Roma newcomer Ola Solbakken accused the Norwegian press of blowing a throwaway reprimand by José Mourinho out of proportion. The winger reported to his national team during the break and talked with local newspaper Daglabet (via SportMediaset).
“My relationship with the coach is good. He’s a kind, warm, and funny guy. You can talk about everything with him, even personal stuff. He’s fundamentally a good person. It’s normal for him to say that a teammate that has been at the club longer than me is savvier about tactics. I understand that. You should ask the Norway gaffer whether he thinks a rookie is better than Martin Odergaard. I doubt he’d say yes. I didn’t take it as anything more than that.”
Solbakken added that the Italian media didn’t even mention the Special One’s remark.
“They interpreted it differently. Nobody wrote anything about the reproach after Roma-Empoli. Instead, they hunted for clicks in Norway. I wanted to sub in, but it made sense for the boss to field a different player to try managing the lead. He picked somebody that was more knowledgeable about the scheme. I had been here for just a month at that point; others for four years.”
Solbakken joined Roma in January on a free move from Bodo/Glimt. He has yet to earn a regular role and has featured 6 times for a total of 107 minutes, starting just once. He scored once, deciding the Verona contest, the lone one where he was in the XI. The attacker hasn’t been inserted in the UEFA list due to a technicality stemming from Roma’s Financial Fair Play restrictions.
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