Mourinho: Udinese will make it very tough for us

Jose Mourinho faced the media on Saturday afternoon, answering questions ahead of Roma's Serie A meeting with Udinese on Sunday.

The game in Udine gets underway at 20:45 local time.

Here is everything the boss had to say...

You are facing a Udinese team who have won their last two games, while the injury list is starting to grow for the Giallorossi. Is new signing Mady Camara ready to play? And, one other thing, what did you make of Serena Williams’ farewell to tennis?

“Sportspeople like Serena, in this instance in the world of tennis, are eternal. Their careers and achievements are eternal and from generation to generation they will not be forgotten. What she has done on the court is unforgettable and also off the court; as I said, it’s eternal. For me sportspeople like that never cease to be great, they just cease playing.

“Camara does not have 90 minutes in him just yet and he doesn’t understand our tactical approach enough to start a game right now. He is showing in training what he is capable of, which has been a nice surprise for a few of his teammates who maybe don’t watch the Greek league, but it has not been a surprise for us because we scouted him before signing him. He’s a good player who will help us a lot, but for now he will be on the bench. If he is needed to play then he can, but not for long stretches. He has a bit of work to do first before he's at that stage.

“Udinese are a very, very tough side. Among the hardest in the league. They are a side that know how to play, know how to compete; they are smart and sly and know how to manage games in the way they want them to go. They have that intelligence and experience to also find a way to sway the referee. They are a team I really like and that I have a lot of respect for; it makes me think that tomorrow is going to be a very tough game for us.”

Other than the ones we know about, are all the players available? And what about the UEFA ruling on Financial Fair Play – do you find the sanction imposed on Roma a bit excessive?

“Apart from the injured players you already know about, everyone is fine. On financial fair play, I don’t believe there is one rule for some and one for others. Obviously it’s not just for us. It’s a mechanism that, beyond the idea of it, penalises those who want to go about things the right way. But in an indirect way it protects those who do not act responsibly – and it protects those sides who already have significant means.

“It protects them. It’s an equally applied mechanism, I won’t say anything against that, but there are those who find ways around it that are legal but perhaps not right in spirit. But what really strikes me is the way it penalises those who want to become great. In terms of competition, it’s not a ‘fair play’ mechanism. Perhaps it should be given another name. It’s not fair play if one club can spend 300 million and another can only spend 30. That’s it. But I wouldn’t cast doubt on the way it is applied.”

What would you put in place then, that you think would be fairer?

“I don’t want to waste time on that sort of thing. I am happy to coach, I am happy to work in this way and even under these sort of conditions. But it is also tough. I can say that with a few million more Roma would be in a position to really start dreaming. But because of a few million affected by this situation, it is a lot harder for us to go far.

“What the General Manager has done during this period, it’s tough. He’s great, but it is tough. If you look at the size of the squad, obviously I would like to still have Jordan Veretout here, for example. Obviously I would like to have another central defender. Obviously I would have liked to have Felix Afena-Gyan, even if he is young and in his place we managed to bring in Andrea Belotti. But he’s a player, a kid we’ve taken on with a lot of potential to improve. But we have these limitations which make things a little bit tougher. But that’s fine, we’ll still have fun regardless."

How much of a difference will it make now for those playing in the European competitions compared to those sides who are not?

“Obviously those who are only playing one game a week can prepare for them differently, and with a different intensity. They can focus on all the details. When you play a lot you don’t have much time for training so you have to be smart and you have to choose the right things to focus on. When you have only one game a week it’s a very different story. I have been lucky enough to be playing in European competitions for 20 years though, I prefer to have this nice problem.

“When you have two players for each position it becomes easier to do, you can have a different sort of rotation. When you don’t have that it’s a bit harder. But it’s fine, it’s motivating for the squad and we push on. In Udine it will be tough, and then the first away game in the Europa League is always important. A defeat would complicate things. Then we have another away trip after that, to Empoli.

