Enzo Maresca on Chelsea latest ahead of Wolves - full presser
17/01/2025
Cobham Training Centre, Surrey, UK
17/01/2025
Cobham Training Centre, Surrey, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Right, good afternoon.
00:29We will take the usual format today and begin with Gail Davis and Sky Sports News, please.
00:36First of all, just outside watching you train, Rhys James, obviously a big performance for
00:43you when he came on in the second half on Tuesday, if you're good to go, get the sense
00:52of might he be ready for a start after 45 minutes in the camp and then Tuesday night?
01:00For Rhys, it's not about if he scores goals or how many minutes, it's just to manage
01:06a little bit his situation, so we're going to see. For sure, if he plays 45 minutes,
01:12that means that he can be ready, but what we don't want with Rhys is that we go again
01:19and injury again, we don't want that. So we want to try, since we start, we are in any
01:25case trying to help him and we are going to do exactly the same in this moment.
01:30Also saw Trevor Chaliba outside training, can you talk us through the process of getting
01:37him back and also the role that he might play for you this season?
01:42Yeah, it's quite an easy process in terms of we had a few injuries, as you know, so
01:49we were looking for a solution and we thought that probably the best solution was to call
01:55back Trev, first of all because we know him very well, second because we are sure that
02:00he can help us, so we decided for that solution.
02:06Set him straight back in, like he's never been away?
02:09Yeah, yeah. Anyway, he knows the house better than me, he's born here.
02:17First of all he was very happy, I can see his face, I had a chat with him a few days
02:22ago, I had a chat with him this morning and you can see his eyes when he's really happy
02:27and we are happy that he's here.
02:29And I guess he's got maybe a little bit of a sense of something to prove to you, you
02:35did let him go on loan and now it's his second chance?
02:38No, but the reason why he left at the beginning of the season, we all knew that it was more
02:43because of these kind of problems, financial, these kind of things, it was not only a technical
02:51decision. So we are sure, and the reason why he's here is because we are sure that he can
02:55help us now.
02:56And can you just clarify the Grosjean situation, will he be coming back to Chelsea? He's also
03:03picked up an injury between 10 and 12 weeks.
03:07No, no idea to be honest.
03:10No idea, I didn't speak with Moyes and I didn't hear what he said, so no idea. At the moment
03:19I don't have any news about Armando.
03:29We have called that he's without, he's not in session today, Levi was not in the session
03:34today, Enzo was not in the session today, Romeo was not in the session today. We have
03:41three, four players that they are down for Monday game because of last game they get
03:48some problems.
03:49Cole?
03:50Yeah, Cole was the end goal, first half they kick him, so he didn't train today, we don't
03:58know if he's going to train tomorrow, in two days. And the same situation is for Enzo,
04:02Romeo and Levi.
04:05Just finally for me, big news this morning in terms of Holland, we've got another 10
04:12years of Holland. Good news for the Premier League, I guess bad news for everybody else
04:18trying to stop it?
04:19No, yeah, if they decide this, because for sure they deserve. Then in terms of duration,
04:27I don't have an idea to be honest, it's just the only thing I can say is that he's a fantastic
04:33guy, he's humble, works hard and he deserves all the goals that he scores and he deserves
04:37these kind of things.
04:40Hi Enzo, Enzo Fernandes has created more chances from open play than any other central midfielder
04:46in the Premier League, he's the second highest chance creator at Chelsea. There were times
04:50earlier in the season where he was left out due to technical decisions and he's worked
04:54really hard to get to this form. What is it about him and how you've worked with him that
04:58has produced this fantastic individual progress and his further understanding of his role
05:03at the moment?
05:04Yeah, he's understanding the game much better compared to the beginning of the season. It's
05:10something normal when you start a new process and also because in the way we want him to
05:16play, it's a bit in a different way compared to the past, not only last year, I mean two
05:21years ago, three years ago when he was in Portugal or Argentina and we were sure that
05:26he was going to score goals and give assists and create chances and I think being even
05:32more clinical, he could score three or four more goals with three or four more chances
05:37but we have no doubt that we're going to be there soon with Enzo and with the whole team.
05:42And we've seen in a few games this season a tweak in the second half where Cole Palmer
05:47moved to the left half space, maybe kind of switched with Enzo Fernandes. Is this due
05:52to him being landmarked? Because I'm interested in your tactical thinking behind this change.
05:56What do you want to see Palmer do in that space or the rest of the team utilise him
06:00being there?
06:01No, the last time we changed, not the last time, but for instance in the Palace game
06:06we changed Cole and Enzo in the second half after two minutes of the second half and the
06:09reason why was because in terms of pressing, Enzo was better in the other side and Cole
06:15was better in the other side and sometimes we change them depending on which side we
06:20think we could attack and we can give more space to Cole. So it depends a little bit
06:26on the game plan but there is always a reason why when we change something.
