AS Roma news: Manager Jose Mourinho has revealed he told his players he was ashamed of them after a poor performance in the first half of their 1-1 draw with Juventus.
Roma have made a good start to the Serie A 22/23 season, winning their first two matches. They took on Juventus in their third game looking to extend that winning run, but could only manage a 1-1 draw.
Roma conceded a goal early in the game and could not come up with a response in the first half. Dusan Vlahovic put Juventus ahead in the 2nd minute of the match, scoring a sensational free-kick goal. Roma spent the rest of the first half trailing by a goal.
Roma looked far better in the second half and restored parity through Tammy Abraham in the 69th minute. That result took Roma’s tally to seven points from three games and they sit fourth in the league table.
AS Roma news: Mourinho critical of team’s performance in the first half against Juventus
Speaking after the match, Mourinho revealed that he gave a brutal team talk to his players at half-time.
Mourinho also said it was not a tactical issue in the first half but rather an attitude problem.
Mourinho was critical in his assessment of the team’s first-half performance. He confessed Roma were fortunate to have only conceded one goal during the first 45 minutes. He also said they did nothing and that it was pure luck.
“I told my players at half-time that I was ashamed of them. It wasn’t a tactical issue, it was their attitude. We can’t come here and play like this. I was telling Salvatore (Foti) on the bench, to pray that it’s only 1-0. Because losing 1-0 is a fantastic result after that first half performance and we were very fortunate,” Mourinho told DAZN, as quoted by Goal.
“We did absolutely nothing, it was pure luck. It was a very different team in the second half, although unfortunately, I didn’t have many options to bring off the bench, with Zaniolo and Wijnaldum injured.”
Meanwhile, Roma kicked off their Serie A 22/23 campaign with the match against U.S. Salernitana 1919. They won the game 1-0, with Bryan Cristante scoring the winner.
Roma hosted U.S. Cremonese in their second Serie A game of the 22/23 season and secured another 1-0 victory. Chris Smalling scored the winner this time.
Roma host Monza in their next game in the Italian top-flight. Monza comes into the game having lost their first three matches. They sit at the bottom of the table with zero points. The match between Roma and Monza is on Wednesday, August 31st, at 12:15 am Indian Standard Time.
