Tomorrow morning, Roma is going to usher in the first game of 2022, Roma's opponent this time is AC Milan, before the start of this game, Roma coach Jose Mourinho held a routine pre-match press conference, at which Mourinho answered 6 questions from reporters, while talking about Niles's transfer, not much to say to see what Mourinho said!
After the winter break, how do you feel about the team, and what are the previous injured players who have recovered their health?
Mourinho said: "Patricio can play, he has not trained for two days because of back problems, but today he trained and tomorrow he can play. But we lost Forzato (positive) but we still have Bull and Mastrantonho and they will be second and third goalkeepers. The players had a week off and there was also a week of work (training) and we did some good work. We haven't played for 15 days, which affects the intensity and clarity of the game. But we did a good job and the only one who didn't recover from the injury was Spinazzolla. Aside from some of the issues you know, except for some XG (3 players positive) issues, we're ready. It makes me very happy to be able to play against a team like Milan after 15 days off because it helps us stay focused and gain motivation. 】
Second, some people think that you are writing the history of this club, what do you think? At the same time, which Serie A clubs will you never coach? Also is the problem of players without vaccinations now solved?
Mourinho said: "I don't see it that way. If you're going to write the history of a club, you need to win trophies. That's the only way I know. Of course, there are a lot of good managers who may not have led Roma to the trophy, but they still do a very good job. I want to be able to do well in Rome, lead the team to the championship and leave my name on it, of course, I know that at the moment we are still far from that goal. As for which Serie A club not to coach, coaching is our profession, so it's hard to say straight which team we won't coach. However, I will exclude some teams, of course there is no disrespect in it. For example, I used to coach Inter, and after leaving Inter, the first Serie A team I contacted was not Roma, but Roma was the team I could coach. Plus I may never be able to coach Lazio, which is certainly not disrespectful. It's a team from the same city and I have a close connection with the Roma fans. But in Milan, you've never asked me that, and in the city of Milan, I've never had Milan fans who don't respect me, I respect Milan, I respect Milan fans, but there are teams that you can never coach. 】
Mourinho then talked about the problem of some players not being vaccinated (only Smalling did not inoculate roma): "This is a private matter for players, players have the right to protect their privacy. So these things are secret to me, the players are asking for privacy and we respect that demand. This is true of any player who may not be vaccinated. But the rules are the rules (Serie A requires that players who are not vaccinated are not allowed to play after January 10) and we need to respect the rules, so if we have a player who doesn't do it, obviously we want the player to respect the rules in order to get his job done. However, I don't think we have any problems internally. 】
Although there is no official announcement at present, can you talk about Niles's transfer? Also, are you expecting more reinforcements in January?
Mourinho said: "As far as Niles is concerned, I don't think I'm qualified to speak right now. Because no one told me he was already our player. Now he's not our player, but if he becomes our player, I'll be happy to talk about him. When I was coaching Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, he was at Arsenal and he grew up there, so I know him very well. As for our January transfer, everyone knows what we're going to do, and I'll give you an example, teams like Atalanta and Fiorentina put in 20 million to 25 million euros in the first deal in the winter window, and we couldn't do it. We can only rent one or two players to maintain the balance of the team. Karlsdorp played almost every minute and when he wasn't out, we were unbalanced so we needed a right-back. Now Pinto is working hard to find profiles of players who are right for the team so that a loan agreement can be reached. For Niles, we'll find out they have three or four players in this position and then we start trying the deal. As for the expectations for the winter window, if in the first week of the winter window we can get a player, then you always have reason to expect more. 】
Is Pellegrini ready for tomorrow's game? Do you think he can form a five-midfield line-up with The likes of Veletu, Mkhitaryan and the like?
Mourinho said: "Pellegrini has recovered and whether he can play depends on him, on the decision of his physical therapist and physical training coach. Because he didn't have holidays like everyone else, he took four days less off, and he kept trying to recover. He's been fine since I came back, he has no problems, so I think he can play. I don't think he can play the full 90 minutes though, especially since we have another game a few days later. As for which players he will play with, that's a question I like, we have a lot of midfielders like Villar and Bowen and they can also play, which is a good thing for me. 】
Fifth, there are two problems here, one is the impact of XG on Serie A, not to share. The other is whether Abraham can reach the height of Ibrahimovic.
Mourinho said: "I don't like to compare players, especially when we are talking about a player who has achieved amazing results in his career and a player who is developing. It's a bit like Portugal in the seventies and eighties, where any player who scored two goals became the new Eusebio. It's 2022 and there's still only one Eusebio. So, Tammy is Tammy, don't compare him to Ibrahimovic. Zlatan is Zlatan, and his journey is completely different from Tammy's. 】
Will you contain the opposing midfield organizers and then put pressure on the opponent in tomorrow's game, just like you did in the Atalanta game?
Mourinho said: "I must say that I like your question very much, because asking this question is definitely someone who has watched the game seriously, but if I tell you how we are going to do it, then it will give Pioli a huge advantage. You're asking a good question, but unfortunately, the answer will be a bad one. Obviously we've analyzed their game and we're looking for ways to improve our game and achieve a different result than the first conversation we had. 】
Well, the content of the Mourinho conference will be shared here, tomorrow share the post-match conference, see you tomorrow!