Jose Mourinho was furious after the 1-1 draw with Monza, complaining Daniele Chiffi is ‘the worst referee I encountered in my career’ and reiterating Roma ‘do not have a squad to be in our position.’
The Giallorossi had taken the lead at the U-Power Stadium through Stephan El Shaarawy, but it was cancelled out by a stunning Luca Caldirola volley off the inside of the boot.
“Unfortunately, when you are tired, then it affects your concentration, your focus and your co-ordination,” Mourinho told DAZN.
“We had players today who were really struggling and gave everything. People like Lorenzo Pellegrini, Mancini, Bryan Cristante, who are at the limit, but play with this pride that is part of the Roma DNA.
“There are many difficulties, those who play are not fully fit or don’t have the quality to play at this level yet. Our bench was non-existent today, but the lads did the maximum they could today.
“I think the result is suited to the game, I might seem a little biased if I say Roma deserved to win, but I don’t think it’s true to say that Monza deserved a win either.”
There was controversy late on, as Zeki Celik was shown a second yellow card and will therefore be suspended for the Serie A showdown with Inter, who are now in fourth place.
“This was the worst referee I have encountered in my entire career,” said Mourinho. “Believe me, I have dealt with many bad referees. Usually, when I talk about referees, it is because they have a direct influence on the game. In this case, I don’t think that is true. But he is horrible, he makes no human connection with anyone, he has no empathy, he gives a red card to a player who slips because he is exhausted at the 96th minute.”
Monza weren’t happy with Chiffi’s officiating either, as coach Raffaele Palladino was booked for dissent too.
“Unfortunately, this too is a sign of Roma’s weakness as a club, because we do not have the strength of other clubs who can say we don’t want this referee. I stopped working 20-30 minutes from the end, because I knew he would give me a red card for anything.
“There are clubs that say I don’t want this referee and Roma either don’t have this capability or the DNA or anything else. It’s horrible. With the few players I have in my squad, I could not get a red card. I really, badly wanted to say something, but I could not afford to be without my lads.
“This is why I left the field early, I didn’t even want to look at him.”
The injury crisis is only intensifying, as El Shaarawy also went off with yet another muscular issue this evening and this sent Mourinho on a different rant that seemed to be aimed at his club for their inability to bring him suitable strength in depth. What causes so many injuries at Roma?
“That’s simple, when you have 30 players who are all the same level, you can rotate easily. This is not our situation. Squads who were horrible in Europe and were eliminated immediately, so they only get to play one game a week – this is not our situation.
“Teams who did not quality for Europe, this is not our situation. We are the only club who do not have a squad to be in the position we are, but we are in the Europa League semi-final, we also played two extra games for the play-offs, and we do not have the potential to do that.
“Inevitably, that accumulates. How many games did El Shaarawy play two or three years ago, compared to this season? How many games did Chris Smalling play at Manchester United, or with Paulo Fonseca as Roma coach? It accumulates.
“These lads deserve me to be here until the last minute of the season, always saying the same thing, that I am so proud of their efforts and what they are doing.”
There was also inevitably a dig at rivals Lazio in there, who were eliminated from the Europa League in the group phase and then the Conference League in the knockouts.