Antonio Cassano gave an extensive interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport and once again took aim at Max Allegri and Jose Mourinho: ‘They play obscene football’. The fomer Roma forward explained why he will always call out what he believes to be ‘sh**’ football and compared the football being played at Roma and Lazio: ‘Sarri plays great football made up of different ideas’:
“And the important thing is to exaggerate, both good and bad,” sang Enzo Iannacci. Did you take a cue from him?
“Great artist, chapeau, but I don’t exaggerate: I tell the truth unabashedly, it’s different. You may not agree with me, but I always explain things to you and I don’t let names influence me because I’ve never been an ass-kisser.”
Bobo TV, video on Instagram, Staffelli’s report: is there any other word left for Mourinho?
“I used them all, however, Mourinho has to understand that as long as his teams play so badly, he will always find at least one person to tell him: me. Has he won that much? I don’t give a damn. It applies to him as it does to Allegri. With the strong players they have they play obscene soccer. Do you have cups in your trophy cabinet? So what? If their teams play sh**, I say it and I don’t hide.”
I understand that this interview will be full of beeps and suspensory dots….
“But if I just tell you they play bad, it doesn’t make the point enough. Because most of the time they just play sh–.”
Mourinho claims he does not have a squad up to the task.
“It’s his favorite excuse to shift blame. A few newspaper editors and pundits on TV pass this lie off on him. But Roma has the third highest payroll in Italy after Inter and Juve. The strongest player on the market was Dybala and he got him. And then Matic and Wijnaldum, all his requests. He says he doesn’t have the roster? Against Torino, on the bench he had Pellegrini, Matic, Abraham, Belotti, Ibanez, Kumbulla, Celik, Camara… What are we talking about? He won 1-0 with one penalty shot on goal in the whole game. Roma is full of national team players. He hides behind alibis and never talks about football; he always deflects the conversation. Between Lazio’s squad and Roma’s there is a resounding gulf: only Sarri makes the team play in an extraordinary way and is second, he on the other hand careless football and is behind.”
What excites you about Sarri?
“He proposes great football, made up of ideas. Sarri, unlike Mourinho, has enhanced his own team: from Provedel to Romagnoli, from Casale to Zaccagni. Behind he has Hysaj and Marusic not Roberto Carlos and Cafu. Immobile has hardly been there this year and has no deputy. He also has great players like Milinkovic and Luis Alberto, whom he has managed to incorporate into his game, however he has given continuity to Anderson and still gets the best from Pedro. If Mourinho turns to the bench he is spoiled for choice, Sarri has 13 players in all…. Besides, you know what I can’t stand about Mourinho?”
You’d be quicker to tell me what you like….
“That’s a word, because I like practically nothing. I just give him credit for being smart and knowing how to sell himself. He understood that after the farewell of great champions and flagbearers like Totti and De Rossi, Rome needed a leader, a ringleader, and he is doing that, creating controversy, stirring up the people and his bench, dumping players when it suits him. He pilloried Karsdorp, ignores some players, like Solbakken, then if they get injured he says he misses them. Against Feyenoord he did not score and instead of explaining why the team continues to have a very low center of gravity and create little, what does he say? “We don’t have Haaland” putting Abraham and Belotti in even more trouble. The Englishman last year scored 27 goals, this year he doesn’t get a playable ball, a cross, nothing, they don’t even let him shoot penalties anymore. Even Dybala when he gets the ball now tries to come up with something on his own and doesn’t serve him much. If I had played with Abraham I would have given him 50 passes a game and if he missed them all, I would give him 60 the next time. He works his heart out, but if you let him touch just three balls, he is not Mbappe or Benzema who scores three goals. He would need confidence and instead Mou slaughters him.”
