Ahead of his team’s clash with Fiorentina, Roma’s head coach, José Mourinho, faced the press.
During the press conference, Mourinho praised his team’s preparation for the match. It’s been a good week for the squad as they have managed to get substantial work done on the training ground. The intensity of training was high, something Mourinho mentioned is usually challenging due to fixture congestion.
With regard to his team’s injury situation, Mourinho provided some updates. Chris Smalling, he shared, had shown no signs of improvement, whereas Marash Kumbulla had returned to team training. If all goes according to plan, Kumbulla might be ready to contribute some minutes against Napoli or in future matches.
Mourinho also touched on Renato Sanches and Pellegrini, revealing that the players who had recently recovered from injuries experienced a productive week of training. He pleasedly noted that it’s been a long time since the entire team worked together on tactical principles.
Shifting his focus to Fiorentina, his side’s opposition, Mourinho showed respect and stated the difference in league position showcases the quality they possess. “Fiorentina is a high-quality opponent with many options within a great squad,” Mourinho commented, pointing out Fiorentina’s win against Parma even without many of the key players who will play tomorrow. “It’s a top team with its own identity, playing for the same objectives as us,” he added, and admitted to expecting a very challenging match.
Addressing a situation with sports justice, Mourinho expressed his expectation for fairness. He insisted, in translated remarks, that he “has never offended the referee, never questioned the quality of the referee”. He defended his spontaneous outbursts as a matter of semantics, arguing that “the expression used seems normal to me, I use it when I talk about myself too. Perhaps it was understood differently”. Despite any misunderstandings, Mourinho praised the referee’s capacity to manage the game.
Wrapping up the conference, Mourinho raised an issue surrounding dignity in football, referencing incidents where participants showed cordiality in person, but expressed dissatisfaction to media. Without disclosing specifics, Mourinho hinted that he believes there are certain behaviours on the pitch that aren’t acceptable but occur frequently nonetheless. “I have the right to voice my opinions, but also the duty to defend football. And that’s what I wanted to do,” he concluded.