Mourinho: “Big game, given we’re three points off fourth”

I’d like to ask you what Roma would be like if they had four or five players with Jannik Sinner’s mentality.

“In individual sports, it’s you against the world. When you’re on your own, you can't share the responsibilities – it’s down to you, and you alone. Maybe that's why I like individual sports such as tennis so much, because you need courage, personality, and another thing I’m not allowed to say here.

“And when you lose, you can't look around for someone to blame. It sets an example for those involved in team sports. Being a coach of a team sport I enjoy analysing individual sports because of this mentality.

“But as for what I said and the rumours that I’ve heard [following Servette v Roma], people are wasting their time if they think I’m going to name some of the players I was talking about. That’s not me. Yes, behind closed doors I’ll single out individuals – in fact, we had some productive discussions today. I also said a few weeks ago that the better your relationship is with a person, the more comfortable you are when it comes to dishing out the negatives, because – as you know – where empathy and love are present, it’s easier to get back to business.

“I spoke my mind and I’m standing by what I said. The relationships here are strong and that’s what allows us to regroup and go to Sassuolo in search of a result. In terms of this match, I don’t want to say that I’m scared – nothing in the game scares me – but for various reasons the prospect of it doesn’t make me feel at ease.”

What difficulties will Roma face in this game?

“Firstly, it’s Sassuolo themselves – they’re an excellent team with good players, a good coach and a nice project for what they want to achieve. They’re a team who only play a handful of non-Serie A games a season and they’ve had the whole week to prepare for this match so they’ll be coming into it in good shape.

“So, our primary obstacle is Sassuolo, their qualities as a footballing side and the difficulties they always pose us.

“Secondly – and I’ll be upfront here – it’s the referee. I’m concerned about him. He’s been the fourth official in three Roma games this season and I don’t think he’s got the mental fortitude to handle a game of this level. People are going to be thinking 'It’s only Sassuolo v Roma,' but it’s not like that. We’re three points off fourth place, so it’s a massive fixture for us. The type of referee we have officiating this game has me on edge. The same goes for the VAR, because unfortunately luck has never been on our side with him. It's always hard to accept the way certain people do their job.

“Then there’s a player who – forgive me – I’ll make a point of naming: [Domenico] Berardi. He’s fantastic, I love him, but he should respect his opponents and the spirit of the sporting contest more. He spends too much time trying to disrupt the match, winding up the opposition players, trying to get them booked, to get free kicks and non-existent penalties, trying to get a second yellow for opponents. It’s just a bit over-the-top. I both love him and I hate him but the way he conducts himself on the pitch, he’d have problems with me. I don’t like it at all.”

How do you take the team to the next level and get them to have the right mentality continuously? Is it just the quality of the players or is there some sort of work you can do with them to train them to always be on the ball?

“Obviously you don't just turn the other way and leave things as they are. I told the lads again today that if we want to be ambitious and aim higher then we can't always remain in our comfort zone. Some may like it that way. I don't. 

“It might give me more adrenaline and emotion coaching a team that sets out with the goal of staying up, of scrapping for a point in every game. It would give me more adrenaline than being in an easy situation, which some coaches might enjoy. Some coaches are very good at getting their teams playing at that sort of level, with no responsibility.

“I've told the lads we need to up the ante and be a bit less superficial – I used that word in my basic Italian and it's a word that fits with what I think.

“I won a league title with Real Madrid getting 100 points and I lost one with Real Madrid with 93 points. Every weekend we won and Barcelona won. If we drew a game, it was a problem because your rivals won.

“I won a league title with 100 points and it's hard to win every game. To do it, you need everyone giving their all – not just three, four or five people.

“In our case, we don't need to win every match because we're not capable of doing that, of challenging Juventus and Inter for the title. But we are capable of challenging for and trying to stay in fourth, fifth place. Challenging the others for those places.

“We have to up the ante – that's what I expect. I don't know if I can do it with words alone. I've also explained that we can improve through our work on the training ground. But it's difficult because I work more with those who don't play than with those who do: [Bryan] Cristante plays and rests and I never work with him.

