PRESSURE is piling on Jose Mourinho with Roma having endured a shocking start to the season.
The Serie A side slumped to an abject 4-1 defeat at Genoa last night, leaving them 16th in the table.
At Chelsea and Manchester United, the 60-year-old saw things fall apart in his third campaign in charge.
He was sacked from both jobs amid reports of dressing room unrest and shocking form on the pitch.
In his last position at Tottenham he didn’t even make it to his third campaign, being axed in April 2021 following an awful run.
Roma began this season with an underwhelming 2-2 draw at home to Salernitana, before losing back to back matches against Verona and AC Milan.
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Bizarrely they then thumped Empoli 7-0, before drawing 1-1 at Torino and being well beaten by Genoa last night.
After his side’s latest humbling result, Mourinho admitted that he is enduring his worst ever start to a season – but tried to deflect from Roma’s poor results.
He said: “It’s also my worst start to a season as a coach.
“However I don’t think that Roma had ever appeared in two consecutive European finals.”
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Mourinho then blamed his squad for his side’s malaise, adding: “When we’re missing certain players, we lack solidity.
“However, to state that our weakening of solidity is the result of the absence of this or that player wouldn’t be correct.
“Our lack of defensive stability is down to the team as a whole – what happens when we lose possession and when we drop deeper.”
Roma next face Frosinone this weekend and taking a further dig at his players, Mourinho continued: “This is the squad we have, for better and worse. We have to move forward – there’s no time to lament.
“I might show my feelings behind the scenes because it really affects me emotionally, especially given my relationship with the fans.
“We’ll be working hard from tomorrow ahead of our next game. Three points will be at stake – it’s not like we’re in six-pointer territory already – but it’s a huge game for us now.”
Mourinho earns £10million a year at Roma, a salary only bettered by Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri among Serie A managers.
The Portuguese has failed to qualify for the Champions League in his two full seasons at the helm – finishing sixth on both occasions.
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In the 2021-22 campaign Roma lifted the inaugural Europa Conference League, won by West Ham the following campaign.
They were then beaten by Sevilla in last season’s Europa League final.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
