Jose Mourinho accused the Roma squad of being mentally weak following their painful 4-3 collapse to Juventus on Sunday, and he’s right.
The Giallorossi dropped a 3-1 lead at home to lose 4-3 to the Bianconeri, with captain Lorenzo Pellegrini taking a dire penalty in the latter stages of the match to cap off an embarrassing evening for Mourinho’s side.
His statements after the match were nothing new, accusing his players of being psychologically weak and collapsing under pressure. Considering that match, as well as previous disappointing results like 6-1 defeat to Bodø/Glimt back in October, it’s fair to say that he’s right. This does not exonerate the Portuguese coach, however.
One aspect of a coach’s job is man-management, and a sub-category of that is instilling a strong mentality in the squad. This was noted by Antonio Conte during his time in charge of Inter, with the Italian coach highlighting the team’s mental weaknesses multiple times during his first season in Milan. The following season, they won the league title, suggesting that he found the solution.
Conte’s statements during his time at both Chelsea and Tottenham also provide some backing to Mourinho’s suggestions of mental weaknesses; both times, the Italian coach commented on mentality and focus issues after taking over from Mourinho in London. Manchester United’s recent struggles also are proof that the Portuguese coach was justified in his complaints.
Mourinho’s strategy of publicly calling out his players in order to fire them up and get a response has worked in the past, but it’s fairly obvious now that this style of man-management is no longer getting the results it once did, and the Portuguese coach needs to find a solution to break a weak mentality soon if he wants to put the ship back on course in the Italian capital.
FI , you got the headline right !
notice that It took Conte at least a season to change the mentality, so let us hope that Mourinho is given the time.
I don’t know who you are but you deserve a raise.
Any site/analyst who jumps on the “Mourinho is finished” bandwagon is only seeking relevance.
Pellegrini and Veretout’s penalty misses against Juventus is not down to tactics but mentality. If Roma had gone 1-1 or 4-4, the headlines would be different.
Also no player has a worse goal to missed chances ratio than Tammy Abraham, which says a lot.
Mourinho was wrong for a club like Roma, and everyone bar Roma knew that. It isn’t his fault. He is just not made for juggling problems and solving them. The moment things get tough, there is only one solution to the mourinho problem. Showing him the door.
As a Milan fan I can say our mentality was weak, but the RIGHT coach was founded, take a bow Mr Pioli. He doesn’t solve the problem by lambasting the players in public. There is a lesson there for you Jose.
maybe Roma can get Totti back to play to fix the issue like Milan bringing Zlatan back