men! An experienced team would’ve sat back and controlled the situation, waited for the second half and not conceded four in the first half.

“It became impossible to turn it around by that point. It is a lesson, the lads will learn from this and I already said that to the players.”

Nemanja Vidic has struggled to settle in Serie A and gave away a penalty – saved by Samir Handanovic – for his mistimed tackle.

“He is probably one of those I used too much,” continued Mazzarri.

“He’s strong and a leader, so I didn’t want to rest him, but he was fatigued and therefore below par. I take responsibility for that, as I should’ve made more changes and realised there are players who at this moment cannot play three or four times in a row.

“Fatigue has an effect on your physical and psychological performance. Some players weren’t sharp and all it takes is half a metre or your body leaning the wrong way when a player runs at you and there isn’t the strength to make up for it.

“Mind you, some of the players who seemed stranded in the first half were woken up by those four slaps in the face.”

Nagatomo received two yellow cards in quick succession, but could they have been avoided?

“When a Coach loses 4-1 and then comments on a red card, then he gets criticised. Of course there are moments in the game that can change it and if we hadn’t gone down to 10 then we wouldn’t have conceded four, but never mind.

“Nagatomo unfortunately made a mistake on the first goal, so he was irritable and in an attempt to make up for it perhaps went into the challenges with too much emphasis.”

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