“We'll push on and see if that's something we can improve tomorrow. Then we'll have Fiorentina at home. And we'll finally have a full week to train, from Tuesday to Sunday.”

Last year there was that situation with Rick Karsdorp when he had to train separately. He was then brought back into the squad and now he's a regular starter. Even in extreme circumstances, you give everyone a second chance.

“And a third or a fourth.”

Right. So do you expect a similar attitude from the players who you said were a bit superficial?

“We can talk briefly about Karsdorp because we're talking about people who sometimes have the wrong attitude when they come off the bench. And that's exactly what happened with Karsdorp against Sassuolo.

“We had that problem there. We almost went our separate ways but in the end empathy and a good relationship brought us back together and now we're in a good situation. He'll play tomorrow. I understand that Ricky is Ricky and he has his strengths just as he has his weaknesses. That's how he is.

“He didn't play the last game, he's fresh and he's one of the few who can play without any fatigue. I'm expecting him to have an excellent game.

“If we're talking about substitutes, we should talk about our subs against Udinese because they won the game for us. In our last match they didn't change anything. The team didn't improve with our subs, but we didn't draw because of them. It was because of all of us. Myself included. Perhaps I made a few wrong decisions – not with the subs but with the starting XI, which perhaps wasn't solid enough. We could have been 3-0 up at the break and we wouldn't be here talking about it now.”

If you look at the clubs in Europe with the best balance after the transfer window, Roma are 13th. And if you look at the teams with a better balance than Roma who are in a better league position, you find Inter, who have the same balance as Roma, and Barcelona. The others are all further down the league table. I was wondering what Roma's potential is and how far you can go. Do you think the players you have are enough or do you think you need something extra in January?

“In ideal conditions, I'd obviously like to have more options, more quality. Don't take that the wrong way, because I'm perfectly aware of our situation – and that's why I think people underestimate everything we've done. As a coach, coaching staff, players, club, owners, we've always been underestimated because we've managed to achieve big things, to challenge up near the top with clubs that have very different potential.  

“Without injuries my team can challenge. But without [Chris] Smalling it's tough. Without Smalling for one game it's tough. How many has he played? If he doesn't return before the end of the calendar year, he'll have missed 68 training sessions. If you miss 68 training sessions, even if you return on 31 December, what are you going to do? Come back and play? You come back and you train. You don't get back to your level in two or three days, or even a week. You need time.

“When you see [Marash] Kumbulla training, it's because you're only there for those 15 minutes at the start of the session. You see him warming up and kicking the ball around a bit. But then he sits out. Kumbulla and Smalling are both unavailable.

“As for [Evan] Ndicka – a player Tiago [Pinto] did very well to get for us – I remember Tiago saying to me, 'He's the ideal player to have on the bench who can improve with you.' Ndicka has become a guaranteed starter because of the situation we're in. We're in difficulty. Sometimes Cristante has to play there. We're in difficulty.

“In my head, I've gone in the direction of saying not that I want this or that player, but knowing that these are our players and we'll continue with them. We'll try to do our best with them, without complaining.

“I'm much more positive than before. Whoever has to play will play. Ndicka will go away in January [for the Africa Cup of Nations] and I'm sure that with [Matteo] Marcenaro tomorrow [Gianluca] Mancini will pick up a yellow in the 10th minute after contact with Berardi and he'll have to miss Fiorentina. But we'll push on.”

ithin the club, have any transfer ideas been put to you or do you know you won't be able to change anything in defence?

“It's complicated because with Financial Fair Play you risk signing a player who can't play in Europe. Or you sign one and you have to take another one off your UEFA list. It's a situation our owners and director are looking at, financially and legally.

“If a small window of opportunity does open for us, obviously I'll be very happy and I'll always be open to the possibility of doing something that can help us. If it's not possible, it's not possible and we'll push on.

“Let me finish by telling you what another coach, a good coach who's a friend of mine, said to me yesterday: 'Do you know who's unlucky that Roma finished second in the group? The Champions League team that will have to play against you.”