Mourinho: “We hope to deserve less and get a better result”

Here's what the boss had to say...

Let’s start with the big topic that everyone in the football world is talking about: the sentence regarding UEFA and FIFA. As an experienced figure in international football, which direction do you think football is going in?

“I’m the Roma coach and Roma’s official position is, of course, mine too. I have no other comments to make. You’re right to say I have so much experience in football and I’ve experienced football in so many different moments, but I don’t want to offer any sort of public analysis. Roma’s position is clear and I am the Roma coach.”

Despite the problems and up-and-down results, Napoli remain one of the teams with the most technically gifted squads in the league.

“They’re the champions of Italy and deservedly so. They won the league by a distance last season. They lost one player and have signed many others. It’s effectively the same team. They’ve lost a wonderful coach, but they have a coach with so much football experience in Serie A and with Napoli.

“You’re right about results being different. Last year they lost very few games, but the players are the same, so the potential is the same. They have a strong bench with so many options. Napoli are Napoli.”

Why did you decide to announce your desire to stay at Roma at this time? What is pushing you to want to stay at Roma with the uncertainty linked to your future? There are question marks over the sports management side. We don’t yet know who the next sporting director will be. There are some issues, as you’ve already highlighted over the last few seasons: Financial Fair Play isn’t helping Roma develop, despite the increased revenue, and there are doubts over future decisions in the transfer market, with the gradual abolition of the growth decree.

“The reason is linked to precisely everything you’ve said. There were certainly doubts about my position. You spoke about this thing, Financial Fair Play, that thing and that other thing. People might have thought that there may be a doubt in my head and that my decision hinged on this thing or that thing, or that some moments of frustration may create some doubts, but I’ve made my position clear. My target is precisely for there not to be doubts and for us not to need to talk about it. There’s no other reason. It’s all very clear and objective.

“Maybe people might have thought ‘He wants to stay, he doesn’t want to. He wants to wait, he doesn’t want to. It depends on this or that.’ It doesn’t depend for me. That’s how it is. I’ve always been direct and honest since the start.

“I received a fantastic offer a week after signing for Roma. I informed the club and didn’t accept it because I already had an agreement with Roma. In December 2021, as you know, in the Conference League season, I had an offer from Portugal. I could’ve worked with the best players in the world, I could’ve won the Euros and the World Cup, but I spoke to the club and it was important for me to stay, so I did.

“After the final in Budapest, I had a meeting with the ownership. I informed them of the situation in Saudi Arabia and I decided to say no. Now does my honesty end there?

“What can I say? I’d like to stay and battle in spite of all the difficulties, with all the conditions in place, with all the positive things, with some negatives too, and there are some difficulties as you said. This is my position and there are no doubts about it. I don’t want to speak about this situation any more.”

Football is made up of protagonists and superstars. The clash with Napoli also sees two star players go head to head in Romelu Lukaku and Victor Osimhen. What do you make of these two players? What are their strengths and weaknesses, and where can they improve?

“They are both fantastic forwards. They’re brilliant but different. One drops off and links up with his team-mates. The other is a more direct player who tries to get in behind. They’re both wonderful players. Serie A should be very pleased to have them both. They are top players who could play in any other league in the world without question.”

Was Didier Drogba better than them?

“He was different. They are all different players. It’s hard to compare but I’ve never enjoyed comparing top players. Osimhen is the best African player at the moment. Didier was the best African player for many years and Lukaku has African parents, but he’s a European player. Either way, he’s one of the best players in the world. We’re talking about top footballers."

How are the players recovering from injury getting on, particularly Gianluca Mancini? Could this be the game in which Marash Kumbulla plays for ten or 15 minutes?

“No, Kumbulla won’t even be on the bench. Not yet. He’s doing well and nothing bad has happened, but he’s tired. He needed to rest today and he’ll need to rest tomorrow. I think he’ll be on the bench at the start of next week for the next game. I think that’s possible.

“Paulo [Dybala] is doing well and is within the timeframes that we were expecting. Obviously he’ll be out tomorrow.

“Mancini hasn’t trained all week. He trained today for the first time and he’s going to play tomorrow. He’s one of those who plays unless he has a triple tibia or fibula fracture. As the team needs him, he's going to be involved. He'll play tomorrow. [Houssem] Aouar is still far away.”

What about Chris Smalling?

“I haven’t seen him out on the pitch yet. He continues to be assessed by the medical department. He hasn’t even trained individually out on the pitch yet, so there’s still a long way to go.”

How difficult will it be to face Napoli, despite all their problems?

“They’ve had problems in terms of a few results, but not the quality of their players. As I said earlier, they’re the same team that won the league last year without Kim. Out of the starting XI that won them the Scudetto, ten are still playing. They have so many options in every position and they’re a top team. We know what the difficulties are. To tell the truth, every time we’ve faced Napoli, the result has always gone down to the wire. We lost 1-0 without deserving to lose, after conceding in the 80^th minute. We drew in Naples. We undeservedly lost away in the last minute. We’ve done really well against them in the last two seasons without getting the results that our performances have deserved.

"Tomorrow we hope to deserve less and get a better result. You’re right about the attacking players. [Khvicha] Kvara, Osimhen, [Matteo] Politano, [Giacomo] Raspadori and [Giovanni] Simeone are all good players.”