Mourinho: "We’ll give everything we’ve got in Milan"

Here’s what the coach had to say...

“Let’s start by talking about me. I’ve been here for two years and five months. During this period of time I’m the only person at the club to have never missed a single minute of a training session.

“I’m the only one. Regardless of my health, my mood or my sleep I’ve always shown my face. I’ve not missed anything, not even two weeks ago when everyone was sick.

“A month ago I needed a day off for a situation which I needn’t go into. I explained this to the owners and sporting director [Tiago] Pinto. It was at a point of the season in which we had so many matches, training sessions and away days. We settled upon a date which would be the best for me to be absent, which was a day after a match. It was in a week where we played on Wednesday and Sunday.

“I was only away from Rome for 14 hours or 15 hours. It seems a bit ridiculous to be here justifying this. However, I cannot accept in any way that my professionalism, dignity, passion for the job and sense of responsibility are being called into question. If there’s an example of a perfect professional, then it’s me.

“I’ve never missed a Roma match or any match over the course of my 23-year coaching career. Then we have a recovery session for six players, six players who didn’t play, and a coach’s authorised absence: I don’t think that’s anything so dramatic that we should be talking about it before answering actual questions."

How do Roma respond?

“It’s straightforward. Our last match is in the past, and we lost. We did so many things well despite the limitations we faced, while also doing other things less well. We analysed the positives and negatives from the Lazio match yesterday.

“We discussed matters and studied the performance, with the aim of improving within our constraints. The way I see it is that we’ll deal with it in the way I’ve always done so over my 23 years as a coach – we played the game, analysed it, then put it to rest. Now we move onto the next game. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

A lot of people have been commenting about Milan’s predicament, but they’re still a fantastic side. What kind of team are you expecting to face?

“We’re taking on a team fighting for the Serie A title, a team who won the league two seasons ago, a team who play with claiming top spot in mind. That being said, the points difference between them and Juventus and Inter won’t be easy to overcome.

“That’s who we’re talking about, albeit a team who’ve lost important players in defence due to injury. Their midfield and attack is strong, including [Christian] Pulisic, [Olivier] Giroud, [Luka] Jovic, [Rafael] Leao, [Tijjani] Reijnders and [Ruben] Loftus Cheek. They lost two players at the back but have already found solutions for these roles in [Filippo] Terracciano and [Matteo] Gabbia. They’ll be keen to get back to winning ways having suffered a defeat in the Coppa Italia, a competition which they might have set in their sights on, but now that opportunity is lost.

“They’ll give their all in this game and they’re aware of our problems. It seems everyone is aware of them - perhaps some journalists and pundits aren’t, but generally people are aware. We’re heading there for this match and I’ve spoken to my players regarding analysis, not just of our performances but also our attitude. There are no issues because I’ve got a huge amount of respect and loyalty for my players. There’s been nothing left unsaid. For me, it’s plain as day: one thing is having difficulties and another thing is using real difficulties to justify things we can improve.

“I’m not holding that back. I won’t mention names to you because I know what football is like. I know perfectly well that if a player makes an individual mistake it’s very easy to point the finger at one person for the bigger picture – the coach.

“When I speak to my players I hold nothing back. I always say that the easiest kind of relationship is one in which there is only straight talking. Yesterday’s meeting was gruelling, especially for some individuals. On a collective level I was very clear – as a team we defended perfectly and had no issues but the goal came about the way it did. It came from our throw-in which we messed up, leading to Lazio getting a corner. Then this 18-year-old kid gave away a penalty, a player who’s only played 55 minutes in Serie A.

“I don’t know if I was misunderstood or not when I defined it as a ‘modern penalty’ – I never disputed the official’s decision – but I said that in modern football referees let the game flow much less than 20 years ago. Like I said, I never claimed that it wasn’t a penalty – I was merely stating that it was a modern-day penalty. However, I held nothing back in yesterday’s meeting. After the meeting we had a training session with six players and it’s hard to work on our football and improve. I made my message clear. There are individuals who need to give more.”

After the Europa League final in Budapest you asked for someone who could support you in situations like this. Now that for the first time the fans are showing their anger towards the team – given the importance of the derby for the city – why is it the case that nobody from the club aside from you has spoken to the supporters? What would you like to say to them?

