Roma manager Jose Mourinho has said he will tell his players to “be clowns” in order to win penalties.
His remarks come after he received a red card as he fumed at Nicolo Zaniolo not being awarded a penalty in their Serie A match against Atalanta. Mourinho’s side lost the match 1-0.
“There was a very clear penalty,” he said. “I asked the referee afterwards why, and asked him to be clear with me that it was because Zaniolo did not go down.
“So therefore I have to change my advice to my players, I have to tell them don’t try to stay on your feet, don’t play the ball, be a clown the way many who dive like they’re in a swimming pool do in this league, because that is evidently how you get penalties.”
He was held back from entering the pitch during his fury and said post-match it was a game his club should have won.
“It went badly because we lost a game that we should’ve won easily, considering the way we played,” he said. “If we can imagine this domination we had in the final third, with many chances created, we can speculate that with Paulo on the field it might’ve been different.
“Nonetheless, those who played did well enough to win the game, easily, but unfortunately we did not score and that is why we lost.
“It is not pleasant to leave empty-handed, but it was a good performance, good spirit. We didn’t dominate Monza or Cremonese here for 90 minutes the way we did Atalanta.”
Roma sit sixth in Serie A after seven matches,
