Pochettino previews Chelsea's trip to Brighton
Cobham training centre, Surry, UK
Cobham training centre, Surry, UK
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00:00 Today's press conference will begin with the broadcast and James from Sky Sports News.
00:05 James.
00:06 Hello, how are you?
00:07 After getting your injury news, please, to call you back?
00:10 I think it was very good news last game, to have too many players back on track.
00:21 I think Chile is really close but I think it's not 100% to be part of the squad.
00:31 Carni and Xhukameka also.
00:33 Yes, I think they both.
00:36 But we need to assess if they can be or not part of the squad for tomorrow.
00:41 But if not for tomorrow, maybe for the weekend.
00:44 Could anyone else return before the end of the season?
00:46 Sorry?
00:47 Could any other players return before the end of the season?
00:49 Another?
00:50 Anyone else?
00:51 No, I think not because it's only now Romelu, Lavia, Enzo, Fofana and that's it.
01:00 No, I think it's a very positive thing to finish the season with only a few players.
01:08 And Sorren, Robert Sanchez also.
01:11 Robert Sanchez is not fit.
01:14 But it's good news to recover the players and be positive for the next season.
01:20 We need all the players fit to start training.
01:25 And this game against Brighton, with Manchester United and Newcastle United also playing,
01:30 do you sense a real opportunity in terms of European qualification?
01:34 Yes, I think it's important to keep strong and to keep the mentality and of course really
01:41 believe that we can get.
01:44 It's true that it's going to be a really tough game because tomorrow against Brighton is
01:48 a really good team and it's going to be really tough to play.
01:52 And then Bournemouth at home.
01:56 But always the most important thing is to believe.
01:58 And I think the team is doing well.
02:01 I think the second part of the season or maybe the last 26, 27 games,
02:09 I think we are doing really, really well.
02:12 Yes, we need to keep this in this way.
02:15 Trying to always give our best and compete, improving.
02:20 It's going to be tough but I really believe that we can compete well in the next two games
02:26 and to have the possibility to win the Euro will be amazing for us.
02:31 How important is European football next season for you?
02:35 Will it define your season? Do you feel it has been successful either way?
02:40 I don't know because I think people are talking a lot this season.
02:44 People are talking about many things.
02:48 I think if you ask me, after all the circumstances we were living in the last ten months,
03:00 in case we get the Euro, I think it will be a very good thing for us.
03:07 But, like always, we are going to judge people because of the result
03:13 or we are going to judge people because of the process,
03:16 putting all the circumstances that we had.
03:21 That is a difficult thing to judge because I don't want to be repetitive.
03:27 But I think it's too much the history of Chelsea.
03:30 Even winning the next two games is not going to be a successful season.
03:35 We want to match the history of Chelsea.
03:38 With all the circumstances, it can be a very good season.
03:41 Are you any clearer on your future beyond this season? Are you able to start planning?
03:46 We are planning. We are working.
03:49 We are working. I think we cannot take some comments from my side
03:58 and put it in a negative way because I always try to be positive.
04:04 Being positive only translates my feelings to you, to the people.
04:11 But I never say that I am not thinking about the future.
04:18 We are thinking about the future. It's already planned.
04:25 The plan is there to start the pre-season, the data, everything.
04:30 How we are going to start.
04:32 And then it's not in my hands to be here or not to be here.
04:37 Are you confident in the foundation you've got now after this season?
04:40 Next season you can push on to the top four, do you feel?
04:44 I think we need to finish this season.
04:47 The moment we finish this season, to finish in this positive way is always important.
04:53 To prepare for the next season and if we are capable to finish well
04:57 and to get to Europe, I think for sure we can start the next season.
05:05 We hope to be in a different position than we were in this season.
05:09 Thank you. Alex, PLB.
05:11 Hello.
05:12 Tomorrow your 50th game in charge of Chelsea.
05:15 That's what Adrian told me in my office.
05:18 She told me.
05:19 Ah, OK, you told him. That is a good connection.
05:23 Looking back at your first season, despite the challenges, have you enjoyed it?
05:29 I really enjoyed it because there are too many new things.
05:33 I was living in this football club.
05:37 Yes, I really enjoyed it.
05:40 We are much better now, like coaching staff.
05:45 I really enjoyed it.
05:49 Because when you win games, you enjoy it more.
05:54 When you have some problems like we had this season,
05:59 yes, it's the proof if you have the capacity to deal with all the negative circumstances.
06:08 I think that was a little bit of a shock from the beginning of the season.
06:13 I think I saw me during the whole year, or the whole season,
06:19 always keeping my mood, always smiling, always positive.
06:24 Even when the team had 14 players out because of injury,
06:32 I was always positive because it's our nature.
06:38 I think to keep this balance is the important thing, with experience, with the capacity.
06:44 Because we really believe in ourselves, it's in the way that we need to behave.
06:49 Helping always a project that is a very difficult team, a very difficult season for everyone.
