José Mourinho yesterday had promised surprises in the composition of his bench for this afternoon’s fundamental clash with Napoli. After having lost four defeats in the last seven games the Giallorossi cannot fail, but the Portuguese did not spare some of the players who played the humiliating 6-1 suffered with Bodo Glimt and kept his promise.
The ex-Madridista, then, decided to send Kumbulla, Reynolds, Diawara, Villar and Borja Mayoral, who had all started on the disastrous trip to Norway, to the stands. Among the substitutes, then, several young people appeared (Zalewsky, Bove, Missori, Felix, Tripi), while there were no news in the starting eleven (Rui Patrício; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibáñez, Viña; Cristante, Veretout; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Abraham).
A very clear signal from Mourinho, who at yesterday’s press conference sent a message of great respect to a board that, in his opinion, “inherited the mistakes of people who laugh with their pockets full”
After the confrontation, which defined “a great game with a fair result”, Mourinho explained his gesture as follows: “They are things from the changing rooms, messages that are sent after negative performances, and it is something important. That game remains in my history and it is difficult for me to forgive them, although I will try to recover them. “ The Portuguese, yes, again made it clear that he is not happy with half of his squad: “The games against Juve and Napoli give me the feeling that our team of 11, 12, 13, 14 players is good, and I like it a lot.”