Jose Mourinho again hinted at referees ganging up on Roma, but also turned fire on his players after the 3-2 defeat to Venezia. ‘There are things that stay hidden for years…’
It was another disappointing match for the Giallorossi, who had turned around the early Mattia Caldara goal to lead 2-1, only to then lose 3-2 at the Stadio Penzo.
Roma now have just one win in their last seven competitive matches, losing four of them, picking up just draws with Napoli and Bodo/Glimt.
They had 27 shots on goal, 10 of them on target, but failed to finish the chances.
“We created many opportunities, many half-chances and when you get into dangerous positions and don’t make the right final ball, that is frustrating,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.
“We did it about 20 times, with attacking players like Veretout and Pellegrini near the forwards, but we didn’t make the pass. How is it possible to create so much and then not score?”
Mourinho was again furious with the refereeing, as the penalty awarded to Venezia for the 2-2 draw was not dissimilar to the one not given to Roma against Milan for Simon Kjaer’s intervention.
“We conceded the first goal on a set play that we had practiced yesterday and still got the defending wrong,” noted the coach.
“Another important part of the story is Venezia’s second goal. I have to protect myself here and keep my feelings to myself over what is happening.
“I could’ve talked about the players who should’ve got yellow cards for tactical fouls, those are small details.
“I could say we had many chances to go 3-1 up, above all with El Shaarawy and it’s difficult to miss, but the truth is we were 2-1 up and in control. What happened, for me… I don’t want to say anything else.
“I prefer to just say it was a very, very important moment of the match. That is all.”
He went back onto the issue of referees at the very end of the interview.
“Maybe one day I will understand why certain incidents happen. There are things that stay hidden for years and one day I will understand them…”
Mourinho was asked if Roma were right to aim for a top four finish when their squad might be at best suitable to head for sixth.
“You have your opinion, I have mine. As a coach, I have to give some motivation and ambition to the players and myself. It’s one thing to say we are worthy of fourth place, another to say we want to go for fourth place.
“Until it becomes mathematically impossible, I want to keep saying fourth place is the target. Roma finished sixth or seventh the last few seasons, the club made an effort over the summer, but it was more reactive transfer activity than building.
“I don’t think this squad is stronger than last season. We lost a lot of experience, we had to bring in players to replace those who left, many of them lack experience at this level.
“As a coach with a three-year contract, this season can be a painful one for body and soul, but still a very, very important one for me to understand something I couldn’t have understood before I arrived. I already know more than I did two months ago.”