Mourinho: 'Roma is my second life'

In the summer of 2021, Mourinho accepted to lead Roma on a three-year contract. As revealed by the Portuguese coach, the decision was made after a conversation with the Friedkin family - the owner of the club. "Their words touched me," he said. , under a three-year contract, growing non-stop - something I'd never considered before".

One of the things that Mourinho loves about the Friedkin family is giving opportunities to so many young players at Roma. "When you work for Real Madrid, Man Utd or Chelsea, you can bring out one young player every season and you're successful," he said.

Another difference is that Roma cannot buy heavily, and also do not aim to compete for big titles every season like Mourinho's last teams. "When I signed the contract, I knew well the situation in Roma," he said. "For me, returning to Italy does not mean going to a strange place, because I know this country well both culturally, historically and sportingly. On a social level, Roma is a great club, but from a corner Looking at the history of football, they have won very few trophies, despite having many top players, coaches and investments.When you get to know the Roma players, you will wonder why they have won so few titles. So. Can't you do something different to help the club, the owner? If you ask me now if I regret going to Roma, the answer is no."

Mourinho considers a high-class coach and won many titles like him to accept the job of leading a mid-range club like Roma as a rare thing, similar to when his colleague Carlo Ancelotti went to Everton for the period 2019-2021. "When coaches like us take this risk, people think we're out of time. But, Ancelotti returned to Real and won everything," said Mourinho. "The Roma experience is stimulating, enriching on many levels. I currently have a relationship with the players that is not easy to establish at the top clubs."

For Mourinho, happiness is the most important thing now, after so many resounding successes in the past. "The people I work with at Trigoria are smiling, joking, optimistic and have a sense of humour. That's all I need," said the Portuguese coach, and smiled at the thought of a photo of himself and his family. The assistants are pretending to hug a person on the training ground in Portugal, implying Roma are missing a striker after Tammy Abraham's injury. "Sometimes I read that Mourinho is provoking society, that Mourinho is a communication wizard. Remember I'm joking, everyone here knows how things go. The picture with the striker seems to be. Statues are made to laugh".

The "Special One" also denied putting pressure on the management to recruit the striker with this photo. Mourinho said: "In recent weeks, I have seen many managers in trouble, who threatened to leave because they were not happy with the transfer market, who left the club for the same reason. Then someone would joke with him. fans that we are handcuffed and non-transferable. That person is me. But without any provocation, I didn't mean it."

Abraham has a knee cruciate ligament injury and will only return from the beginning of 2024. According to Mourinho, the lack of England's main striker during pre-season training causes difficulties, but he also joked that although Roma can buy Kylian Mbappe now, the French striker also needs time to integrate. He also denied wanting to sell Andrea Belotti and was confident the Italian player would have a successful season.

Mourinho then spoke about his relationship with sporting director Tiago Pinto and how the lack of a striker has affected that. "After Abraham's injury, I'm in a situation that no coach wants. I can't say I'm happy, but it would be wrong to say that I'm openly at war with the club, with Pinto, that I'm not happy." , Mourinho emphasized. "Pinto and the board both know that Roma are slow to buy strikers."

Roma coach admits that if it was 20 years ago, he would be very angry with such a situation. "At Chelsea, I left because of a conflict with the sporting director. I didn't like it, I had no relationship, the transfer market was a disaster, but that was 2008. It is now 2023 and I'm a different person," he added.

In his first season at Roma, Mourinho made a splash when he helped the team win the Europa Conference League. This is also the first UEFA title in the club's history, and the first title in the continental competition in 61 years, since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1960-1961 season (the precursor to the Europa League). The Italian capital club also quenched the thirst for titles after 14 years, since the 2007-2008 Italian Cup.

Season 2022-2023, "Special One" continues to bring Roma to the final of the Europa League. In this match, Roma opened the scoring thanks to striker Paulo Dybala, but Sevilla equalized 1-1 thanks to an own goal by midfielder Gianluca Mancini. In the penalty shootout, two Roma centre-backs, Roger Ibanez and Mancini, missed shots, while four Sevilla players all succeeded, causing the Italian representative to lose 1-4.

"I will tell you what happened after the game, and this is the truth," said Mourinho. "The game is over, I go on the pitch with my family and the families of the players, I see a lot of people crying, I've never cried after a defeat. I feel all those emotions. I come in. the pitch because I wanted to be with the players in that moment of absolute grief.In those moments, I felt I had to be the father of the family, so I told the whole team to stay next season. The response from the players was amazing."

This match, the referee Anthony Taylor caused controversy when he did not give a second yellow card to Sevilla midfielder Erik Lamela after a late-game collision and did not give a penalty after a situation where Spanish club player Fernando touched the ball in the ring. ban. After the match, Mourinho criticized the English referee at the press conference and then continued to insult in the parking lot. As a result, the European Football Association UEFA banned Mourinho from directing four matches.

Mourinho continued: "When everything was over, we went back to the dressing room, went down to the parking lot and met the referees. I met the two assistant referees Rosetti and Howard Webb, with whom I had a relationship. good. I asked Rosetti about Fernando's handball, and he didn't answer. Then I asked the same question to Webb. He put his hand on my shoulder and said 'Yes Jose, that's a free kick. Temple for Rome'".

According to the Roma head coach, Taylor should have acted like Webb, instead of being silent and hiding. Mourinho said: "If Taylor or someone in a similar situation, after the game, comes to us in the dressing room and apologizes and admits it was wrong, it will be over and he will receive respect and admiration. We all make mistakes, maybe I was wrong in that game too. Taylor is a good referee. I had a positive relationship with him while I was working in England, and never doubted it. The only thing I say and will always say is that Roma deserved the penalty, and with that penalty we could have won."

Not only Mourinho and the Roma members, many fans swore, threw water bottles and chairs about Taylor when the police took this referee and his family to a private room at Budapest airport, after the Europa League final. Even the extremists shouted "kill him" and threw water bottles at the British referee and his family.

Mourinho believes this is the reaction of a group of fans and Roma has nothing to do with this incident. The Portuguese coach revealed that he received a message from a UEFA member about the incident. "Two days later he texted me to apologize for the behavior of Roma fans at the airport. I replied, 'If UEFA or Taylor apologizes to Roma fans, I will criticize the behavior at the airport. and I'm sorry'. Right after that, I went to the management and said 'From today until UEFA imposes the penalty, I will be the focus of criticism of the referee, the reaction in the parking lot and also the reaction. fan response at the airport. Now, I need support and a strong message from the club."

The "Special One" half-jokingly half-truth "sleeping like a baby" when Paulo Dybala's contract release clause of less than $ 20 million for clubs outside Italy expires on August 1. He also revealed that he had rejected offers from two Saudi clubs, Al Ahli and Al Hilal, emphasizing "Roma is a second life" and leaving open the possibility of returning to lead the top club in the future.