Mourinho: “We must win our game and believe we can finish top”

This is what the boss had to say....

Once again, over 60,000 fans are expected at the Stadio Olimpico for the Sheriff game tomorrow.

“What can I say? The day the stadium is not full will be a negative surprise for us. It's great for us and it gives us added incentive. There are no conditions for our fans to go to the Olimpico.

“It doesn't matter to them if it's Fiorentina or Napoli. It doesn't matter if we're playing a big European team or not. Whether we need to win or not. There are no conditions. And there shouldn't be for us either. Tomorrow we have to win for our fans, for us, and for football. We must respect football.

“And while no one expects Slavia not to win their game, football is football. We have to think it's possible. And if it's possible for them not to win their game, we absolutely must win ours. We will make a few changes but they're necessary changes. Not optional ones.

“[Evan] Ndicka is suspended, [Gianluca] Mancini is injured and [Chris] Smalling you all know about. We'll make necessary changes to the way we play too, but we must win.”

Last year Roma had a clear identity: strong in defence and dangerous from set-piece along with other qualities. What characteristics do you think this current Roma side have?

“There are certain characteristics. We're not as good from set-pieces or in individual defensive duels. Characteristics are not always good characteristics. A team with Smalling and [Roger] Ibanez in it is going to win more defensive duels and is definitely much better on attacking set-pieces. But without them, we're better at building play, keeping possession, we make fewer mistakes playing out from the back. So we're a different team. You've noticed some of the negatives. I hope you'll be able to notice the positives a well. When another team scores after stringing together 21 or 23 passes, it's hailed as a fantastic example and goes straight into the Lega Calcio highlights reels, but not us.

“We know that, though. I've read things president [Dino] Viola said 20 or 30 years ago. It was no different 20 or 30 years ago.”

Given the circumstances and your ongoing injury problems, do you think the rest of the season – how well you do in Serie A and the cup competitions – could be decided partly by what happens in the January transfer window?

“Our transfer business will always be in line with what we're able to do.”

It seems you're not counting on much happening transfer-wise.

“Of course I'm counting on it. We're all counting on it. It's not that I want one thing and the owners or Tiago [Pinto] want something different. We all want the same thing. But we all have to face up to the difficulties.

“Not that I'm jealous, but Man City paid €80 million for [Kalvin] Phillips and now Pep [Guardiola] has said it would be better for him to leave in January. So he'll leave and they'll get someone else.

“Our reality is very different. We'd like one, two, three or four new players. Tiago too. And the owners too. We all want to try and improve the team, to make us better for the second half of the season.

“However, it's not easy for us to do that. I'll be honest, if we bring in a defender in January, I'll already be happy. But if you ask me if I'd like more than that, of course I'd like more. But it's not possible. They're working to try to give me options, to give me a defender.

“But even with a defender coming in, we'll have problems with our UEFA list. You could get a player who's ineligible for the list, and if he is eligible, then others have to come off it. [Sardar] Azmoun and [Rasmus] Kristensen aren't on the list. Should we add them? There are complications. I'd like people to understand that. I'd like people to be honest about our objectives when they say we should have been challenging for this or that. It's ok, though.

The main thing is that those of us within the club know what we want, even though wanting something is one thing and being able to do it is another. I don't think we'll be able to do anything more than bring in a centre-back who can help us out. We won't have Ndicka on 3 January. We definitely won't have Smalling on 3 January. Mancini is a booking away from suspension and is injured. [Diego] Llorente is hanging in there and keeps playing. That's where our difficulty lies. We'll see if it's possible but I think we'll be able to do something.”

No one from the club spoke after the match on Sunday. I wanted to ask why what was.

“We spoke a lot.”

Apart from you on Instagram yesterday… 

“So you read my post? Isn't [Marcus Tullius] Cicero great? We spoke a lot.”

But can you explain the reason for the silence?

“It's not silence. We spoke a lot. We spoke a lot.”

How is Renato Sanches? 

“He'll play tomorrow.”

And how is he? How does he look to you?

“We'll see tomorrow. He's been working with us for two weeks straight without playing. I hope he can up his intensity. He's a little bit held back by his fear of muscle injuries. I hope the emotion and the adrenaline of the game can help him overcome it, because if he doesn't it's hard for him to put in a top-level performance and play with intensity. I think tomorrow is an important match for him, from an individual point of view, to see how he responds. He knows he'll start the game. He knows he's playing and he's trained a certain way with that in mind. He's been able to work mentally too.

“Tomorrow he'll be out there. I don't expect 90 minutes of low intensity, of him being careful. I expect 45, 55, 60 real minutes. That's what I expect from Renato tomorrow.”

Going back to your Instagram post and your thanks for the banner by the Curva Sud, does this love between you and Roma fans at the stadium make you feel proud? Does it give you reason to think about a future together?

“Me think about a future together? I don't need to think about anything. In my head everything is clear and objective. All I can do is thank these fans. And tell them that this situation doesn't make me feel totally at ease.

“You go to the stadium to shout for the players, the team. Banners are for the lads out on the pitch. Of course I find it moving. It makes me feel proud and even more empathy with them, but it's not something I like. If I can ask them not to do it for me, I will. It's the players and the team who need that support. But of course, I'm very grateful to them.

“As for the kid at pitchside, that's something I did lots of times. I was the ballboy and my dad coach. We got to a point where there was no need for pieces of paper. He told me and I passed on the information. Sometimes I even added some...”

It looks like you're going to play four at the back tomorrow. Could you confirm that? And what are you planning to do without Paulo Dybala?

“We were already missing Dybala last Sunday. There was a match with Dybala and a match without him. It was one Fiorentina with Dybala on the pitch, unable to close us down and regain possession. We'd always find a way out, to switch play, until Paulo missed the chance to make it 2-0. That might have been game over.

“Then there was another match without him because there's no one else like him. We'll have to do without him now. We won't have Romelu [Lukaku] for the next one either. It will be difficult because we don't have another player who does the same things. We'll have to do things differently. We have [Andrea] Belotti, we have [Lorenzo] Pellegrini who can play as second striker, we have [Stephan] El Shaarawy, and we have two kids who will be on the bench tomorrow: [Luigi] Cherubini and Joao Costa. Creative, fast, small, agile.

“But without Paulo it won't be the same and we know that. There's nothing we can do.”

Will you play with four at the back?

“More or less, yes. More or less because [Zeki] Celik and [Rick] Karsdorp will be on the same side.”

What about the players who didn't take part in the final training session? How are Mancini and Pellegrini? And looking ahead to Bologna, since Azmoun might not make it, do you think Leo Spinazzola could recover in time?

“It's difficult for Leo and difficult for Azmoun, but there's hope. Mancini has quite a serious problem but he hasn't broken both legs. And since he doesn't have two broken legs, he'll play.

“He's a different player to someone who has a problem here [pointing to his fingernail] and doesn't play because of it. He doesn't have that problem. Mancini will play 100%.

 “Pellegrini, [Leo] Paredes and [Bryan] Cristante will be involved tomorrow.”