Jose Mourinho praised his players following their emphatic win over Empoli, but didn’t think they did enough to win 7-0.The Giallorossi were without a win heading into this match, but their seven goal rout included goals for new players Renato Sanches and Romelu Lukaku. Speaking of the win with DAZN, Mourinho said,
“We played well, but not well enough to win 7-0: it’s something that happens, it’s not like you play with that result in mind.”
“We had a good game, but with many ups and downs. On a physical level, we can see that there are some players who don’t have the condition to play a full game yet.”
“Lukaku’s goal? It wasn’t important to me to see him score tonight, maybe it was to him. I care about the team, whether he scores or not doesn’t change anything for me: I care that he gives a different dimension to the team, we have to learn to play better with him and he has to learn to play with us. We need matches to improve and today I saw some things from players who came off the bench that I didn’t like. I’m talking about the team, not Romelu.”
“The midfield? I liked it. Paredes needs to improve his condition. He didn’t train with PSG, he came here, he joined us against Salernitana after two days of training. He played with the national team. He needs minutes in his legs, but controlled minutes. He has to change his position a bit, with the ball he has an extraordinary quality, a number 6 that we don’t have. He must improve his intensity, his way of thinking about our defensive game. There are many things to improve.”
“Lukaku looks happy. happy. He needs to be happy and feel loved. He arrived here and immediately felt that the team needed him. I think he’s really happy. He wants to win. I don’t think Inter should be angry, they won the derby, they have many strong attackers, they must be happy for me because I needed a striker like Romelu.”
“I don’t think we’re as bad as everyone made us out to be for the past few weeks. But I also think that today we are not extraordinary. I believe we have to work, we have the potential to improve and do well. Yesterday the goal was to win today, today the goal is to win on Thursday.”
Aouar is doing the same way as all the other players who were questionable for tonight,” he said. “One thing is to clinically recover from an injury, and another thing is to be fit enough to start.”
“Aouar came to the stadium with us with a feeling of muscle soreness and when the muscle tells you something is wrong then the worst thing you can do is risk it,” he added.
“So, instead of Aouar, Renato Sanches got the start. He was perfect for 45 minutes and the yellow card made it easier for me to replace him. Dybala had 75 minutes in his legs, same thing for Paredes. We have to manage these players, making them train, play and not letting them get tired. Romelu, due to his physical condition, his medical history and the way he trained alone, is the one who is in the best condition.”
“Lukaku did well for us. He had one direct shot on goal and he scored, that’s important for us.”
