Pochettino looking for Chelsea performance against Tottenham
Chelsea training ground, Cobham, Surrey, UK
Chelsea training ground, Cobham, Surrey, UK
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00:00 Can I just get the team news, the latest news of tomorrow's big game?
00:06 Depends, depends what do you want to know?
00:09 Everything, all the players, who's back, how's Rhys James, is Thiago out for the rest of the season? There's a number of players.
00:17 OK, no good news because we cannot recover any players from the last list. Only we need to add two players more, Thiago and Isasi, they will be not available for tomorrow.
00:33 Thiago, obviously announcing he's leaving Chelsea, it was a very emotional video. I just want to give the opportunity for you to speak about him, what a brilliant signing he was for Chelsea and how much will the club miss his influence in the dressing room?
00:46 Of course, he's an amazing guy, he's an amazing professional. I'm not going to discover the type of player, playing nearly 40 years old and seeing his amazing career.
01:02 Of course, the players, the fans, the club is going to miss him. He's happy, he's so proud about his career here in Chelsea and in different clubs also.
01:18 And only to wish the best because he deserves the best.
01:22 He said that your speech at half-time against Villa made a real impact and it could have been so different, it could have been three points. Do you still have that anger? Because I thought you handled it well against Man City, but that anger after the Aston Villa match?
01:36 Yes, of course. Every single game is a challenge for us and now we have tomorrow a big challenge against Tottenham, a great team like Tottenham. I think it's going to be good, it's going to be a nice game to play.
01:52 I think it's a great opportunity for some kids to be on the bench and have the possibility to play. I think when this opportunity appears, he has to be conscious and say, 'Come on, step up and say to the kids, we are here and we want to be there and we want to play for the first team in Chelsea.'
02:15 I think it's a great opportunity tomorrow and for sure it's going to be a great game.
02:19 Just on VAR still, Sweden rejected VAR. Androposta-Koglu said he might move there. Do you want to move there with him potentially?
02:27 Sorry?
02:28 No VAR in Sweden, Androposta-Koglu said he might move there. Would you like to join him?
02:33 I don't know what he said.
02:35 He's not happy with the VAR from Sunday's match against Arsenal. Of course you've had disappointments. There's no VAR in Sweden. He's going to Sweden, he said as a joke. Do you want to join him on the plane?
02:45 Maybe, why not?
02:48 The Premier League, big news this week on potential spending caps. Are you in favour of spending caps and how do you think it would potentially affect Chelsea and the Premier League?
02:59 I wasn't involved, I am not involved in the process. I don't know what is the right answer.
03:07 What, if it might affect your recruitment potentially in the summer?
03:10 I don't know.
03:11 We'll wait and see then. Tottenham of course, as you've mentioned, a huge derby. But an emotional one for you, it's a fixture you've known very well as well. Just tell us how special tomorrow night is going to be.
03:24 I think it was special when we played there. It was my first time after to leave the club. Now it's a different thing. Of course it's emotional because we are going to meet people we've worked with for a long period.
03:43 But I cannot hide my emotion for the club. It's going to be emotional because you face your former team and when the history was good, you remember.
04:02 But I think, like I said before, 90 minutes, we want to win and Tottenham for sure are going to come here to try to win also. It's going to be for sure a good game.
04:13 Thank you.
04:14 You're welcome.
04:15 Alex.
04:16 Hi Mauricio. Tomorrow will be your 400th game as a manager in England. Did you know that?
04:20 No.
04:21 A lot of games. How would you sum up your time here as a manager?
04:25 Amazing. I think it's a dream come true. I think maybe I explained I don't want to be repetitive. It was for me to think to come here to England and to be a coach here.
04:38 It was impossible thinking in a machine. But after the decision of my wife and my friend here, Jesus, they convinced me to join Southampton.
04:51 Yes, I think it was one of the best decisions in my life to come here to England and enjoy this great football country. And of course, I feel really comfortable. It's like home.
05:07 What has the most challenging time been would you say?
05:10 I think every single period was an amazing challenge for us. I think to arrive to Southampton when no one knows us and try to convince the players and to translate our idea about football when in England there was before arrived Pep or arrived Klopp.
05:30 Only Brendan was trying to settle a different football. I think it was an amazing challenge. We met an unbelievable club, unbelievable chairman, unbelievable people, staff, players.
05:48 It was an amazing journey in Southampton and Tottenham was amazing also because the challenge was to create a team that can compete and challenge the big side.
06:03 After one year and one year and a half we were challenging and for five, nearly six years we were challenging the big teams and being in a final of the Champions League, building a new stadium, new training ground.
06:17 I think to be part of this journey also was an amazing challenge and it was an amazing time. And now arriving here to Chelsea in this also amazing club with an amazing history, in a process to try to develop and be an exciting project knowing that we need time.
06:41 Maybe it's the most challenging period now.
06:43 Do you have 400 more games in you? Do you want 400 more?
06:47 I think we are still young, no?
06:49 Yes, you are a few years young.
06:51 Yes, I think we are trying now to enjoy every single day and try to provide our knowledge and our experience to our club. And of course, that is our obsession, our passion.
07:09 And it's the adrenaline that we want to feel in our body every time that we go for a training or to compete in a game. And I think football needs to push out of the field.
07:27 I think it's difficult to say I'm going to stop to be a coach or we are going to stop doing what we love to do. We'll see. Hope, yes, can achieve another 400 games here.
07:41 One manager that hasn't been in England long is Ange Postacoglu. How highly do you rate him? What qualities does he have to make him a top manager?
