When Jose Mourinho arrived in Rome, Italy as the new coach of AS Roma in 2021, he was greeted by Roma supporters like a hero who had just arrived from the battlefield. The airport was filled with Roma fans. In fact, the club owner, Dan Fredkin, was the pilot of the private jet that brought Mou from Portugal to Italy.
In fact, AS Roma does not yet know or feel how it is to be trained by the coach from Portugal. Perhaps, the shine of Mourinho’s big name and achievements as one of the most successful coaches in the world today is one of the reasons behind the rousing reception from Roma supporters.
The welcome was not in vain. Unmitigated, in the first season, Mou, who contributed a treble of trophies to Inter Milan in 2009/2010, immediately had a positive effect on Roma. In its first season, Roma won The Conference League trophy on May 25 2022. This trophy fulfilled Mou’s achievements on the European stage. Mou is also the only coach to have won trophies in four different competitions in Europe.
Furthermore, in the following season Mou managed to lead Roma to the Europa League final. In the final, Roma bowed to the kings of the European League, Sevilla. However, Mou’s success on the European stage is inversely related to Roma’s performance at domestic level.
Two seasons as coach, Roma always sits in sixth place in the final standings. Roma’s performance has stagnated in Mou’s third season as coach. So far, the club from the Italian capital sits in ninth position in the Italian League standings.
Last week, Roma lost 3-1 to AC Milan in the Italian Serie A, and that completed Roma’s three consecutive defeats in all competitions. Also, of six matches in the Italian League, Roma only won once.
Apart from Roma’s performance which is not very stable, Mou also has a relationship that is not very close with the line judges. The former Chelsea coach has received red cards six times. Frankly, Mou was quite harsh in criticizing the referee.
In fact, Mou also does not hesitate to hide his dislike for the media in Italy. Once, during an interview session, Mou refused to speak Italian and preferred to use a translator. In fact, Mou is quite fluent in Italian. His style was a reaction to media reports he didn’t like.
Roma’s unconvincing results in his third season as coach was the reason for the end of Mou’s story at Roma. The 60 year old coach was fired from his position as Roma coach. AS Roma owners, Dan and Ryan Freidkin wrote that the management (owners) thanked Mou on behalf of AS Roma as a club for Mou’s passion and efforts since arriving at the club.
Responding to this decision, Mou on his social media wall, which has a photo of himself holding the Conference League trophy, only wrote two words, Arrivederci, Roma, which means, Goodbye, Roma. Of course, this decision was quite surprising considering Mou’s name and his contribution in the previous two seasons with Roma. However, for the good that the club’s performance continues to decline, this may be the right path for Roma to take.
In fact, Roma’s performance is not entirely on Mou’s shoulders. Injuries to important players are one of the factors behind the imbalance in Roma’s game. Inevitably, Mou also made a sarcastic note at the supporters who were quite demanding of Roma’s performance by calling himself “Harry Potter,” which could make the situation better.
Mou’s dismissal seemed to continue his negative trend as a coach. It could be said that Mou’s dismissal in his third season as coach strengthened the curse attached to him. Like Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp, who is often associated with a curse in the seventh season, Mou faced a curse in the third season. In every third season of several clubs he coached, Mou was often fired.
The dismissal was of course based on the performance of the team coached by Mou. Every third season, Mou’s team often appeared unconvincing and this led to their dismissal. Previously, Mou was also fired by Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid in his third season as coach. Apart from the curse, the third season is usually very risky for a coach. This can happen because the coach does not have a good relationship with the players. Or also, the players feel fed up and fed up with the coach’s demands.
Mou is used to being fired. Perhaps what makes it a bit strange is that the dismissal that occurred was like a curse that was difficult to erase from Mou’s coaching career as a coach.
ASL
