He's insane, Mourinho made an unusual choice and not even Roma players understood it

Jose Mourinho is highly respected by AS Roma fans. His success in Italy with Inter, where he won two Serie A titles and a Champions League between 2008 and 2010, made the team from the Italian capital decide to hire him in 2021. The goal was to improve the team and become one of the top teams in the country again, and in a short time the coach achieved it.

In his first year he finished sixth in the standings and won the Conference League title. And in the previous season he repeated the performance in Serie A, while reaching the final of the EUFA Europa League, where he lost on penalties to Sevilla. The good results he achieved earned him the affection and respect of the fans, who are now confident that things will get even better.

But Mou always has an ace up his sleeve to surprise everyone. In the last pre-season friendly match AS Roma faced Partizani Tirana and won 2-1. But what caught the eye was the manager's decision when there were still 10 minutes to go: he decided to take off midfielder Houssem Aouar and did not put any player in his place, so his team ended the match with 10 players.

According to the newspaper La Corriere dello Sport, the decision was made to take care of Aouar's physical condition and prevent him from getting injured. But also because Partizani Tirana had been left with a man down due to a mistake by their coach, who sent on a player who had been replaced, and Mou wanted to balance the match.

What's next?

AS Roma will play their first official match of the 2023/24 Serie A season next Sunday, August 20, when they play at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome against Salernitana.