“I’m part of the club. I don’t have a high-ranking role at Roma – I’m not the CEO or a director, I’m just a coach. Buy while I’m here I see myself as part of this club and I think that what I say is what people on the outside want to hear.

“I always want to be loyal and fair in my dealings with the club. It’s my duty but in general I’m a dutiful person. I think right now what I say is very objective. I’m not sure how many derbies I’ve been involved in– maybe 150 to 200. They’ve always been special games for me. Whether I’ve won, drawn or lost these fixtures they’ve all been different experiences.

“I’ve always understood that for Chelsea fans, games against Arsenal are different to those against Manchester City. I’ve always understood that for Inter fans, playing against Juventus is different to playing against Roma. And at Roma, I’ve obviously taken on board what the derby is all about.”

“The derby we won was resounding. Because there are victories and defeats in derby matches but there are derbies that humiliate and derbies that don't humiliate. The derby we won was a humiliating derby. 3-0 up after 20 minutes and game over. It could have been four or five.

“All the derbies we've lost were lost for small details. Either a refereeing mistake or an individual mistake of ours. We lost with 10 players and it went down to the last second. Even on this occasion, when I had the feeling some players should have given more, even with that feeling, we ended the game as you saw – with two great opportunities to equalise.

“What I have to say is this: we are proud to be Romanisti and we are proud to work for Romanisti, but it's when you take to the field that you have to show people that extra attitude against everything and everyone.

“I fully understand that the fans aren't happy about certain situations which I think are out of context but at the end of they day they aren't. Because football is not an individual sport – it's a team sport and the attitude of players A and B can influence the other nine, or A, B and C the other eight.

“Whose responsibility is it? Is it mine as the coach because that I'm not capable? It is my responsibility. It's the players' individual responsibility. It's this situation we're in which means we can't say, 'You're not playing. Someone else will play.' Right now if I say, 'You're not playing. Someone else will play' I don't know if I'll have 15 or 16 players tomorrow.

“There are multiple factors involved it's hard for me to get away from those multiple factors. That's how I see it. When I speak in here I always think my words will stay in here. Sometimes the words get out, sometimes words get out and the words that get out aren't true. Sometimes they get out and they are true. When I speak I always think we're speaking internally, among players and staff.

“I don't hold anything back in here. I often talk about myself too. If I want to ask players to self-assess on how they can do better, I have to put myself in a position where they can ask me the same, and with my experience I'm able to be self-critical.

“Speaking to the players yesterday I said something very objective. I said: 'Do you remember that game? In that game I could have done better. My match analysts, my assistants and I could have done better.' I identified a game at the end of which I wasn't happy with myself.

“When I go into a game and I get the feeling, given our approach, our start and the way we're playing, that I'm 100% certain that I've done my job well, then I feel betrayed if there are individual situations that cost the team.

“And looking at this recent period that has been very, very difficult for us... We've had two difficult periods this season: the first was the first three games of the season. There were nine points available and we got one. We didn't have players available to start the season. We didn't have a team. We had injured players too. And we lost eight of the nine points.

“Now we're four points away from the Champions League spots. Four. We lost eight from three games when we didn't have a team. And now we're going through a second period, a period in which we've played Napoli, Juve, Atalanta, the derby, with a very limited number of players.

“If some people don't see that as an objective difficulty, that's not right. You can criticise. Criticise the coach, criticise the players, criticise whoever you want. But to forget about the difficulties we're going through is absurd.

“Even the match when we beat Cremonese, I think... Ok, they're a Serie B team but I think they're Serie A level. But the way we won, the risks we ran, the defensive line we finished the game with, which is like the defensive line we have at the moment. We have [Rasmus] Kristensen, who's a full-back. We have [Gianluca] Mancini, who hasn't trained in a month. We have a kid who had played 10 minutes of Serie A football. We have [Diego] Llorente, who got injured and missed the derby. He might play tomorrow but he's doubtful.

“Mancini will play in the centre because we don't have any others and he'll be playing in an unfamiliar position. If people ignore that, that's not right.

“This is where I have to defend our team, including those who aren't performing as well individually as we'd expect. This is where I have to defend our team and say that this is a group of professionals, a hard-working group who suffer when the result is not what people expected.

