Mourinho’s toxic dressing-room rant hints at repeat of Man Utd meltdown
Robin Bairner
- 10 Feb 2022 08:27 CST
- 3 min read
Roma head coach Jose Mourinho is no stranger to controversy. Indeed, he has thrived on it over the course of his career.
The Portuguese has managed some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Porto, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United, though in recent years he has found his image tarnished by his spikey personality that has made him hard to love.
Throughout this season with Roma, he has gone to war with players who have fallen below his high standards. In particular, the club’s fringe stars have often been his targets.
Recent weeks have seen him launch a campaign against Serie A’s referees, but his focus turned towards his players following a 2-0 loss to Inter on Tuesday.
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What did Mourinho say?
“I want to know why, you sh** yourself in the first 10 minutes,” Mourinho is quoted by the Corriere dello Sport as having said in the dressing room.
“And then I want to know why you sh** yourself against Milan for ten minutes. Each one of you, no exceptions.
The worse shortcoming for a man is lack of balls and personality
- Jose Mourinho“I want to know why you’ve become so small against big teams for the last two years. If we are small, referees will treat us as such. Inter are a super team, but rather than find motivation, you sh** yourself.
“The worse shortcoming for a man is lack of balls and personality. Are you scared about big games? Then go to play in Serie C, without pressure, without champions, and big stadiums. You are without balls and that’s the worse thing for a man.”
Mourinho has history
This is not the first time that the Portuguese has gone on such a rant since joining Roma last summer.
Just as he did at Manchester United, where Paul Pogba publicly accused Mourinho of turning against his players, the coach has threatened to create rifts in the Roma squad.
He branded Bryan Reynolds a “kid” and once said: “I put Reynolds because he was the only full-back available.”
The young American is not the only player to have been targeted by the experienced coach, Marash Kumbulla and Riccardo Calafiori have been publicly told they are not good enough to play for Roma.
Little wonder, then, that Mourinho stands accused of preaching an outdated brand of management. It did not work for him at Man Utd, and with Roma sixth in Serie A, the results are little better in Italy thus far.