07:49 I think he recovers for the fans and for the club, the hope. They are playing very good football. And I think, of course, it's always difficult when you arrive to a new country.
08:04 The challenge is massive, but he's doing a fantastic job. And every time that you watch Tottenham, you enjoy how they play.
08:12 Thanks, good luck tomorrow.
08:13 You're welcome.
08:14 Thank you. Alex, BBC.
08:15 Hi, Mauricio. Against Arsenal, you said your players gave up during the match. So how pleased were you with the fight back at Aston Villa?
08:24 Yes, so pleased because it's about to learn. It's a process that we need to learn. It's a process that you need to live the experience and to learn from the experience.
08:34 And that is a challenge and it's a massive challenge to have this potential, talented player competing in the most tougher league in the world.
08:44 Does that show how quickly young players can adapt to an experience?
08:48 Yes, with ups and downs, but I think, yes, they are learning. Of course, that is a process and it's a time that they are learning.
08:57 We need to help and force them to realise in the areas that they need to improve and in the areas that they can be better.
09:07 Different pressure because we were talking before about pressure when it's one, two or three players, young players, that always is easier.
09:15 When you have plenty of young players, it's not more difficult, but yes, you need more time to spend and you need more time to provide more time for them to learn.
09:27 Thank you. Moose, TalkSpot.
09:29 Hi Mauricio, how are you? 400 games, one of them was the so-called Battle of Stamford Bridge. Do you remember that when you were Spurs manager and you were Chelsea and Leicester won the title?
09:41 Can you talk us through your emotions that night? Because that was a pretty wild game.
09:45 Yes, I remember really well. Still, my memory is good. That was a really tough game, it was a difficult night. I think we needed to win and Chelsea was an experienced team.
10:04 I remember there was Fabregas, Hazard, what a team Chelsea was. No younger, if not with experience. They were not doing a fantastic season, but at one game they can compete well because they know how to compete.
10:25 It was tough for us. I think we started the game really well, winning 2-0 and then they scored in the last moment in the first half, 2-1 and then 2-2.
10:35 Of course, it was a battle because we wanted to win. We were very competitive and sometimes we crossed the line.
10:42 That was a really difficult moment, but it showed how competitive we were. We thought that in this moment, that is why a few years after we won the final of the Champions League, because we were building a very competitive team.
11:01 You were quite animated on the topside. You were getting right in front of the goal.
11:04 No, I tried to say 'relax and calm'. I think so. I use my memory now. I don't remember so well.
11:19 You got a bit older in the last year and a half. It was also a pretty wild game earlier in the season, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, when you went back for the first time.
11:28 Yes, it was a tough game because they started really well. You always need to play well, if not to have some luck.
11:41 I think too many things were for us and Tottenham in the first game that we played this season in the Tottenham Stadium.
11:52 Yes, but I hope that the positive team will be on our side tomorrow. Because for us, it's really important, the three points.
12:04 Finally, we were asked about VAR earlier. Suggestions that maybe soon, maybe next season, the referee might be able to give so that everyone in the stadium can hear why he's made a decision, like we have in cricket.
12:19 Like rugby, yes.
12:20 Rugby, yes. You're a fan of football, rugby. Do you welcome that? The referee maybe being able to tell us all why he's made a decision?
12:27 Yes, we need to prove, you know. Why not? We need to try to improve in the way that we can assess the thing and to inform the fans.
12:38 It's true that football is changing, the business is changing, everything is changing and we cannot stop the evolution of football.
12:45 I think it's like you asked me before, I think we cannot stop the evolution of the technology. VAR is here and it's difficult that a league like the Premier League is going back to the past.
13:08 But I think that we can improve things, we can improve things, I think it's very welcome.
13:15 Thank you. Last question in the broadcast section, Liam.
13:18 Hi Marisa. Have you and your staff managed to figure out why Chelsea are getting so many injuries? And does something in the club's approach need to change?
13:31 I need to be honest. What I can say is that in all the new processes and new structures, there are always things we can do better. Of course.
13:46 We all feel the responsibility. Of course we can do better. And then there are too many circumstances that happen, that's why. And it's difficult to explain with one word or with one sentence.
14:02 Of course that we are working and trying to improve. I think we have an amazing staff, medical staff, coaching staff. I think we have all experience managing clubs and being in this business.
14:19 When some circumstances arrive, too many circumstances arrive, sometimes in some period can happen. Of course that we need to be now on the end of the season to put all the information on the table and try to be better next season.
14:37 We need to improve in all the, I don't know, I can say communication, dynamics, strategies, everything that we need to put our knowledge to try to improve and coordinate better.
14:52 Of course, all the things that we can improve. But I think the qualities here is only that it happens sometimes with the team, that the team, why not perform?
15:04 Yes, we know why, we are assessing why, but the inconsistency of the new approach, you know, sometimes can... But I don't say that it's that. It's too many things that maybe are all together today and that is why we are suffering so many injuries.
15:22 Thank you.
15:24 Yeah, last quick one then.
15:26 Good afternoon, Pochettino. I'm just like to ask about Madhu Akku because he's called against Villa at the weekend and I was wondering, do you expect him to kick on for the rest of the season?
15:36 I expect so.
15:38 Do you expect him to continue his progress for the rest of the season?
15:41 Yes, of course. He's doing well. He scored against Villa. He's improving a lot without the ball. I think the challenge for him is to improve without the ball, is to be more connected in a defensive side.
15:58 I think he can, he can because he has the profile. Of course, I hope that he can take advantage of the possibility to play more until the end of the season.
16:10 Thank you.
16:11 Camera's off please, and end of the broadcast section.
16:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]