“We lost the derby but we have the league to play and we're four points off a target that if it wasn't us we're talking about everyone would say is an impossible target. If you look at the potential of the teams that really should be finishing in the top four, you can't compare them to us. But this is us. This is Roma. With the most incredible fans I've ever seen. With a coach whose name alone makes people think he's Jose Harry Mourinho Potter and not Jose Mourinho Felix, whose name immediately raises expectations and demands.

“The truth is that we're fighting for something that is very, very difficult but no one will tell us that we can't fight. And we'll be there for this next match against Milan. We'll be there, ready to stand up and be counted. Unfortunately I won't be in the dugout but I'll be in the stands. I'll be in the stands at a stadium where I won't be welcome but I'll be there trying to do my work the best I can.

“We'll go there with everything we have, in the knowledge that the lads will give their all. Because they suffer when the result doesn't go our way.”

 Will Paulo Dybala play?

“I don't think so.”

I wanted to ask you about Dybala. Last year he played exactly 50% of all the minutes in Roma's games. This year he's played 57% in the league and 24% in the Europa League. After the derby you said that the team missed Paulo when he went off. How do you solve that in the players' heads? Is it a mental problem? Do you have solutions for playing without Dybala?

“Finding a solution for playing without Dybala is not exactly the thing as [Pep] Guardiola finding a solution when [Erling] Haaland is not available. He has Julian Alvarez. It's not the same thing for [Mauricio] Pochettino: if [Raheem] Sterling doesn't play, [Mykhailo] Mudryk plays. It's not the same for [Jurgen] Klopp: when there's no Luis Dias, there's Diogo Jota. And when there's no Jota, there's Darwin Nunez.

“It's not the same. And as I've said before, I'm not blaming anyone. I'm only blaming those who don't understand. Roma have a financial situation with FFP that's not an agreement – it's a requirement. And Roma are severely restricted by that.

“You see that on the pitch. You see it during the season when difficulties arise, when there's any sort of problem. You can't hide it.

“Roma made a financial sacrifice to have [Chris] Smalling. And we don't have Smalling. We can't have another one. We just can't.

“Roma made a financial sacrifice to get Renato Sanches on loan. And we don't have Renato Sanches. We can't have two of them. With the FFP restrictions we can't sign another player who might be available.

“Dybala is a very special player who in recent years played for a team with other special players like him. When he couldn't play, another one played in his place. Sometimes he'd go on the bench, sometimes he'd come on. We don't have another player with his skill set here. It's as simple as that.

“The match against Fiorentina looked like a 3-0 after 20 minutes. When he went off, we struggled without that connection. [Andrea] Belotti doesn't offer that connection. [Stephan] El Shaarawy doesn't either.  Joao Costa, who is still a kid and will be in the squad tomorrow, doesn't offer that connection. He might play tomorrow but he doesn't have the quality to provide that same connection.

“If some people don't want to understand that Roma without Paulo Dybala are a different team, I can't say much more. That's the reality, though.”

Earlier you said you were disappointed with some individual players. Are there big decisions to be made after the game against Lazio? Or is it impossible to make those decisions so there won't be any repercussions or punishment for anyone?

“That's not the right word. If you ask me if we'll field the same team, we won't. Paulo won't start so it's already different. I'll make a few changes for sure. But there's no intention to punish anyone or to focus the attention on certain individuals.

“We're trying to build a puzzle, tactically, physically and mentally, that will allow us to compete up there. I always say that the most tactical team is usually the team with the least technical ability. Because when the level of technical ability is very high, you work less on tactics and you develop more playing principles to help the players express their full potential.

“Now we're a team that focuses on organisation, on its play, on the fine details that can make a difference. If we do that well, ok. If we get it wrong, we pay for it. But we're a team that has clearly defined principles that we work on and which enable us to go there and play.

“We're very short on numbers. We were short before and now we don't even have Dybala or [Sardar] Azmoun. We're two down. But never mind.

“I'm here with you now because I won't be after the match. Next week there's no match and I won't be here with you. But I'm here to answer a few questions and try to explain to the fans what you [journalists] said before. If someone needs to give explanations, I'm the one who has to hold press conferences every now and then.”