Jose Mourinho: “Today we made them look like they weren’t good, but in fact they are a good team.”

Fenerbahçe’s head coach Jose Mourinho stated that they prepared well for the Çaykur Rizespor match, saying, “Today we made them look like they weren’t good, but actually they are a good team. We had analyzed their matches by watching them. They have very high quality. Whether in pressing, in building play, or in transitions, they have a lot to offer, but we had a full week to prepare for this match.”

In the 3rd week of the Trendyol Super League, Fenerbahçe defeated Çaykur Rizespor 5-0 away from home. After the match, Fenerbahçe head coach Jose Mourinho made evaluations at the press conference. When reminded of his statements about liking Rizespor, Mourinho said, “Today we made them look like they weren’t good, but actually they are a good team. We had analyzed their matches by watching them. They have very high quality. Whether in pressing, in building play, or in transitions, they have a lot to offer, but we had a full week to prepare for this match. We prepared well. At the same time, an important player like Fred also returned. His return allowed Szymanski to play in a different position. Today the players played very well. We found the second and third goals very quickly. I really like Rizespor. They have very good individual players. Today we performed very well as a team.”

“Before coming to Turkey, I had heard a few things I didn’t want to believe”

The Portuguese coach noted that their penalties were not awarded in the first half, stating, “The penalty was very clear. It was definitely a referee mistake. It was a wrong decision made by VAR. Before coming to Turkey, I had heard a few things I didn’t want to believe. In fact, I had heard things I wanted to dismiss. Looking at today’s match, it could have easily ended in the first half. It didn’t. We were very good. My players did a great job. That’s how we got the three points,” he said.

When asked about Rizespor’s goalkeeper Gökhan Akkan, Mourinho replied, “I don’t want to talk about the opposing goalkeeper.”

“Scoring an early goal did not decrease the tempo of the game”

Regarding the frequent stoppages in the match, Mourinho commented, “It didn’t happen that much today. We scored an early goal. Our opponent had to chase the result to achieve something. Therefore, this did not decrease the tempo of the game. Today, we saw different criteria in yellow cards. There is a clear penalty, even if it’s not two, it’s at least one clear penalty. I have played 3 matches but watched many matches. I can compare the criteria of this referee by looking at his performance in matches played by different teams. I need to focus on my job. I’m trying to dismiss what makes me unhappy.”