06:56 To build a new project is always a tough situation, you need patience and time.
07:02 With the injured players back, how good is it to have a selection headache again?
07:08 I think the players that arrive from injury need time, and we don't have time.
07:13 It's clear that we need to play and we need to start the games with players that can cope within 90 minutes.
07:21 Then we see if the injured player can cope with some minutes to play.
07:28 That is the problem, we have the names now, the bodies,
07:32 but they are not really 100% to play from the beginning and cope with the pressure and the demands
07:38 to the Premier League 90 minutes at the moment.
07:41 Brighton tomorrow, what do you admire about Roberto Guzzardi and the style of football that he likes to play?
07:48 Yes, I really enjoy every time that we meet and play.
07:56 I really like the way he approaches the game.
08:00 Brighton is doing fantastic, you can see the last few seasons in the way they are playing and achieving things.
08:09 He is a fantastic coach.
08:12 When the moment arrives, he will have the possibility to be in a different position for sure.
08:26 We will enjoy and he will get what he deserves.
08:30 Of course, Brighton is doing fantastic also, with the potential of Brighton, they are doing fantastic things.
08:36 Yes, I really enjoy and it is going to be nice to see him because we have a very good relationship.
08:44 Good luck tomorrow, hopefully you will have a good time.
08:46 You are welcome.
08:47 Thank you.
08:48 Moose, talk sport.
08:49 Hi, Mourinho, how are you?
08:50 Very good, thank you.
08:51 You said just before this hasn't been a successful season, but with a very young squad,
08:56 you've reached the Cup final and the Cup semi-final, you might get into Europe as well.
09:00 For you, what is a successful season and what could you achieve that would make it a successful season?
09:07 Do you know the problem in England?
09:11 What happens if after ten games you are on the top or you are doing well or winning games?
09:17 What happens after is relative.
09:19 The problem is that we are punished because of the first ten games.
09:22 If you start to count after our ten games, I think we are in the top four.
09:28 That is the problem because you are punished because of the first ten games.
09:35 Look, I want to be positive, I'm not going to talk anymore.
09:39 Next season I'm going to start and I don't want to say that we are young.
09:44 I hope that we can talk about the evolution of the indifferent aspect of the game in a tactical way
09:53 and be positive because now we are stuck, parados, stuck in the zone of the cold play.
10:06 Stuck in reverse.
10:08 Not only are we stuck here, we are stuck in every single pre-conference and always stop and go back.
10:17 It's like in reverse.
10:19 You remember the zone?
10:21 I'm not a big fan of cold play.
10:23 I am a fan. Fix you. Fix you.
10:26 Maybe I'll listen on the way home.
10:28 The zone is fix you.
10:30 What, you don't fall asleep at the wheel?
10:32 Sorry?
10:33 He said he's going to listen to cold play on the way home. I said he could fall asleep at the wheel.
10:38 No, but that is the problem.
10:40 Every single press conference is always going to this, going to that, going to this.
10:46 And you know the people are not happy with me and I need to clarify the scene.
10:51 But you make me talk about this.
10:54 But for now I'm going to stop talking about young squad, insure, hope next season Jesus we can have all the players fit
11:06 and really be competitive in between them, to fight in between them to find a place
11:13 and it's a pleasure to be in the starting eleven and show our real quality for sure.
11:17 I wish. I am dreaming with that.
11:19 Over the summer you could take me to a cold play concert.
11:22 You said, I think last week before the Forest game you asked about whether the fans had taken to you this season.
11:30 And your answer was a bit strange.
11:33 You said some of them still haven't taken to you.
11:35 Do you believe that?
11:37 Do you believe you still want to win some of the fans over here?
11:42 Off.
11:43 What means that? To win what?
11:51 Something like you.
11:52 I don't know. It's a question for them.
11:55 No? It's a question for them.
11:58 In Tottenham first season was tough also.
12:01 You know? And then yes, because always it's about to be for me what I don't like
12:10 and because it's in the way that we are.
12:12 We are not fake people.
12:13 We are not going to say that we love, you know, something that we still will not create a link or an emotional link.
12:21 It's easy for me to arrive and after the first game start to kiss the badge.
12:27 I respect the people that can do this.
12:32 But it's not my nature.
12:34 I want to create real, you know, feelings.
12:38 If we arrive one day and we start becoming love in between, you know, the fans and us, it's going to be real.
12:49 It's not fake because I am not fake people.
12:52 Why now, you know, what are you going to say?
12:56 Of course, the fans, we need the fans.
12:58 The fans with the team to bond, you know, to be together, create a good energy.
13:03 But I cannot tell the fans, "Oh, you need to love me. You need to love me."
13:06 They are going to love me only when they are saying to us that we are serious people, responsible,
13:13 that we want the best for the club, but not being hypocrite and demagogic and to say something that we don't feel.
13:20 You know, of course, I want to care about the fans.