“Atalanta, meanwhile, will only play once [before we face them next weeked], which is the difference with us. But I am sure [their coach] Gasperini and his lads would rather also be playing in the Europa League.”

Does it already mean something to be top of the table after four or five matchdays?

“No, it’s just four or five games. I prefer to say that all matches are made equal, because they are all worth three points, but then if you look at the matches different teams have had to play then you can start to make some assessments about how hard they have been.

“If you look at Sampdoria, for example, they have played Atalanta, Juventus and Lazio – three very tough matches. Cremonese started with two away games because of work being done to their stadium. So it’s too early to judge. The important thing is the points you pick up.

“I don’t look at the standings, I look at what we do. I didn’t like that we ended up drawing but the draw in Juventus, given how we played in the first half, was a positive result. Let’s see if tomorrow we can continue to pick up points.

“We will take things game-by-game, trying to win. There will be draws or defeats, but we want to win every game. Don’t look at the name of the important, don’t look at the fact we are playing at home or away. That’s how it needs to be for us, it’s not like we have loads of players and we can’t worry that something might happen. Other squads don’t have that sort of problem.

“If you talk to me about Karsdorp and Celik, Spinazzola and Zalewski, Rui Patricio and Svilar, I can sleep soundly. But in other positions it’s not the same. For example, yesterday in his press conference the General Manager was brilliant, honest … but he said something that, if I had been there, I would have told him: ‘That’s not how it is’. He said that if there is an issue, Bryan Cristante could play in defence. I would respond: ‘Okay, but then who plays in midfield?’ That’s who we are. I don’t cry about it like some would; there are coaches who cry a lot but at the end are smiling.

“I don’t like to cry, I like to have a laugh like I did yesterday. We look forward. Congratulations to the general manager and the club, because given our restrictions they did some amazing things. With the hope that they might still help out a little more…”

How are you thinking about managing Chris Smalling’s workload?

“I can’t manage it. Rotation was going to happen against Monza, that was the plan to manage his playing time. Then Kumbulla was not going to play in Udine and Ibanez was not going to play against Ludogorets. Now there is no way to manage things [after the injury to Kumbulla].

“On the bench tomorrow we will have Filippo Tripi and Dimitrios Keramitsis. Tripi has been training with us but he is not a true central defender. Keramitsis is playing for the Primavera and this year the Primavera is not using the same tactical system us. For this reason his style and his development is a bit different because he is thinking about the game in a different way. If Cristante plays at the back then he can’t play in midfield. You can work on using Matias Vina or Zeki Celik in that spot; but we don’t have a true centre-back.”

What were your impressions of Zeki Celik’s first appearances for the club? Has the hierarchy changed down the right?

"There are no hierarchies. When you have two good players in a position, there is no pecking order. There’s just peace and calm for me and for the team. Last year we never did what we did in Turin recently – with Karsdorp coming off and Celik coming on to add energy and intensity.

“Last season we could never start a game with Zalewski and then introduce a fresh Spinazzola to the action. This year we’ve done that. There is no pecking order. They are all players with different characteristics, and those are what I focus on when choosing one today or another tomorrow. All four of them are great players.”

Tomorrow you will be facing a strong, physical side. How important will it be that the team thinks and acts quickly? And is it fair to suggest the side could switch to a flat back four at times?

“We could switch to a four at any time, regardless of how many centre-backs we have available. That’s something that we could do. Against Juventus we did it. Kumbulla was on the bench, and we did that based on some of the issues we were having during the game. Going to a four is not a potential problem for us, if anything it can be a solution.

“In that regard we need to work on it a bit more to make sure the players feel comfortable in two different systems. But we could even start some games like that.

“You’ve described Udinese well. It’s true, they are strong and aggressive and a tough side to face. They are good on the counter-attack, down the flanks, from set-pieces. They are a tough side, no doubt about it.”