‘Ashamed’ Jose Mourinho tears into AS Roma players after woeful first half display against Juventus
- Seb Sternik
- 27 August 2022
Jose Mourinho gave an extraordinary post-match interview after his side fought back to seal a 1-1 draw away at Juventus.
Dusan Vlahovic opened the scoring with a sensational free kick two minutes into the much-anticipated clash.
AS Roma, who endured a lacklustre first-half showing, sprang into life after the interval as Paulo Dybala set up Tammy Abraham for the equaliser.
"That we were unbelievably lucky in the first half and in the second we did something more," Mourinho told DAZN, as reported by Football Italia, in his post-match interview.
"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, 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.
"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.
"Max with all the problems he has with injuries, was still able to make changes. If I analyse the second half, we deserved to win that 1-0, but the first half was awful."
It's Tammy Abraham for AS Roma! 🤩
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 27, 2022
The former Chelsea striker was never going to miss from that range. pic.twitter.com/UwFEhTM6mU
The Special One made two changes at half-way point and brought on Stephan El Shaarawy and Nikola Zalewski in an effort to spark a turnaround.
Mourinho added: "It was tough for me to replace Gianluca Mancini, because the defenders were the victims of a generally horrible team performance. I am very happy with the second half and it's an important point for us. It feels positive after a first half like that.
"I want to be as honest as possible with the people at home. I could've very easily come here and said I was a genius of a coach to change things at half-time."
