Jose Mourinho Branded His Roma Players 'Weak' In Furious Post-Match Rant After They Surrendered 3-1 Lead Vs Juventus

Jose Mourinho ripped into his Roma players and branded them "weak" after they threw away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 at home to Juventus last night.

Early in the second half and Roma were cruising thanks to goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, adding to Tammy Abraham's opener which was cancelled out by Paulo Dybala.

But in a truly extraordinary turn of events, Juve scored three times in seven minutes.

Manuel Locatelli, Dejan Kulusevski and Mattia De Sciglio all struck to leave Mourinho and his team shell-shocked at the Stadio Olimpico.

Matthijs de Ligt conceded a penalty and was sent off for a second yellow after he was deemed to have handled the ball inside the area, but Pellegrini spurned the glorious opportunity to level with a tame spot-kick that was easily saved by Wojciech Szczęsny.

All eyes were on what Mourinho would have to say after such a collapse and to the surprise of nobody, the 58-year-old pulled no punches.

He also happily threw substitute Eldor Shomurodov under the bus after he was culpable for one of the goals conceded.

"We were in total control for 70 minutes," Mourinho told DAZN, via Football Italia.

"The team played really well and had the mentality of taking control, we came out and started strong.

"We had this idea of the high press, of controlling the tempo and taking the initiative.

"It was so good for 70 minutes, then there was this psychological collapse. The 3-2 killed us, because Felix (Ohene Afena-Gyan) had an extraordinary game, which finished with a sprint against (Juan) Cuadrado. I take him off and his replacement [Eldor Shomurodov] gets it all wrong.

"When we allowed them back in for 3-2, a team with a strong mentality like Juventus, a strong character. The fear set in. A psychological complex. It’s not a problem for me having 3-2, it’s a problem for them. For my team.

"At the end of the day, when you’re in the s***, you get back on your feet and find your character.

"But there are people in this locker room who are a bit too nice, a bit too weak.

"I already told the players, if the game had ended at the 70th minute, it would’ve been an extraordinary performance. Unfortunately, it didn’t end then."

The crushing loss means Roma lie in eighth place in Serie A and are nine points behind fourth-placed Atalanta, who also have a game in hand on the Giallorossi.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles made his debut vs Juve after signing on loan from Arsenal and Mourinho hopes to bring in another midfielder to give Roma more personality.

"I want to work here every day of these three years, not a day less," Mourinho added.

"I need help from the club that really matches our potential. Now we're signing two players on loan to help the team, one was Maitland-Niles and another midfielder who I think will arrive next week. A player with more physicality and personality, suitable to have some responsibility.

"This thing of playing in the comfort zone, of playing to be six to seven is too easy for some personalities. We need to get out of this mentality."

Featured Image Credit: Image: AS Roma

Topics: Jose Mourinho, AS Roma, Juventus, Serie A

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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