06:30In a lot of the games you've drawn or lost this season, the tactics weren't necessarily
06:34wrong because the big chance creation was there, it was about being clinical, the players
06:38have said this themselves. What can you do as managers to facilitate the final third
06:43details? Because yes, they're very young, they're going to make mistakes, but they
06:47also need to progress and win and get points now, it's a balance.
06:51Yeah, probably being more clinical, solve all the problems. But I think they showed
07:00me this morning, Moorkamp game we shot 27 and last game I guess, Bournemouth we shot
07:1026. I mean, Moorkamp 27, Bournemouth 26, we shot the same amount of shots. So we create,
07:18now it's a matter of being more clinical. But I said many times, I'm always worried
07:24when we don't win, even when we win. For sure now I'm concerned about how we can score
07:30more goals but the important thing is that we arrive there, we shoot, we create chances
07:34and hopefully we can be more lucky in the future.
07:40Have you had a chat with Shalabar since he came back?
07:56I'm not sure, but I think he trained with us until we flew to USA. So he trained with
08:05us, but then when we went to USA, he was here training and we were there. So he trained
08:11with us. And for sure, as I said, I had a chat with him two days ago, I had a chat with
08:15him this morning and he was doing well there and also this is the reason why we called
08:21him back.
08:22How are you finding January? Is it a bit unsettling for you?
08:26Disaster.
08:27Well, on and off the pitch.
08:32On the pitch I said, this is also something that you can say that I said since we started.
08:37It's normal that you judge the results and we are in a business where we all judge results.
08:42But if we judge the performance of the team, I'm happy. I'm happy because we create, we
08:47play. Probably I'm not happy about the second half against Bournemouth because there is
08:51no reason why we can change the first half and second half. But then Palace game, the
08:57previous one, I mean, the performance is there. Sometimes you don't win games, but
09:01I don't think it's only Chelsea. If you see the other team, unless Liverpool, Newcastle,
09:08Nottingham, Arsenal, City, us, Aston Villa, we all have some moment of the season where
09:15they lost three games in a row, four games in a row, two games in a row. So I mean, it's
09:19a moment for all of us, unless Liverpool.
09:21So on the pitch, for sure, I would like to win more games, but I'm OK. Off the pitch
09:26it's a disaster because so many noises that I don't think help us, but I don't think they
09:32help any club.
09:48It's not, as I said, it's not just for us. I think it's for every club, every manager.
09:54In this moment, when there is any noise about some player, it's not easy because even if
09:59you think that the player can be focused on us, but at the end it's a human being. So
10:04if there is any noise about some different club, probably it's not focused 100 per cent.
10:09So it's not help in this moment, this kind of situation, but we need to adapt because
10:13it's like this.
10:25I don't know. I don't know. The only thing I say is that we are close to Misha as a club
10:31and we are trying to help him. Then in terms of update, I don't have any update on the
10:36situation.
10:55Yeah, no, for sure we need to win games. Now if we win all the games away and we draw some
11:03games at home, no matter. But in terms of balance, for sure we need to win games at
11:07home. Also because we need, as I said, we need our people, we need our fans with us.
11:14I think they can see the effort of the team every game, but for sure at the end of the
11:20game when we win, we are all more happy and hopefully we can give them the three points
11:25on Monday.
11:33No, probably when we play away against teams that they sit back. When we play away, probably
11:42we are more calm because we don't play with rush. While when we are at home, sometimes
11:47we want to play quick because we want to show to the fans, so we want to attack quick.
11:53This is a mistake against a team that they sit back. Against a team that they press higher,
11:58you can attack quick. The other day against Bournemouth, I think, they were high-pressing
12:02and we attacked so many times, especially in the first half with Nico, with Cole, with
12:06Denso. So it depends a little bit, but for sure probably away, because of the behaviour
12:12of the other team, could be better.
12:18If Cole isn't fit on Monday, is this a chance for the team to show they can win without
12:24him? Because he is basically, you're relying on him a lot just to get the points you are
12:29getting at the moment.
12:30Yeah, we rely on Cole because he's a big player, but it's not, I don't think, we prefer to
12:39play with Cole for sure 100%, but in case Cole is injured or he has some problem, we're
12:43going to find a different solution.
12:45And we'll finish this section with Martin.
12:48I'm commentating for the Premier League on the game on Monday. It's a long time ago that
12:52you went to Molineux and scored those six goals, but as you prepare for this return
12:57game, are there things from that game that you're going to factor into your preparation
13:03for this time? Things that may be still relevant to Monday night?
13:08No, they change also managers, so it's not the same manager, it's not the same idea.
13:13You can see, so I don't think the last game there can be important for them and for us.
13:20It's a new game, it's a new manager, so a different way to attack, a different way to
13:24defend and hopefully we can be ready in the same way we were the last games and get the
13:30three points.
13:31By the way, K-Brookes' place was a hat-trick, shall we?
13:35Yes, and I think Nouriel said many times he's doing well, but like all the rest he needs
13:42to improve things, but for sure he's in the right direction.