The reasons behind Jose Mourinho’s dismissal from Roma have been revealed in today’s edition of Il Tempo.
The Italian newspaper recounts all the events that led Roma owners Dan and Ryan Friedkin to intervene mid-season and replace Mourinho with club legend Daniele De Rossi until the end of the season.
Behind the Special One’s farewell there are first and foremost the results, judged unacceptable by the Friedkins, who in the past – Ryan in particular – had thought about parting ways with Mou on several occasions. But the relationship frayed by the time the recent defeat to AC Milan at San Siro happened.
According to Il Tempo, Mourinho was called into Dan Friedkin’s office on Monday and the two engaged in a heated exchange after the club President communicated his decision to the Portuguese technician.
The Friedkins were especially displeased with Roma’s poor league record (only 29 points in 20 games this season) and the team’s second-place finish behind the likes of Slavia Praha in the Europa League group-stage as well as Roma’s latest elimination from the Coppa Italia.
Another factor that pushed Friedkin to sack the former Chelsea manager was his attitude in evaluating the reasons for these unsatisfactory results in recent months. Specifically, the American businessmen did not understand why there was a mitigating factor or a reference to an external element for every defeat, such as the way Mourinho complained about the “modern” penalty assigned to Lazio in the recent Coppa Italia defeat or the continuous reference to the absences of Dybala and Smalling.
Moreover, Il Tempo explains that some players – including some of Mourinho’s most trusted ones – were unhappy with the way they were being used on the pitch. These players had even approached Vice President Ryan Friedkin following the Derby defeat to complain about the recent results and Mourinho’s set-up.
