AS Roma: behind the scenes of the brutal dismissal of José Mourinho

AS Roma took everyone by surprise. This Tuesday morning, La Louve announced the end of its collaboration with José Mourinho. A decision that shocked a lot of people, starting with the Italian press. This morning again, the Corriere dello Sport announced that the Special One, whose contract ended next June, would stay. It was the big trend in most Italian sports publications. The Friedkin brothers have it decidedly otherwise. After the announcement of their separation from the former Tottenham coach, they had a few words for him.

The Friedkins have decided

“We thank José on behalf of all of us at AS Roma for the passion and commitment he has shown since his arrival at the Giallorossi. We will always have fond memories of his leadership, but we believe that, in the best interests of the Club, immediate change is necessary. We wish José and his colleagues the best for the future.” How did we get here ? On May 4, 2021, the Roman owners struck a major blow by announcing the arrival of the Special One, free since his departure from Spurs.

The Portuguese was supposed to help the Giallorossi take a step forward and return to the top of Serie A. During his 2 and 1/2 years at the head of La Louve, he obtained mixed results. He did not win an Italian championship title, but he lifted the first Europa Conference League in history in 2022. But beyond the trophies, several things bothered the management of the capital club, which decided not to wait until the end of the season to say goodbye. THE Corriere dello Sport reveals that the Friedkins made their decision a priori on the night of Sunday to Monday, after President Dan landed in Rome.

Mourinho had been under threat for a while

The latter had dinner with his son Ryan, who did not go to Milan to attend the lost match against the Rossoneri. They decided at that time the fate of José Mourinho but also the identity of his successor, who should therefore be Daniele De Rossi. La Gazzetta dello Sport she also assures that the leaders of AS Roma first wanted to find a new coach and reach an agreement with him before dismissing the native of Setubal. Concerning the latter, his relations with the club have deteriorated over the years.

THE CdS specifies that this makes a “time” that the links were broken between the different parties. The Friedkins had even thought of firing Mourinho after the heavy defeat against Genoa on September 28 (4-1). But the Roman team had a string of successes afterwards and the leaders left their plan aside. They finally decided to stop their collaboration with the Portuguese following poor results. Indeed, La Louve had only one victory in the last four meetings (1 draw, 3 defeats).

A divisive personality

His bosses also criticized him for “the team’s performance in the league and the Italian Cup (and partly also in the Europa League) was unacceptable” according to GoS. In addition, they could no longer stand José Mourinho’s attitude. They were fed up with him systematically finding excuses after each bad result or claiming to not have adequate staff. His tackles towards the referee, which often put his club in a delicate position; or his clashes with opponents were not appreciated internally.

Same thing regarding his attacks on some of his players. Moreover, his comments about his men after the derby lost against Lazio in the Italian Cup (1-0, January 10) were taken very seriously by his bosses. The latter felt that something was broken between the coach and his players and that the “family” that they want to have in Rome no longer existed with Mourinho. The Portuguese, who will turn 61 in 10 days, was informed by his managers. THE Corriere dello Sport reveals that he was “naturally disappointed“, he who wanted to stay. The Friedkins were not of this opinion…