“I could have played in goal for us” – Mourinho laments draw as Fenerbahçe title hopes fade, takes aim at excluded winger Saint-Maximim | OneFootball

It has been a tough few days for Fenerbahçe coach José Mourinho, who watched his side eliminated from the Europa League by Rangers via a penalty shootout on Thursday, before a costly draw in Türkiye delivered a huge blow to the club’s title ambitions.

Mourinho’s men were held 0-0 at home by Samsunspor, which leaves them 9 points behind champions Galatasaray with one game in-hand. Speaking after the stalemate, Mourinho cut a frustrated figure but commended his players for their efforts at the end of a disappointing week.

Fener had 28 shots to Samsunspor’s 2 during the match, which also saw the hosts dominate with 65% possession. Samsunspor played the final 15 minutes with ten men following the dismissal of Marius Mouandilmadji, but less than 72 hours after their heartbreak in Glasgow, Mourinho’s team failed to make a breakthrough.

“We didn’t manage to score today, but it was impossible for us to lose the game because the opponent didn’t have a single shot on target,” Mourinho said. “We had to score to win the game, we felt that the energy dropped a bit at the start of the second half and that’s why I made substitutions. At the same time, we saw the effect of playing 120 minutes two days ago on some players emotionally, like Skriniar, Amrabat or Fred, but they fought until the last drop of sweat.

“We created incredible situations with Szymanski, En-Nesyri, Dzeko... It was harder to fail in the positions we had than to score, but, as I said, when you don't score a goal, you can't win. It was impossible for us to lose the game, the opponent didn't have any shots. It wouldn't matter if I were in goal, because the opponent didn't have any shots, but we had to score to win.”

“Our title chances? It’s probably going to be difficult for the leader to lose points, especially because we know that some teams against them have less motivation than they have against us. Today we played against the 3rd in the table, it looked like we were playing against a team fighting relegation. So it’s going to be very difficult. But mathematically it’s possible and while it’s mathematically possible – we think it’s possible.”

Saint-Maximim not fit to play football – Mourinho

Mourinho also had some harsh words for winger Allan Saint-Maximim, who was left out of the squad for the visit of Samsunspor. The Frenchman and his representatives have used social media to imply his treatment and training demands have been unreasonable, but when asked about the decision to exclude the player Mourinho insisted Saint-Maximim is not in condition to be selected.

“Saint-Maximim has played many times during the season,” he began. “In the last three months, he had not trained four days in a row. Never. For this reason or that reason, never. He’s not fit to play football. He can post as many pictures as he wants. He can even do photoshop to look like he has abdominals. Unfortunately, he doesn’t train. So when a player doesn’t train regular and consistently, he’s not fit to play.”