Jose Mourinho sat down for an early press conference ahead of tomorrow’s match against Spezia.
When asked if Mayoral has a chance to start again on Monday, The Special One replied:
“Shomurodov has more pace, Mayoral has more power in the area. Nothing changes for Tammy, he has his own distinct profile.”
“We can influence his game according to what our needs are, but for Tammy, whether it is playing as a lone striker or alongside somebody else, it doesn’t change much.”
On whether the team can continue playing with a back-3?
“It is difficult, really difficult. At the moment there are not many possibilities to play with 4 players at the back because to do so we have neither Zaniolo, nor Perez nor El Shaarawy.”
“Shomurodov can only play on one wing, but that’s not his role. Mkhitaryan obviously can, but with the 3-player module there are no solutions to play in place of Karsdorp and Vina. It really is difficult to play in any other way.”
On whether he has any regrets regarding the summer transfer market and the priorities for January:
“I take this opportunity to clarify that I am not sorry with our summer market. I repeat: it was a reaction market to our problems. It’s not that the club didn’t want to give me additional midfielders which I had identified as a necessity. We didn’t fight about it. Obviously I’m sorry because I want the best squad to compete in all competitions.”
“The truth is that from the beginning I understood the difficulties. If something can be done now in January, that’s what we all want.”
“But “something” is not a crazy, big investment. If we can do something in January it will be to give the squad a little more balance. Once more: we are all three, me, Pinto, and the owners, on the wavelength, there is no difference of opinion. Let’s see if we can fulfill some of my ideas in January.”
“Looking at our squad we are now a little scared because we have so many absences, but in a normal situation with a maximum of 2-3 players out, the team is balanced and only has 2-3 positions to improve upon.”
“However, now we have three games to play before January to try and get as many points as possible.”
On having to adapt his tactics to the roster:
“I like tactical culture, I think time helps to build it and to have a suitable team in different ways. One thing is what I like best, and another thing is what is best suited to the characteristics of the players.”
“I am open to doing what I can to bring out the best in the players. With the right players, I don’t mind playing three at the back at all, also because we are in a league where many teams play three or five.”
“I don’t mind this formation, what I regret is not having been able to build and give solidity for emergencies and every week we have to adapt to the emergencies we have.”
“I would like to never have injuries and suspensions, at this moment we have to change from week to week and we are unable to give consistency to the path we’ve undertaken.. But crying isn’t worth it, now let’s think about these three games and then some players should be able to return in January.”
On how to improve the mentality of substitutes given the risky second half against CSKA Sofia:
“It depends on the profile of the substitutes. If the replacements are young, inexperienced, not yet prepared to take responsibility, you have to work and wait and focus on the problems of lack of concentration and lack of experience.”
“If the substitute coming on is an experienced player, who can be a starter and doesn’t want to be on the bench, that’s a different profile we’re talking about.”
“At the moment we have many young players on the bench, many of them under 21 years of age. We are talking about players who played in the Primavera last year, which is a very low-level league. It does not prepare players to join a Serie A team adequately.”
“If we compare the level of the Primavera championship with foreign ones, there is no comparison. They are talented players who have to learn a lot.”
“The second goal in Sofia too, and it’s not a criticism, the way Darboe goes for that ball in the 92-93 minute isn’t lack of quality, it’s just very naïve.”
“If the opponent is a player with less quality than him, but an experienced player nontheless, he never loses that duel.”
“And you pay for this, but obviously look at the bench of someone like Simone Inzaghi and you see Vidal, Lautaro, Correa, Darmian and Ranocchia.”
“Here it’s a different reality and I like to work like that. It’s not a criticism, it’s just a different way of working. I am pleased to help them grow. With young people you can only work, wait for time to pass, accept mistakes as part of the growth process.”
“Maybe you pay with a result, even with suffering like we did against Sofia, but that’s the way it is. The thing I want to make clear, maybe for the hundredth time, is that obviously I’d like to fight for other goals. I am very happy to be at Roma, with a different project than the one I have had in my career.”
“I am very, very happy to be here. No doubt that this is a difficult challenge but I am very happy to be part of it.”
