According to Il Corriere dello Sport, José Mourinho fears a close collaborator of Torino boss Ivan Juric will ‘spy’ Roma‘s training session today, so he has changed the usual training routine at Trigoria.
The Rome-based paper reports the Special One fears Michele Orecchio, the man in charge of scouting Torino’s opponents, will find a way to watch the Giallorossi training session on the eve of the game.
In an article in Friday’s paper edition with the title ‘Roma’s spy story, Mourinho misleads Juric,’ Roberto Maida claims that Mourinho has informed his players that today’s tactical training session will be different than usual and will see him make rotations in the possible line-up, not to give any advantage to his next opponents.
According to the report, Mourinho and his staff have joked with players about Orecchio’s ability to scout opposing sides also at Trigoria, where training grounds are not visible from outside thanks to banners placed expressly to avoid watching the team’s daily work.
On Thursday, Mourinho’s assistant Nuno Santos jokingly patrolled the perimeter of Trigoria, ‘pretending to hide between the hedges and see if it was possible to steal some secrets of Roma from the outside,’ amid laughs from Mourinho and his players, reports Il Corriere dello Sport.
Mourinho used a four-man defence against Sampdoria on Sunday to make up for his selection crisis in defence, but with Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez back after a one-match ban, the Giallorossi could return to a three-man back-line against the Granata on Saturday.