AS Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto offered a fiery media conference on Wednesday explaining their January market work and his relationship with coach Jose Mourinho.
He began by discussing his work with Mourinho.
Pinto said, “People always look for conflict between me and Mourinho, in reality we work for the good of Roma. This press conference will not create disagreements, we work for the same team. Roma play every three days and I'll say this, it's no coincidence that the champion of Italy is the one who came out of Europe.
“Speaking as an Italian, I think we have a lot of work to do on the calendar to protect those who play in Europe. Let's see what happens with Atalanta and Fiorentina when they don't play in Europe, this issue goes beyond Roma's squad. Italy is a competitive league, it's not easy to play with 20 teams.
“We often have European games that create problems for us. None of us can say that we have the players we have, we all know the stakes we have. The players signed have always had the coach's opinion, but neither Tiago Pinto nor Mourinho have all the players they want, we can't do this kind of market.
“I'm not afraid of you and I take responsibility for those who have not done well at Roma. The players who have been signed so far and have not done well are 100% my fault. We have the stakes that you all know, we try to do the best job possible, if things go wrong, I take responsibility.
“I have different visions from you in some circumstances, some have four or five year prospects, but you make assessments every weekend. You talk about Vina and Shomurodov, they are my responsibility."
Tiago admits he wanted a better January transfer window.
“No. I felt the other years the team had improved, I can't say the same now because we lost three players and got two. We trust in Wijnaldum's recovery, I take responsibility and I'm not saying what I've said in the past.
“I have to say that Zaniolo was a difficult situation to handle, with the goalposts we have the solution was there and it could have pleased everyone, but we didn't manage to do things the way we wanted to. With the stakes we have to cover, the market session has become difficult.
“Solbakken? I am very sorry because the FFP thing is no joke, I don't want to hide and say that it is important for the sustainability of the club, and it is difficult to do the market like that. With what Bournemouth's offer was, we could have done a big market to strengthen the team, but we couldn't do it.
“There are things I could not change, but I want to be objective, and I am not satisfied with the market. As I've always said, the market has a 20-30% importance, I trust the coach, the technical staff and the players, we have the conditions to do well."
