There’s no reason to be optimistic and positive - Jose Mourinho

“

Five wins are not 50,”

Mourinho said at a press conference.

“There’s no reason to be overly optimistic and positive

.

“Positive results are still important because they help the team’s development project. The fans also have to be balanced like us, they have to understand that it’s a process and we have only been working for two months.

“Of course, there’s an evolution but we are calm. The fact that the stadium is always full is nice and can lead the authorities to understand there’s a tremendous desire from people of all Italian teams to be able to go to the stadium normally and therefore at 100 per cent capacity.

“I always tell my players that anything less than 100 per cent is nothing. We always have to work to the maximum, against Sassuolo we could have lost 2-1 but our ambition was not negotiable.

“It’s a characteristic that we always want to have.”

Mourinho explained that he would change the squad at the Europa Conference League.

“

Obviously, I will do it, but the important thing is to maintain a structure,”

Mourinho continued.

“It’s a competition where we want to do something step by step

.”

Nicolò Zaniolo

played in both play-off games against

Trabzonspor

, scoring once and helping Roma advance to the group stage. Mourinho is looking to help his youngster forget his recent long-term injury.

“The players don’t know yet who will play,” he said. “I’m no saying it now. We need to find a calm balance, without any pressure.

“Nicolò is fine, and the injury is in his past. A few days ago he was tired, I understand that when they travel with their national team there’s not much time to work.

“If he goes to the national team and doesn’t play, he returns with lower physical abilities than when he leaves the club.

“We have seen it with Nico, but also with others. If he is well, he’s in a position to play tomorrow. From a psychological point of view, it’s important for him to forget the injury, let’s look to the future.”

Mourinho was asked how he keeps controversial players motivated, noting that he has an easy job because the team works well together.

“The players are intelligent and understand things, If a player, even if he doesn’t play a lot at a given moment, they watch how we talk to him and how we make comments in training or in the match.

“[Stephan] El Shaarawy understands that he’s important to me and he is a starter. They are never just 11, being on the bench or starting is a situation that can change.

“I’ve never had a season where the line-up that started was the same that finished. The season is a highway, but then it also becomes a winding statute.

“The players must understand that without them we are dead, we cannot play with 10 or 11 players. Stephan understands that I like his characteristics and at the beginning of the season he had to follow a path to improve the form he had lost between China and injuries.

“He is growing and has a lot of experience. Before Sassuolo I told him that he’s a starter and that he would do it against CSKA Sofia.

“All players are more responsible than me in the dressing room. In this sense, the group works well with each other, I feel my mission as a leader is very easy, because it’s a good group.”

Mourinho

wants his team to win the Europa League conference.

“As an assistant, I have also won a cup that no longer exists [the Cup Winners’ Cup],” he said. “It was with Barca in 1997.

“I would like to win the Conference, but the target is not to be the only one to have won all three of them.

“Today, we are far from being able to win it, but I’m interested and the first step is to win the group. No player will go on vacation or rest, we will all be there.

“It’s a collective project and if any of those who have played against Sassuolo goes on the bench, that’s how it is.”

Mourinho was asked which is more important for

Roma

League or other trophies?

“

It’s easy to say that they did well in the Europa League last year,

” he said. “

The defeat against Manchester United was heavy but there was a team with a different power in front of them and Roma were in difficulty

.

“I don’t know if this team is more suited for the cups, but for us the championship is much more important than the Conference League.

“But I want the right mentality. The next match is always the most important. When the Coppa Italia takes place, it will have to be the same.

“That’s how I like to think and that’s how we will do it. I want the team to be ready in all competitions.

“Tomorrow [Matias] Vina doesn’t play, but Calafiori. It’s normal to have to make changes like this. Now, the target is not to think about the championship but about the match tomorrow.”

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