Inter coach Walter Mazzarri has taken responsibility for their shock 4-1 loss at home to Cagliari.
Following a strong start to the season, Inter were stunned when captain Yuto Nagatomo was dismissed in the first-half, an incident swiftly followed by three goals from Cagliari’s Albin Ekdal.
“I probably made some mistakes when rotating the squad,” Mazzarri 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 was one of those pointed out by Mazzarri as being tired after playing too many games in succession.
“He is probably one of those I used too much,” the tactician continued.
“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.”
