Jose Mourinho faced the media on Sunday morning to preview Monday night's Serie A meeting with Spezia.
The game at the Stadio Olimpico gets underway at 20:45 CET.
Here is what the boss had to say going into the contest...
Spezia have a coach you know very well in Thiago Motta, a former player of yours. Are there any particular moments with him that stand out? And, in terms of the action on the pitch, could we see Borja Mayoral and Tammy Abraham start together again?
“On Thiago, people think that I met Thiago at Inter when we won the treble together. Actually, I first met him when I was at Barcelona and they sent me to train the kids there. Obviously I have a lot of nice memories of him. He’s one of my former players.
“Among my ex-players who have gone on to take on this tough life of the football manager, I look at him, Dejan Stankovic, Cristian Chivu … they’ve all become coaches. So each week I am always wondering how they have all got on with their teams.
“This time, obviously, it’s different with Thiago because we will be opponents. Before the game and after it, though, I have and will continue to have a lot of admiration for him.
“As for Borja and Tammy, it’s true that they played well together. And it is also true that we don’t have Zaniolo, Pellegrini, El Shaarawy and Carles Perez available. So that pair is a possibility. But there is also Shomurodov who could play, there is also Felix who could play. We have a few options in that position.
“I am pleased because they scored goals on Thursday. Often for forwards these days it’s not seen to be enough to just put in a good performance; the statistics are important as well. For Tammy to be back among the goals and for Borja to score a great goal like he did is always good for their confidence.”
How does Tammy Abraham’s role change if he is alongside Mayoral compared to Shomurodov or Felix? Perhaps the latter duo run in behind a bit more…
“You’ve said it there. You’ve accurately summarised the differences among the players. Shomurodov is more on the move, a player who attacks the space in behind. Mayoral is more on the ball and dangerous inside the box. I don’t think a lot changes for Tammy if he plays with one or the other. He has the way he plays football. We can tweak his style a bit based on what we need from him, but I don’t think it affects him greatly which forward he is playing alongside.”
If you want to continue with the three-man defence, have you worked out which player can provide back-up to Rick Karsdorp on the right,considering El Shaarawy is out for a while?
“It’s tough, it’s definitely tough. Right now it’s not easy for us to play with four at the back because we don’t have Zaniolo, Perez or El Shaarawy. Shomurodov can play out wide there [at wing-back], but it’s not really his position. But we don’t have a lot of options. Mkhitaryan obviously could too, but if we are three at the back and we need to have an alternative for Karsdorp or Matias Vina [on the left] then we just don’t have them. That’s how it is.”
(Foto LaPresse)
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Source: legaseriea.it