Here are the statements of Jose Mourinho at a press conference on the eve of Rome-CSKA Sofia.
How’s the team doing? How do you keep this level of tension always very high?
“5 victories are not 50, just as 3 were not 30. There is no reason to be ultra-optimistic and positive, out of your mind. But the positive results are also important because … (interrupted by the buzz, ed) . Positive results help in the process of developing the team. The fans are happy, I think, but they too must be balanced like us. Balanced in the sense of understanding that we have only been working for two months. Do you feel the revolution? all levels, but don’t worry. The fact that the stadium is always at the maximum possible number of fans is nice, and maybe it can lead the authorities to understand that there is a tremendous desire from the people, not only ours, but all the fans are waiting normality and normality is exhausting the stadium. Maintaining ambition, this desire to work, to be united, is a characteristic that we want to maintain. I always tell the players that anything less than 100% is nothing, we must have these characteristics always uolo could have finished 2-1 for them and also in this case our desire is not negotiable. It is a feature that we always want to have. You will ask me if I will make any changes, obviously yes, I will not play with the same ones on Sunday. Some changes will be made, but the important thing is to maintain a structure, a positive result is important for us. In this competition we want to do something step by step and qualify by winning the group. “
Will Zaniolo play tomorrow?
“They don’t know who will play yet. If Carles or Nico knew it would not be a problem to tell you, but they don’t know. You have to find a balance to not feel any pressure. She is fine, the injury is over, the negative feelings are in the past. . The other day he was tired, I understand that when players go to the national team, if they don’t play … I’ve never coached the national team, but I know you don’t train much. If a player goes and doesn’t play, he usually comes back with less ability than normal and in physical condition. It has happened with others too. He played 70 minutes, if he has recovered he is in a position to play and I don’t want to talk about his condition every time. He is 100%, the injury is past and also from a psychological point of view it is important to forget it. Let’s look to the future “.
He used 13 holders, changing only out of necessity. How do you keep the group of those who don’t play together?
“The players are smart. The players understand things. They watch the way we talk, how we look, how we comment. Stephan understands perfectly that he is a very important player, he is a starter. There are not only 11 players, start or being on the bench changes. I have never had a team where the team that started is the one that finished. A season is not a highway, there is a winding road. It is difficult for a player to start and finish the season . The players must understand that without them we are dead. Stephan is intelligent, he knows he is important, he knows that I like his characteristics so much and he understands that he had to walk a path in the direction of his best form. His talent was there, but he lost his form and intensity between China and injuries. He is growing, he is a player with a lot of experience but he is growing. Before the match against Sassuolo we talked and I told him that he would play the starter against the CSKA. He is a proprietor. The players are more responsible than me for a united locker room, they know they have to respect the decisions of the coach. I feel my mission as a leader is very easy because the group is a good group. “
Is being able to win all three European cups first an extra motivation?
“As an assistant I won a cup that no longer exists, the Cup Winners’ Cup, in Barcelona in 1997. I didn’t think about it. I thought I would like to win, I can say that at the moment we are very far from winning this competition. We will try to do it. It’s still the first game, there are so many missing. I don’t want to be a liar and say I don’t care: I care. The first step is to win the group, we are all there. No player will stay at home, no one will take a vacation, no one will rest without being called up. It is a collective project, if any of those who played the last game go on the bench this is how it is. They have to help everyone and as a team we have to win tomorrow. “
In the cup, Roma had a good path, reaching the semifinals. Are there any teams where teams perform better in dry races?
“It’s easy to say that they did very well in the Europa League last year, it’s objective. The defeat to Manchester United was heavy, but Manchester United have a different strength, Roma were in a difficult moment. that Roma have done very well. If this team is more suited to the cups I don’t know, but the league is very important for us, it is much more important than the Conference League. I want the team that has the mentality that the next game is the more important. If one day the Italian Cup arrives, the Italian Cup match becomes the most important one. Even in England with 4 competitions we have done this. This is how I like to think and so we will do. I want the team to be prepared to play, we have some limitations in terms of squad, we have to make some kind of choice. Tomorrow Vina doesn’t play, Calafiori plays. It’s normal that I have to make this type of change. The goal is not to think about the championship “.
Did you expect to find nearly 200 people waiting for you? Had this ever happened to her?
“That’s nice and it’s important for us, for players who come to Italy for the first time like Vina or Tammy. It’s important for them to understand how they are, thank you and nothing more. I keep saying that this empathy is much more important. , but experience and tranquility are needed to understand that we need to improve a lot. Today we had a meeting on Roma-Sassuolo and we found individual and collective errors, principles of the game improved and worsened. We are constantly working. If the fans are happy with what they understand about the team, for us this is a plus. I am absolutely convinced that without that goal from Stephan, the game probably did not end in that epic way, but people went home with a sense of unity all the same. And for this we can just thank the fans “.
Are you thinking of some changes on the central defensive? How is Kumbulla?
“If he plays Kumbulla and doesn’t play Mancini you ask me if there is any problem with Mancini, if he doesn’t play Smalling you tell me I’m a word I can’t say, that I have a problem with Smalling who comes from Manchester, if he doesn’t play Ibanez I you say … that’s it. There are four, the right number, if I always change, someone will think that it is necessary to have the same two play. What I can say is that I am happy with the group of power plants, they have different characteristics and ages, different strengths and different less strong points. I’m happy with the four of them. If you ask me tomorrow if I change both, I say no. “
You started very well in Serie A, you are demanding and you have identified some flaws. What do you ask the team to improve?
“We are not a perfect team, there is still a lot to work on, we have made mistakes that we have to work on every day, we are a humble team and aware of problems. Tomorrow is not a match with the same pressures as the one against Trabzonspor, there are 6 matches in the group and points can be lost, our goal is to qualify quickly and from the top. We are facing a team against which Roma have won and lost, a good team. “
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