Inter’s losing start indicates de Boer has his work cut out

Frank de Boer admitted he has his work cut out if he is to turn Inter Milan into Italian title contender after a stunning loss to Chievo on Sunday.

Speaking after his first Serie A match in charge of the Chinese-owned club, the former Dutch international said he hadn’t had enough time to put his stamp on the team after only two weeks in charge.

“It can’t be denied that today was a difficult day, but we are at the beginning and we can do better in terms of our play and physical level.” said De Boer, who left Ajax at the end of last season.

“We have to get better on many levels, but I have only had a friendly to prepare. I’ve not had much time.”

Two second-half strikes by Slovenian winger Valter Birsa sealed Chievo’s 2-0 win and might have given Inter’s new owners pause for thought about the wisdom of ousting De Boer’s predecessor, Roberto Mancini, who took all his backroom staff with him when he left “by mutual consent” earlier this month.

Inter’s loss was icing on the cake for champion Juventus, which beat Fiorentina 2-1 on Saturday and was then able to watch some of its other potential title rivals struggle 24 hours later.

Napoli, second to Juve last season, had to come from two goals down to earn a point at Serie A newcomer Pescara,

We have to get better on many levels, but I have only had a friendly to prepare.” Frank de Boer, Inter manager

while AC Milan needed a lastminute penalty save to hang on for a 3-2 triumph over Torino.

Roma tops the first standingsoft he season thanks to its 4-0 win over Udinese, which made the capital city crew the only club to indicate it might stop Juventus claiming a sixth consecutive Italian title.

Still reeling from the loss of 36-goal striker Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus, Napoli looked out of sorts as Ahmad Benali and Gianluca Caprari gave newly promoted Pescara a two-goal lead at halftime.

Belgian winger Dries Mertens rescued a point for the visitors with two well-taken goals in the space of three minutes around the hourmark.

Colombian striker Carlos Bacca fired a hat-trick as AC Milan began a new era under Chinese ownership with a win over Torino.

It took an injury-time penalty save by 17-year-old keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to secure the three points for Vincenzo Montella’s side after Torino mounted a stoppagetime comeback.

Bacca, a target for West Ham United, who Milan is reportedly willing to sell to fund a higher-profile acquisition, made a strong case for staying at San Siro.

The match also brought Milan face-to-face with Sinisa Mihajlovic, the coach it sacked in April and who gave Donnarumma his professional debut as a 16-year-old last season.

“If I’d have known he was going to save the penalty, I wouldn’t have given him his debut,” said Mihajlovic, who then made a bizarre comment regarding Belotti’s missed penalty.

“I smiled because I knew he was going to miss and I’m almost always right,” said Mihajlovic, who was taking charge of Torino for the first time.

“I went to reassure him afterwards that these things happen ... and then I told him that the next time we get a penalty, he definitely won’t be taking it.”