Mourinho: Final no distraction with so much to play for

Jose Mourinho faced the media on Friday afternoon to preview Roma's Serie A meeting with Venezia.

The game at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday gets underway at 20:45 CEST.

It is the final home match of the season for the Giallorossi, who know they still need to pick up results in both that match and the final league game of the campaign against Torino if they want to secure European football for next season.

After that, they will head to Tirana for the Europa Conference League final against Feyenoord.

Here's what Mourinho had to say on Friday...

Is there any concern that the prospect of the UEFA Europa Conference League final might distract the players from the two games against Venezia and Torino?

“I hope not – and I don’t think so. It seems to me that perhaps there are people – even those with skin in the game – who want us to finish eighth, with the hope that we then win the final, because that would mean Italy would have eight teams in Europe next season, which would be great for the game here. But I don’t think you can do that at the expense of what’s fair and respectful to the people who all work so hard like we do. So, to tell you the truth, I do not think we will lack any concentration for the last two games.

“Against Fiorentina we were a tired side and Fiorentina had a different energy to us; I agree that they were capable of winning the game without the decision that went their way. They really did play very well. But we are nevertheless a bit tired of referees and VAR referees finding themselves in trouble after our games. They have often been suspended for three or four or five games after overseeing a match with us.

“Because, for those in power, that is one way of them saying: ‘They made a mistake’. But nevertheless I ask, if they have made a mistake, if they have been punished … where are the points? Where did the points go in the end? That’s the problem. If we arrive at this stage in the season, with everything still to be decided from fifth to eighth position, then I don’t want to be saying the same thing that PSV did after the season finished in the Netherlands.

“I don’t want to congratulation Ajax and the referees and VAR. I don’t want to do that. I want to finish fifth or sixth, that’s what I want. So in these upcoming two games we need to do everything we can to finish fifth or sixth. That’s our target. Those are the positions we have been in for most of the season. And no, I don’t fear a lack of concentration.”

Roma will finish the season having played more games, 55, than any other Italian side. How will you manage workloads over this final run-in? Will we see the best possible team tomorrow? And how will Henrikh Mkhitaryan figure in that management of players?

“Mkhitaryan is not one to be managed – he’s injured. It’s not like he won’t play tomorrow out of caution or to save him for another game or not to take any risks. Right now he is an injured player, so he doesn’t factor into any team decisions. We don’t have the squad to make dramatic changes to who plays.

“We don’t have that level of experience, we don’t have two similar players for every role and so we cannot make eight or nine changes to rotate things. We need to win tomorrow: we need to win because we need the points, we need to win because it is our last home game of the season, and we need to win because we want to go into the final league game in charge of our own destiny without worrying about other results. With respect for our opponents tomorrow and their own plight, we nevertheless need to win.

“So there will be minimal rotation. We will make a couple of changes tomorrow, and then perhaps a couple of different changes against Torino. That way we can rest a few players without upsetting everything. But we are not in a position to make major changes.”

Could Mkhitaryan be back for the final?

“I don’t know. Right now, he is out injured.”

Could Nicola Zalewski be one of the examples for the future of this team, given the way he has established himself in the first-team?

“I wouldn’t want to make some great difference in the mentality or the attitude of Zalewski compared to some of the other young players. The real difference is that the opportunity came to him, and came to him on a regular basis, in a moment where the team was in real need of another option in that position. And he was ready for the opportunity.

“We decided to put him in that position [at left wing-back] when we lost 2-0 at home to Verona. Without Spinazzola, without El Shaarawy, with only Matias Vina who is a different sort of player, he had an opportunity during a difficult moment. And he was ready for it. Maybe another could have also taken it in the same way.

“I think he is representative of what we are, what we want to be, and the relationship we have with the Primavera and Alberto De Rossi, Vincenzo Vergine and Bruno Conti. Tiago Pinto is very good at building these type of relationships. A lot of young players have trained with us this season. Next season, in pre-season, we will take another three or four young players along with the first-team, so they have the chance to improve and develop with us.

“Zalewski represents a success in this process and that is very positive for us.”

In an interview with Sky Sports UK, you talked about next season and your hopes. What does Roma still need to make that leap to the highest level? Will that moment ever come?

“I think so. Organisation is very important, and I think we have that. We are improving a lot on the organisation side. If I can compare us in August with where we are now, then great work has already been done. Across the board.

“But time is necessary too. I have another two years on my contract here. When we talk about young players like Zalewski, we are talking about players who need time to develop here. Other clubs don’t need to do that, time isn’t a concept that exists for them.

“After that it is a question of quality and quantity. We have suffered a bit this season in key moments because of issues with the quantity of players. The other day, after the game against Fiorentina, I was asked on TV about the difference in intensity and aggression of the two sides. The difference is 140 kilometres of football. You can see how many minutes of football our players have played this season. You pay for that. It’s easy to see how much Roger Ibanez and Bryan Cristante have run this season – to give you just two examples. It’s about quantity and quality. We are well aware of that.

“I think I should apologise to you guys for not doing the interview with you all. I gave that interview because I am friends with the journalist there. That’s my justification for that. That’s the truth.

“The ownership want to reach the top, I want to reach the top. If I didn’t want to get to the top I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. We have the organisation, we have time, we have a few talented players, we have the passion of the fans and little by little we are continuing to improve.

“We will see what happens in the summer. Right now we still have three games to play – we can’t talk about next year.”

How else has the team improved compared to when you arrived?

“I don’t want to talk as if this season has finished. I don’t want to give some sort of final assessment. We still have three games to play. The final in Tirana, from an emotional perspective, is something this club has not had for a long time. But we have two other games that are also really important for us.”

Saturday will be the last game of the season at the Olimpico. It’s a chance to thank the fans for everything they have done for the team this season…

“We have decided, internally, that the very least we can do is thank the fans. I can thank them here, the players can thank them on social media, but at full-time tomorrow we want to go and thank them together on the pitch.

“They have supported us all season when we’ve been out there on the pitch, so we should thank them from the pitch. We will do a lap of the pitch to thank them. That’s the very least we can do.

“Beyond whatever the result is tomorrow, beyond the fact Marash Kumbulla destroyed my foot yesterday [in a training ground accident] ... we need to thank the fans for their support.

"If we can do that after a victory then we will do it with a smile on our faces – but either way we need to do it. The fans have been absolutely fantastic.”