Jose Mourinho continues to freeze out the Roma players not in his plans, insists he ‘likes to play the best’ in Milan, but is ‘starting to realise why this is a difficult place to work.’
The game kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT) at the Stadio Olimpico.
“I like to play the best and transmit that feeling to my players,” said Mourinho in his press conference.
“I enjoy facing the sides that play good football and are at the top of the table. That is pure motivation. I’ve not faced Stefano Pioli, but I will be pleased to meet him. The work he is doing has some similarities with what I’m trying to do here, and I see Milan have a strong structure with Paolo Maldini and others behind the scenes.”
Mourinho confirmed he is again dropping outcasts Borja Mayoral, Amadou Diawara, Gonzalo Villar and Bryan Reynolds, not even giving them a spot on the bench.
“Are you more interested in who is not in the squad rather than who is? It’s the same squad as last time, except without Volpato and Missori, because the Primavera youth team needs them.
“I won’t tell you who starts tomorrow, but I will say Henrikh Mkhitaryan is doing very well and I introduced Stephan El Shaarawy against Cagliari because I needed more depth.
“It won’t be the exact same line-up tomorrow, but it won’t be that different either. It is important to play every game feeling we can win it, and for that we need to be balanced. It might be a cliché, but it’s true, to win games you need to score goals and defend well. I think we are slowly improving both those areas.”
It was pointed out to Mourinho that the Giallorossi have historically had problems in the big games and that continued this season, with just one point against the other top clubs.
“Roma always want to win, it doesn’t matter if it’s against Roma or Venezia. I realise you look at the statistics and I cannot argue with that, but people want passion and the right attitude. That does not change.
“You cannot dominate for 90 minutes, there is always a moment when you have to be a bit deeper. Milan have two strikers in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud who are very difficult to mark because of their physicality.”
Mourinho’s last few press conferences have been combative and he again turned on the local media after they pointed out half the 10 goals were conceded straight after the restart.
“You always find the negative side of any situation. It would be more frustrating for me to concede a goal in the first five minutes of the match. Honestly, I am impressed by your ability to pick the negatives out of everything.
“I am starting to understand why Roma is a difficult place to work. In other clubs, you feel more protection and positivity, whereas Roma is tough because of this. It’s fine, it’s more entertaining this way.”
Frecciatina di Mourinho alla piazza romana: “Ambiente difficile, altrove c’è più protezione” https://t.co/EPYJfkKE43
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) October 30, 2021
