Roma director Tiago Pinto answered back to Jose Mourinho’s latest complaints about the lack of resources at a ‘less rich’ club. ‘If that was all that mattered, Manchester City and PSG would win every year.’
It kicks off in Seville at 17.45 UK time (16.45 GMT).
The Giallorossi are playing catch-up and sit third in their Europa League group after losing two of their three matches so far.
When the director arrived for his pre-match interview, he was asked about Mourinho’s comments in a press conference last night, effectively saying that Roma are in the toughest tier of ‘less rich’ clubs who have to play every three days, but without the resources to have a huge squad, whereas the ‘poor’ clubs only need one game a week.
“I understood what he wanted to say, in football the economic aspect has always been important, but if it was all that mattered then Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain would go all the way and win the Champions League every season. If my memory does not fail me, they’ve never done that,” Tiago Pinto told Sky Sport Italia.
“What is without doubt is that it’s very difficult to play in the Europa League on a Thursday and then again on a Sunday, because any Serie A team will cause you problems at the weekend and prepare tactically.
“Maurizio Sarri said the same at Lazio, I know Fiorentina feel that way too, but this is part of our work and we have to deal with it.”
How important is it for Roma and their owners to progress in the Europa League and build on last season’s Conference League triumph?
“Perhaps you have realised that our owners focus on working more and talking less. It is a different tournament to the Conference League, it is much more competitive, but we are here trying to give our best and go as far as possible.
“Roma have reached the semi-finals several times in recent years in Europe, so we must be aware of the club we represent and how much is expected of us.”
Going back to Mourinho’s complaints about the lack of options in the squad, Tiago Pinto again pointed out some home truths.
“In my view, the work we do on the transfer market is only 20-30 per cent of the success we achieve on the pitch. We still have a lot to improve both on and off the field, it’s not just about bringing in the right players and coach, it’s about becoming a family, a team unit and getting the details in place.”
Mourinho stood up for Tammy Abraham in yesterday’s press conference, arguing that it was not an individual issue, but a team problem.
“We are creating the scoring opportunities, but when strikers lose confidence, it becomes a bit more complicated for them. It’s not a lack of quality or hard work, someone outside of football might think it’s a silly excuse, but with strikers it really does make a big difference.
“For instance, Lautaro Martinez at Inter hadn’t scored for eight games, but last night he scored a wonderful goal against Barcelona. As the coach said, we’re in debt with good fortune and hopefully that will be repaid soon.”
Andrea Belotti starts with Tammy Abraham for the first time this evening against Real Betis.
“It’s a good opportunity for him, we know that when we are building a squad there are going to be moments of injury, suspension or poor form. Andrea had a difficult summer, he joined us late and therefore needed a little more time to get into shape.
“This is not the right time to put pressure on individuals, but the role of a forward always draws more attention.”
Tiago is really impressive tbf. I refuse to watch Roma until we rid Mourinho’s unwatchable football, but we definitely need to hold onto Tiago
This is true about football but we will always admit that Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG amongst others could not have chalked all these successes without money. We must only be glad that Mou has succeeded in bringing this sense of identity back to Roma
We cannot refuse to admit that the successes chalked by PSG, MAN CITY, REAL MADRID Bayern Munich amongst others could have been so acheived without money. We can gladly admit though that Mou has brought this sense of identity back to Roma