'He could be a swimmer' - Mourinho blasts former Chelsea star for diving
Tom Weber
- 13 Nov 2023 13:42 CST
- 3 min read
Jose Mourinho branded his former Chelsea player Pedro a diver after a heated Derby della Capitale between his Roma and hated rivals Lazio.
The Portuguese boss has always been known for his quips and digs and he delivered once again after his side were held to a scoreless draw by Lazio at the weekend. The latest instalment of the Rome derby delivered plenty of fire as eight yellow cards were brandished but no goals were scored.
The result left both sides unsatisfied as Maurizio Sarri - himself a former Chelsea boss - and his Lazio remain in mid-table obscurity, while Mourinho's Roma failed to close the gap to the top five after a poor start to the season.
One positive of the goalless match was that both Sarri and Mourinho fully embraced the derby spirit, trading blows even before the fixture kicked off. Both were in action in Europe mid-week with Sarri calling Roma's game against Slavia Prague a "friendly" as opposed to Lazio's "war" with Feyenoord, which prompted an angry response from Mourinho.
“This is the difference between a coach who won 26 titles and another that has barely won anything," the Special One fired back. After the match, both again engaged in a war of words.
Pedro a diver, Mourinho a "pain in the a**"
Mourinho labelled his former Chelsea player Pedro, now of Lazio after essentially being forced out of Roma, a diver in the wake of the stalemate. "Pedro is a fantastic player but he could also be a swimmer because the way he dives in the pool is fantastic."
Sarri, for his part, also had some interesting things to say, branding Mourinho a pain in the backside. “We had already crossed paths before the game," Sarri said, referencing the previous encounters between the two, including in the Premier League during Mourinho's time in charge of Man Utd.
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"I told him: ‘You are a right pain in the a**.’ He replied: ‘For that matter so are you.' I don’t like dealing with Mourinho the media character, but Mourinho the person is great.”
