Jose Mourinho acknowledges Roma’s poor start to the season but asks critics to remember his achievements as he looks to turn things around.
The Portuguese manager’s side beat Frosinone on Sunday, thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini, to return to winning ways. Before Saturday’s game, the Portuguese coach had managed just one win in six league matches, marking the worst start to a season of his career and sparking concerns about his future with the team .
In an interview given to Sky Sports Italy On Monday, the 60-year-old responded to his detractors.
“I agree with those who say I am not humble. But I have achievements under my belt. Winning the Champions League with FC Porto is obviously a great achievement, with 9 Portuguese players out of the 11 who played in the final, with 7 players who, a year earlier, had not played a single match in the Champions League . This is a great achievement. But there are others because if I have had the chance to work with fantastic teams and with large budgets, I have also had the difficulty of working with teams where winning is a miracle. With Manchester United, I won a European Cup and a half; with Rome, I also won a European Cup and a half”, explained the Portuguese coach.
Mourinho also outlined some of the guidelines that govern his coaching career and indicated that he never forgets where he comes from.
“ The genius is a professor I had at university who told me one day: “Never forget that you will not be a coach of football players, but of men, of boys who play football. There are no menus or secrets; it’s just about being yourself and being empathetic to the people around me at work. Being critical, demanding, frank and honest are all aspects of empathy”.
