Mourinho fumes at referee but says he must "protect" himself as Roma lose again

Jose Mourinho has continued his tirade against referees and stressed that he 'must protect himself' after Roma 's 3-2 defeat to newly-promoted Venezia on Sunday.

The 58-year-old complaining at decisions which have gone against his team has become commonplace in the Italian capital, with the Giallorossi boss receiving a touchline ban for his behaviour last month.

Mourinho watched Roma drop to fifth in the Serie A table away from home, as they blew a lead which came courtesy of ex- Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham 's first goal in eight games.

Blues loanee Ethan Ampadu and former Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero were part of the victorious Venezia outfit, who pushed themselves three points above from the relegation zone.

Post-match, Mourinho was critical of both his players and the officials, telling Sky Sport Italia : "We created many opportunities, many half-chances and when you get into dangerous positions and don't make the right final ball, that is frustrating.

"We did it about 20 times, with attacking players like [Jordan] Veretout and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini near the forwards, but we didn't make the pass. How is it possible to create so much and then not score?"

The Roma manager, who has overseen just one win from their last seven matches, continued: "We conceded the first goal on a set play that we had practiced yesterday and still got the defending wrong.

"Another important part of the story is Venezia's second goal. I have to protect myself here and keep my feelings to myself over what is happening.

"I could've talked about the players who should've got yellow cards for tactical fouls, those are small details.

"I could say we had many chances to go 3-1 up, above all with [Stephan] El Shaarawy and it's difficult to miss, but the truth is we were 2-1 up and in control. What happened, for me… I don't want to say anything else.

"I prefer to just say it was a very, very important moment of the match. That is all."

But Mourinho returned to the issue of referees towards the end of his interview, pondering: "Maybe one day I will understand why certain incidents happen.

"There are things that stay hidden for years and one day I will understand them."

Now out of the Champions League places, Mourinho believes his squad can still achieve a top-four finish but added that the season could be a "painful one."

"As a coach, I have to give some motivation and ambition to the players and myself," he explained.

"It's one thing to say we are worthy of fourth place, another to say we want to go for fourth place. Until it becomes mathematically impossible, I want to keep saying fourth place is the target.

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"Roma finished sixth or seventh the last few seasons, the club made an effort over the summer, but it was more reactive transfer activity than building.

"I don't think this squad is stronger than last season. We lost a lot of experience, we had to bring in players to replace those who left, many of them lack experience at this level.

"As a coach with a three-year contract, this season can be a painful one for body and soul, but still a very, very important one for me to understand something I couldn't have understood before I arrived.

"I already know more than I did two months ago."