Mourinho: We paid for our mistakes

“We paid for our mistakes. We are a team, and I don't want to pick out this player or that player for making a mistake. We were all to blame today."

Here's what Jose Mourinho had to say after the home defeat against Cremonese in the Coppa Italia...

“Congratulations to Cremonese. They have won two tough games, against Napoli and against Roma away from home. This is a strange competition, which stacks the odds against teams that were not in Serie A last season, like Cremonese, or who finished in the lower part of the table. That makes what they've done even more impressive - they deserve credit and are deservedly in the semi-final, congratulations.

"We paid the price for a terrible first half, a very poor performance. Then, in the second, we made an individual mistake. The mistake in the first half fit into the context of the game considering we were playing so poorly. While the one made in the second half was out of the blue, a mistake that cost us the second goal. Then we had a positive reaction, but they defended with a lot of bodies, and we had no luck in front of goal. We could have easily scored much earlier than we did.

"But there it is. Over the years I have learned not to cry after a defeat and to instead look forward to the next game. Our squad struggles when we are forced into rotation, we struggle to play three games in one week. However, getting back to the match tonight, we deserved to pay the price for how we played in the first half."

After the away match in Naples, you said that Roma could go far playing this way. Is this a step back?

“Football is like that, it happens to the top teams - so imagine what can happen to those that aren't at the top. In Naples, we deserved a completely different result. We played a great game, which was why I felt I was able to say I was proud, even though I was certainly disappointed about the defeat. I can't say the same today.

"I'm just saying this match is over. Others can comment, others can react to it in whatever way they feel like. My job is the next game. We have to play in three days, and I have to concentrate on that."

Did you regret not playing the usual starters from the beginning tonight?

“This is the same old post-match complaint. When, for two days before the match, the medical department - who are overseeing the situations with all the individual players - tells you very clearly that player A, B, C, D is in the red zone, at risk of an injury, when we have another match on Saturday and a squad that cannot afford any injuries ... This all makes you think. If Paulo [Dybala] had started today, but then picked up a lengthy injury, we might have been happy to be in the semi-finals but we would have lost him for a month. And that goes for Paulo, for Matic, for Tammy. Did you see how Tammy and Matic finished the game in Naples?"

"It's a bit difficult for me to get my head around why we played today and then we play again on Saturday. The reason I have been told is that there is a rugby match scheduled for Sunday, and as a result we can't play on Monday because the pitch will be destroyed. However, for a team like ours, it's always the same story. If I don't rotate players and then they get injured, it's a problem. If I do rotate them and the team doesn't play well, it's still a problem, because we get eliminated.

“But after more than a thousand games, the post-match is always very subjective. I prefer to be objective and say that we played badly. A terrible first half, in which we paid for our mistakes. But we are a team and I don't want to blame any players who made a mistake. We were all wrong."

Zaniolo has released a statement, extending his hand to make peace with Roma. Would you like to comment on what he said?

"No, the ownership has been very clear and I do will not make any further comment on that."