13:25 I care about the owner, about the clubs, about the player.
13:28 I care about my people.
13:30 But all is about time to build honest and, you know, an honest relationship.
13:39 I am in football because I love what I am doing because it's not my job.
13:49 It's my passion and obsession.
13:52 But I don't want to show things that I'm not feeling.
13:55 I don't want that people show me things that they don't feel.
13:58 And if they are not, you know, in the moment in love with me or with us, I respect.
14:04 I have full respect because I don't want fake love.
14:08 You know, it's another song.
14:10 No, I don't know.
14:12 No, but I've seen it.
14:13 You know, look, I know that we need to win.
14:19 We need to win games.
14:21 We need to play well.
14:22 The fans need to enjoy on the pitch, on the stadium, to create this link with us.
14:29 But the most, you know, important thing for us is to be very respectful, you know,
14:35 with the fans, with the club, with the owners, with the player, with the staff.
14:38 And, yes, little by little, for sure, with time, we are capable to be, you know,
14:45 getting the result that the club deserve.
14:48 For sure, we are going to create a very good relationship, no doubt.
14:51 And last one, important to end the season keeping the winning momentum
14:56 because of Bruce Springsteen's song, you've got the glory days to come back next year.
15:01 How about Bruce Springsteen?
15:02 Yes, I like also the boss.
15:04 I like.
15:07 Yes, of course, of course.
15:09 Football is about, you know, about the result and more today.
15:14 Today is about all people, all the result.
15:17 Ah, he's doing a great job.
15:19 But sometimes the result arrives because of things that you cannot explain.
15:26 I think the next two games are really important to finish well
15:32 with the possibility to get to Europe and then to start the next season
15:38 with the right feeling, not like last season that everything was negative.
15:43 You know, we didn't win against Stratford Bridge, we are not doing it,
15:47 I don't know, it was negative, negative, negative.
15:50 And then we made a very good, we did very good pre-season,
15:55 but the start of the injury, we played really well against Liverpool,
16:00 we lost against West Ham, playing really well and missing a penalty and everything.
16:06 And only started to going down until we turn again,
16:09 the feeling when we beat Tottenham 1-4 and then from there we are 4 or 5,
16:14 and the table I think was fantastic.
16:16 If you start to come from there, no one can say that we are not successful.
16:22 And I think, but because all the circumstances that happened,
16:26 always was, like I told before, always negative.
16:29 The question are negative, negative, negative, negative.
16:32 Yes, I'm going to be really positive now, from now.
16:35 Thank you.
16:36 Last question in this section is Alex from BBC.
16:39 Since the 26th of December, only three teams have picked up more points
16:45 than Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United.
16:48 [laughter]
16:51 And to be positive, how excited are you for next season?
16:56 Did it show what you could be doing?
16:58 No, I am so, of course, we have players, you know, that they are growing,
17:02 they are improving, they are getting more mature,
17:06 they are living their first experience in the Premier League.
17:09 Yes, we concede a lot of goals. Why?
17:12 Yes, because the defensive line never was established,
17:16 and then the keeper came from MLS, Petro, and he's doing fantastic,
17:20 but he's growing, he's discovering feelings, you know,
17:24 like a player in the most tougher competition in the Premier League.
17:28 And yes, of course, and again, I want to be honest with you
17:33 and with the fans through you.
17:35 Yes, the fans, too much of the history of Chelsea today is impossible,
17:40 and that is true, but with time, for sure, we will match,
17:44 and that is my wish, and of course, that we are working for that.
17:48 Maybe sometime our fans, they are not seeing...
17:53 I think that they are seeing what we are doing,
17:58 but at the moment it's difficult because it's a go again of the general opinion,
18:03 but I think we are doing a fantastic job, a fantastic job,
18:08 because when the situation starts really bad, you know,
18:13 all the circus from the beginning of the season, to keep calm,
18:17 like the chef, keep calm, keep calm, and keep pushing, and working,
18:21 and really believe, you know, in the way that we were doing the scene,
18:25 that is not too many coaching staff.
18:27 It's not that they're going to talk about to price ourselves, you know,
18:31 but that is an important scene, and of course, I am so excited for the future,
18:36 because I think keeping the main group and adding maybe some good quality,
18:41 yes, for sure we will improve, and keeping the same run that in the last 26, 27 games,
18:47 I think keeping there, we are going to fight next season for sure for big things.
18:53 And Brees James came off the bench and had a massive impact.
18:58 Next week, Gareth Southgate names his England squad for the Euro.
19:02 Do you think Brees James will be able to go?
19:04 Yes, he's trained really well, and now we need to control also the game time,
19:09 because we want him to finish, you know, the season really, really strong.
19:14 He's doing really well, and I hope tomorrow we have the possibility again
19:18 to play a little bit more than the last game against Forest.
19:21 Thank you. That's the end of that section. That's all we've got time for.
19:24 (upbeat music)