Mourinho: Eight games unbeaten isn't bad

A late penalty from Lorenzo Pellegrini ensured Roma drew 1-1 with Udinese on Sunday evening.

The result means the Giallorossi are now eight games unbeaten in Serie A. Here's how boss Jose Mourinho reflected on the result...

What was going through your mind after Pellegrini equalised at the end?

“That there were still another two or three minutes to be played. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The game wasn't that different from what I was expecting; I knew that this was the way Udinese would want to play. After a few minutes I knew I hadn't messed up in preparing for this one.

"We got back into the game after the changes we made: we had more energy, that was the key. I could see that a few players were struggling to get up to the speed of the game. Even speaking with my assistant coach Foti - it's his first experience competing in Europe as well - he seemed to realise that it's hard, for those who have never done it, to prepare a side that's playing in Europe to go up against a team that has had a week to prepare for the match.

"It was a tough game. I still have the feeling that, if we had managed to equalise sooner, we would have been able to pursue a winner. Unfortunately we only scored right at the end. Nevertheless, it's now eight games in Serie A without losing: four wins and four draws. A few of those draws, especially at home ... they feel like two points dropped. But when you rescue a draw at the death in a game, in the end at least it's not a defeat."

The fact the team didn't seem up to it physically and mentally - was that down to the game in midweek, or Udinese really trying to push the tempo throughout?

"A bit of both. It's enough to watch for two or three minutes the body language of a few of the players and you can realise what is happening. Unfortunately in my team there were a couple of players like that; and I realised straight away they didn't have the right intensity or mental strength for this one.

"On the other hand, Udinese focused on the physical side of the game and set up in a way that they wouldn't have to play out much. If I think that in future they might implement this idea of having games of 30 minute halves where the clock only runs while the ball is in play ... then I think in this one we could have been here until midnight, because they were really good at slowing the game down."

You could see the team lacked a bit of energy, but also a bit of fight: Udinese seemed to win every second ball going...

“Indeed. And there was the rhythm on the ball too; simple passes, moving the ball too slowly... we gave the opposition time to get themselves organised. I don't have the statistics on me but we must have had more of the ball - but it was possession without aggression or intensity.

"I've told the players on a few occasions that we don't get to decide which games we play; that we can't say which is more important than another. Now we have another game on Thursday that is important. Then there is another on Sunday that is important.

"We don't get to choose the games: we have to get better in that regard and show the right mentality throughout.

"The truth is we know that it is hard going to play on Thursday and Sunday; especially Sunday when it is away from home. This season we've lost in Verona, we've lost in Venice, we've drawn this one today. We need to get better, we need to have a better attitude.

"I am a bit tired, but you feel that only after the game - whereas a few of my players felt that tiredness before the game and that attitude is something I really don't like.

What did you make of Zaniolo's performance?

“I thought he did well. I thought he did well in terms of the emotions of the game. We told him that Udinese are good at luring you into getting yellow cards and that you need to be careful to avoid that. The way they play, trying to put you off, can be very difficult.

"And, I have to say, considering Zaniolo's experiences with referee Di Bello - two yellow cards in games against Inter - it gave me cause for concern, because I thought maybe he wouldn't be able to express himself fully and the knowledge of those past incidents would affect how he played. But I wasn't disappointed by him."

And what about Lorenzo Pellegrini?

“He did well, but I missed having him a bit in behind - that was the problem. We needed a bit more creativity from deep and to have a third attacker to limit the numerical advantage of the Udinese defence. Pellegrini's absence in that regard was a bit noticeable.

"Later on we took big risks: Veretout and Perez came on to help build from deeper and ensure we didn't need to have Lorenzo so deep, that he could play with the two forwards instead. Losing 1-0 or 2-0 would make no difference to us in the end but by drawing 1-1 we have kept our unbeaten run going.

"Perhaps five wins and three draws would have been better, but nevertheless four wins and four draws in a row is not that bad."