Jose Mourinho claimed that he's Roma's only "leader" while also criticising his squad's lack of talent following their 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday.
The former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss also joked that he wished he could have the same bench as Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann possessed in his side's Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain this week.
Mourinho's men took an early lead in their round-of-16 first leg through winger Stephan El Shaarawy, but weren't comfortable until half-time substitute Marash Kumbulla headed in Roma's second goal in the 87th minute. The 'Special One' immediately subbed off star player Paulo Dybala and later made it clear that his options to replace him from the bench weren't nearly on the same level.
"Against PSG, Bayern had [Serge] Gnabry, Sadio [Mane] and [Leroy] Sane on the bench - just one of them would be enough for me," Mourinho bemoaned post-match. "Like this, I could have replaced Dybala and perhaps score one more goal."
The Man of the Match on Thursday was midfield linchpin Nemanja Matic, who the 60-year-old tactician worked with at Chelsea and United, leading him to sign the experienced Serbian for a third time last summer. When asked about Matic's visible leadership skills after only eight months at the club, Mourinho firmly suggested that he's Roma's only general.
"There is only one leader," the Portuguese affirmed before a long pause. "Only one. Players are all the same. But on the pitch, they bring different experiences from their life and their careers, a different way of thinking. It is fantastic and we need it. However, we don't have the kind of problem here. We are one democratic team, but with only one leader."
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Mourinho was pleased with his team's performance against Real Sociedad but warned them ahead of next week's second leg, which comes four days prior to a derby clash with Lazio, who are one point above them in the Serie A table. "We are organised, we analyse the opponent well and we do what we can," he explained.
"I'm comfortable after defeats and victories, I've learned that with experience. Next week is dangerous. It will be dangerous in San Sebastian. Then playing against Lazio could be considered the same as playing against [AC] Milan, Juventus and any another opponent, but that's not the case in this city.
"I don't want to go to San Sebastian thinking about the derby; if we do that, we lose. They are strong, they have quality and creativity, we have to go there with everything we have. This is only the first half, the second half is still missing."
