Jose Mourinho was booed before kick-off at San Siro on Sunday night – which was utterly unsurprising. After all, his Roma side were playing AC Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza – not Mourinho’s beloved Inter, with whom the Portuguese shares an unbreakable bond forged by the Nerazzurri’s treble triumph of 2010. It was inevitable that as soon as his face appeared on the big screen, Milanisti would make their disapproval heard.
What was noteworthy, though, was the vitriol to which Mourinho’s team were subjected by their own fans after the game, which ended in a 3-1 win for the hosts. As Roma’s players went to acknowledge the 4,000-strong travelling support, they were met with open hostility and challenged to prove their testicular fortitude. “We’ve hit rock bottom,” striker Andrea Belotti admitted afterwards.
Mourinho wasn’t present for this bitter backlash, with his latest suspension for lashing out at officials meaning he had been once again prevented from taking a seat on the bench, forced instead to watch on from the stands. But he didn’t escape criticism. Indeed, for the first time since he took charge of Roma in 2021, some supporters started to question Mourinho’s methods.
One frustrated fan wrote online, “Mourinho has ruined us even more than Monchi” – which was one hell of an accusation, given the disastrous nature of the Spaniard’s tenure as sporting director. But the online attacks were indicative of a significant shift in mood and, ultimately, signalled the end of Mourinho’s Roma reign.
Believers became doubters
‘The Special One’ was greeted like a god when he arrived at Roma, held up as a saviour by the club’s long-suffering supporters, and the fans’ faith was rewarded with a first-ever European trophy (the Conference League) at the end of Mourinho’s first season at the Stadio Olimpico.
Mourinho really was their messiah and Giallorossi hung on his every word. When he verbally assaulted referees, they did too. Granted, there were some concerns over the style of play (or lack thereof) and some dissenting voices – most notably former Roma forward Antonio Cassano – but for a long, long time they were drowned out by Roma’s new cult hero and his loyal followers.
However, some blind believers became doubters during the past six months, as another club came down with the third-season syndrome that has blighted Mourinho’s managerial career.
Indeed, it was obvious very early on during the 2023-24 campaign that all was not right at Roma, particularly behind the scenes.
Roma ‘in a deep crisis’
Sunday’s loss at San Siro left Roma ninth in Serie A after winning just one of their previous six league games, while last week they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Lazio.
As the Gazzetta dello Sport wrote on Monday, the club was “in a deep crisis” and the question being asked by journalists, fans and reportedly even by Mourinho himself was whether the two-time Champions League winner was still the right man to lead Roma out of it.
Before the trip to Milan, there was already talk that Roma’s American owners, The Friedkin Group, were considering sacking Mourinho and replacing him with club legend Daniele De Rossi, at least on an interim basis. It was also alleged after the game that Mourinho had told his players that he was willing to resign, as he felt they were no longer following his instructions..jpg?resize=880%2C495&ssl=1)
‘Gruelling’ team meeting
Mourinho had admitted before the Milan match that he had held a “gruelling” team meeting after the derby defeat and that “some individuals” had come in for especially severe criticism. However, while Mourinho clearly believed that certain players are not giving enough for the cause, he has refused to name and shame, primarily because he was, in general, happy with the effort being put in by what he felt was an overstretched squad.
And this was the heart of the matter as far as Mourinho was concerned. He simply did not believe that he had sufficient resources at his disposal to challenge for a top-four finish in Serie A.
He repeatedly highlighted his team’s injury issues, and particularly those relating to Paulo Dybala, acknowledging that Roma are simply not the same side without their talented No.21.
Can’t magic away injury issues
Of course, many would argue that relying so heavily on a player with such an atrocious fitness record was a recipe for disaster anyway, but Roma’s lack of depth allowed Mourinho to revisit a theme he has always brought up whenever he is criticised for failing or struggling to achieve a particular goal – namely that he is a victim of his own success.
“We’re four points off a target (Champions League football) that if it wasn’t us we’re talking about, everyone would say is an impossible target,” he argued last week.
“If you look at the potential of the teams that really should be finishing in the top four, you can’t compare them to us.
“But this is us. This is Roma, with the most incredible fans I’ve ever seen, and with a coach people think [is called] Jose ‘Harry Potter’ Mourinho and not Jose Mourinho Felix, whose name immediately raises expectations and demands.”
Roma’s pathetic points haul
Mourinho was undoubtedly right when he said that Roma have been hit hard by injuries – they had nine players missing in Milan – but it’s not as if their rivals for a top-four finish have had a clean bill of health all season long.
He’s also argued that Roma are hamstrung by Financial Fair Player (FFP) requirements and that is also true. As he once again flagged last week, the Giallorossi are not in a position to spend the same kind of money on players as Manchester City or Chelsea.
Again, though, other Serie A sides, and coaches, are faring far better with a lot less. Indeed, it’s worth pointing out that Fiorentina, Lazio, Bologna and Atalanta all have more points than the club with the third-highest wage bill in Serie A.
So, when Mourinho made out that he was over-achieving at Roma, the opposite was actually true, as underlined by the fact that this is the fewest points the club have had after 20 Serie A games since the 2002-03 season (27).
Consequently, The Friedkin Group were well within their rights to sack him. The slight surprise is that they have done so now, given their fragile economic position, but it’s telling that the owners publicly stated that they felt “an immediate change” was “in the best interests of the club”. They wanted to stop the rot at Roma.
‘We can’t go any lower’
Mourinho should not be held solely responsible for Roma’s woes, of course. Tiago Pinto is parting company with the club next month and few fans will be sorry to see the sporting director go, given there have been more misses than hits in the transfer market during his three years at Roma. Even his biggest coups – landing Dybala and Romelu Lukaku – are now being re-evaluated, given the Argentine attacker’s aforementioned and long-established fragility, and the Belgian ghost’s well-known propensity for disappearing in big games.
Mourinho’s plea for greater support from the club, particularly when it comes to dealing with the press, also went unheeded by his employers. He felt overburdened for a long, long time, as if he were doing three or four jobs at once.
However, sympathy is in short supply among the general public right now. Firstly, the football was typically terrible, the results rotten, and the touchline conduct of the coach and his staff consistently disgraceful. Many have quite rightly wondered why Mourinho has expended so much time and energy waging war on officials and opponents that would have been better utilised getting the best out of a team that was damningly bereft of ideas and confidence. “We can’t go any lower,” Belotti told DAZN on Sunday evening.
Just over a month ago, fans at the Stadio Olimpico unfurled a banner hailing Mourinho as a “Romanista for life” and he will be forever welcome at the capital club. But some of even Mourinho’s most loyal followers were starting to question their faith in the supposed ‘Special One’, making his exit both inevitable and necessary.
Credit: Goal
