Jose Mourinho was pleased with his teams 3-0 win over Sampdoria but remained coy on his future: ‘I withdraw into myself and keep things to myself’. It was a one-sided affair for the Giallorossi after Samp went down to 10-men, with goals from Gini Wijnaldum, Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaaraway, cementing a vital win that takes them up to 4th place in Serie A. Speaking with journalists after the game (as quoted by RomaPress), Mourinho singled out certain players for praise before addressing the speculation on his future, which continues to rumble on, despite suggestions that the Portuguese tactician will be remaining in Rome for the next season:
“I’m satisfied, in the first half we created a lot of chances. Then we scored and didn’t keep the ball for a while, they got close and put us in trouble when the match was still at 1-0. Then I made substitutions with El Shaarawy and Solbakken, so Paulo played a bit deeper and we got the ball back.”
“I felt that, sooner or later, this type of performance would come from Gini,” he continued. “I’m really satisfied with his progressive evolution. But Diego Llorente also played very well with Smalling in a 4-man defense. He worked really well during the break, and as a manager that’s what really struck me about today: Llorente’s performance.”
“I could have used Celik as a central defender but he’d never done it before so we opted for a four-man defense. I was really happy with Llorente because he allowed us to keep more possession.”
“The Friedkins? I’m happy they came to see us play. I hope they had fun. This is their club and I work for them.
“My future? I only talk about my future, about my state of mind, at home… and sometimes not even at home, I withdraw into myself and keep things to myself. I don’t talk to friends, colleagues, journalists…”
“I’m not talking about my future with anyone in public. The situation is clear, from a contractual point of view I still have one year on my contract. Football is football, sometimes contracts aren’t the most important thing.”
