Jose Mourinho responded in typical fashion to sack pressure after Roma’s dismal 4-1 defeat by Genoa, pointing out his record of taking the Italian giants to European finals in successive seasons. Mourinho is facing calls to quit after Roma suffered their worst start to a Serie A season in the era of three points for a win.
Roma have already lost three of their first six matches, compounded by a woeful performance against Genoa. Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham head coach Mourinho has blamed a spate of injuries for his side’s woeful display.
However, he also responded to pressure over his job by pointing out that he has taken Roma to European finals in both of his full seasons. The Giallorossi won the Conference League in 2021-22, before losing the final of the Europa League against Sevilla.
It was put to Mourinho that this is Roma’s worst start to a season since three points for a win were introduced in 1994. He bluntly responded: “It is the worst of my career too. However, I also think it is the first time that Roma have played two European finals in a row.”
It was akin to a rant Mourinho while he was manager at United, in which he infamously shouted “three” repeatedly, in reference to how many Premier League titles he has won. The two-time Champions League winner is always keen to defend his own record.
Speaking to DAZN, Mourinho refused to speak to guests in the studio and only answered questions from the pitch-side reporter. Explaining his decision, he revealed that he had not spoken to the players after their terrible display.
He said: “I apologise to the studio, but I have no real desire to talk. I didn’t speak to the players. When I don’t talk to the players, then it means I can’t really discuss this in-depth and answer your questions either.”
The 60-year-old has often struggled in his third season in a job. He was twice sacked by Chelsea in his third season across two spells in west London and at Man Utd he lost his job in the third campaign.
But Mourinho is blaming Roma’s tough spell on injuries, including former United star Chris Smalling. He said: “It is true. I don’t want to say many things, but people talked about the Roger Ibanez errors that became almost iconic in the big games, but the truth is he gave us incredible solidity.
“We lost Chris Smalling, you can see how many games we won without Chris. When we are missing those players, we lack solidity.
“However, to say we lost the solidity because we are missing this or that player is not fair either. Solidity is also the consequence of team spirit and collective work to track back. We have lost some of that.
“At the moment, every shot we allow is a goal. That is nothing against Rui, it is just the situation we are seeing. Torino had a Duvan Zapata header in the first minute then never got near us until the equaliser on a throw-in. I feel this from the touchline and I imagine the players feel that anxiety on the pitch too.”
