News

Bodo/Glimt manager Knutsen praises Mourinho & Roma

Andy Mattioli
I

Kjetil Knutsen, Bodo/Glimt’s manager, spoke at length about the challenge of facing the Giallorossi on Thursday night in the Conference League.

On whether playing on a synthetic field can be an advantage for his team:

“Good players and good teams can play on all kinds of surfaces.”

“I believe that the thing that worries Roma the most is the series of close matches especially in the league. It is a problem of recovery and work. I think that’s their biggest topic of discussion, but I don’t think we should worry about the type of football that will be played on Thursday.”

On Roma as an opponent:

“We have seen all the matches they have played. On the defensive, they are the best at ball retrieval and low pressing, but they also know how to push hard, so I think it will be an open match.”

“The second strength of the team is when it comes to the final stage of the match: they have great individual qualities, they have close distances and a lot of players in the middle of the field who can do something at any time. You can see the work done by Mourinho, with a lot of freedom in the offensive phase and a tight structure in the defensive one.”

On Bodo’s attitude:

“Against such good opponents, one key is to be able to dominate the match. We have to do it with a basic game-plan and with patience, we have to keep the ball and try to exploit counter-attacks.”

On Mourinho:

“He’s a great character. We all have to admire him. He’s one of the greatest all time coaches.”

On the kind of opponent he expects to find:

“They had a tough match against Juventus on Sunday, where they lost even thought they were the better team on the pitch. Next Sunday they will play against Napoli and this will lead Mourinho to make certain choices. We need to take advantage of this situation.”

Match Center

MatchDay 30
1 Apr 17:00
Lecce
LEC
Roma