Roma coach Jose Mourinho said he’s ‘counting on’ Borja Mayoral, had ‘no need to talk about’ Cristiano Ronaldo and stressed Pedro Rodriguez ‘really wanted to play’ and ‘must be respected’ for his decision to join Lazio.
The Giallorossi have won three in a row under Mourinho, but are expected to change their attacking style against a five-man defence at Salernitana on Sunday.
“They play in a different way. The coach has a lot of experience and knowledge of football, he can look for another way to play,” Mourinho said. “If that’s what you mean, and you say it based on all we know, it can be a different game.
“It will be the first time we play against five at the back. It’s a different way, we will go to all games to win, I don’t care if it’s the newly promoted or the Italian champions. For this reason, we must look for solutions from an attacking point of view.
“They defend well, they keep many players behind the ball, the work of the three or four in midfield… it will be tough.”
The Roma coach was asked about the farewell of his compatriot Cirstiano Ronaldo, who left Juventus for Manchester United yesterday.
“The only thing I say and it seems basic and logical to me, if Juve are happy, if Cristiano is happy and United are happy, then it’s the perfect business,” Mourinho said.
“There’s no need to talk about Cristiano. For 20 years he has written history, there’s nothing to comment.”
Mourinho was asked about the title race now that the Portugal captain has left Turin: “Scudetto? That’s a question for Simone Inzaghi, not for me.”
The rumours of a possible move for Borja Mayoral has emerged in Italian media, but the Portuguese coach wants to keep the Spanish forward at the Olimpico.
“I’m counting on him. We need three forwards. Two forwards are too big a risk for a whole season, sometimes we want to play with two,” Mourinho continued.
“There are games in the Conference League on Thursday, travelling. He’s a quality player, he has adapted well, has scored goals, works well, he’s a professional. No, I wouldn’t like him to leave.”
Mourinho was then asked if he was thinking of changing formation, as he mentioned playing with two attackers.
“We can do everything. Surely, with different dynamics, but this team played last year with five or three at the back.
“That’s also one thing we can do, we can play we are playing now, or we can change, in modern football it’s very difficult for a team to only have one way of playing. It has to be more diverse, not fixed.
“Players need to find automatic dynamics, but at the same time they need to play differently, with different roles.”
Lazio signed Pedro Rodriguez from Roma this summer and Mourinho said he ‘respected’ the Spanish winger’s decision to join the local rivals.
“It’s a situation that’s not easy to comment on. There are players of different profiles and who have people around them with different profiles,” Mourinho said.
“If I have to talk about Pedro, he clearly wanted to play. For this reason he must be respected, even if he chose a rival club in the same city.
“Professionalism and way of being must still be respected. This is the perfect profile for all clubs. Someone really wants to play, others prefer other things than playing.
“Everyone is free to do what they think is right. The same goes for us as a club and for me as a coach. I’m free to make my own decisions.”