Maresca on having balance in his team and Palmer injury update

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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on having balance in his team and Palmer injury update  06/11/2024  Cobham, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to our matchday minus one press conference ahead

00:22of tomorrow's UEFA Europa League Conference League game against FC Noah. Who'd like to

00:28get started? Gael?

00:30I know he's not in the squad, but there is a very, very big Premier League game on the

00:36weekend. Can you just update us on Cole Palmer's fitness after he tackled on the weekend?

00:44Yeah, Cole is still... He didn't train yesterday, so we'll see today if he's able to train with

00:52us.

00:53What's your feeling about Sunday? Do you think you might be ready?

00:57Hopefully, yeah. We hope so, but we need to wait, we need to see and then decide.

01:04And who else will make it? I think Sanchez had a little bit of illness, didn't he?

01:10Yeah, he's recovering from that. He had a knock in the session also, so we'll see for

01:20tomorrow for sure he's out and we'll see if he can be available for Sunday game, otherwise

01:26we'll be after the international break.

01:28Anyone else that we need to know about that's out tomorrow night?

01:33No, the rest, as I said, unless the one that they are not involved in the squad, Conference

01:41League squad, and Jadon, the rest, they are all available.

01:45Can we expect a huge number of changes again for you tomorrow night, given how big the

01:51game is until then?

01:54But we don't make change because of the big game, Sunday big game. Since we start, we

01:59make change because we have 24, 25 players, all fit, all good enough to play different

02:08competition, and this is the reason why we are making change and probably we're going

02:12to make change tomorrow too.

02:15When you're telling players that they're starting these European games, how difficult

02:24is that? Because you have made it quite clear that you've got two different teams, and

02:32clearly it's human nature. Yes, they want to start, but yes, there's that tiny bit

02:37of actually, I'm playing in this.

02:41For me, it's not a problem in terms of the ones that they are playing in the Premier

02:51League. They also played some game in the Conference League. I don't know, the last

02:57one has been Marc Cucurella, that he played Panathinaikos away and then he didn't play

03:04in the Premier League. But I said many times, the ones that they are playing in the Premier

03:09League, that means that they are not going to play in the Conference League, and the

03:13ones that they are playing in the Conference League, that means that they are not going

03:16to play in the Premier League.

03:17The season is so long, we have so many games, and for sure all of them they are going to

03:22play in the Conference League and the Premier League game or FA Cup, the next one. I already

03:30said, I can understand that from outside you can see two teams, but we have just one team,

03:37one squad, 24-25 players, all fit, fortunately, and we are going to try to use all of them.

03:45And be honest, how much did you know about Noah before you drew them? Have you heard

03:50of them?

03:51I heard before the game, to be honest I didn't watch the game previously, but in the last

03:58three days we watched different games from them. I said many times, probably the Conference

04:05for us is a bit tricky competition, because everyone against us, they want to do the game,

04:13so we need to be ready technically, but also mentally.

04:19How much do you know about them now? What can we expect?

04:24It's a team that in their country they play different shapes, so we don't know how they

04:30are going to come here and play. We try to be ready and I said many times, today in football

04:39you can find good players, good squad, good team and good manager everywhere, not only

04:45in the most important league in Europe or in the world, but also in this kind of country

04:50you can find important things and for sure they have some good players also.

04:56Ian?

04:58The England squad is going to be announced tomorrow, I know with Rhys James, you said

05:04recently he didn't play one game a week, he played very well on Sunday. If England were

05:10to select him, would you be disappointed? Do you think it should be an English squad

05:14just given how soon he's come back?

05:17No idea to be honest. We are happy in the way he's progressing with us in terms of

05:25physical condition and also the way he's playing with us and we are happy with that.

05:31Then about the international team, no idea.

05:35Would you rather he wouldn't be in contention right now?

05:38No, I love my players joining the international team because that means it's good for the

05:43club, it's good for the player, it's good for the manager, it's good for all of them.

05:50But I don't know if he's going to be with the international team.

05:54Rob?

05:56Joao Felix is doing pretty consistently well whenever you put him in the team this season

06:01but he still can't get a game independently or get a start. Even with Sancho out over

06:07the last week, he didn't get off the bench at Old Trafford. Is there something that you

06:12hoped you would get from Felix that he will not get?

06:16No, I feel shame about Joao, but not only about Joao, but now you ask me about Joao

06:22so I feel shame about Joao and I would like to give him more minutes in the Premier League

06:29but I said many times we need a defensive balance and we cannot play with Joao, Cole,

06:38Chris. I like to put all of them inside the pitch but then you have to also defend and

06:44you need the right balance between the two faces, attacking and defending and this is

06:49the only reason why. But I don't have any doubt that if Joao keeps working well, he's

06:56going to find his moment also in the Premier League.

06:59You get asked a lot about Mudrik in the same sort of terms as being a player who hasn't

07:05quite made good on his potential, who it maybe might not happen for if it doesn't happen

07:10soon. Is another player like that a bit of a crossroads? It kind of needs to start happening

07:16pretty soon if it's going to happen at all?

07:19Yeah, but we can say the same from Christo. Christo probably is the one that every time

07:25he plays, he scores. And he did well. Also probably was our best player in pre-season,

07:34no doubt. And he was playing as an attacking midfielder, now we are using him as a nine.

07:43We all know that it's not Christo's position, the nine. It's more second striker, behind

07:49the striker, between the line. But I try to find a solution and balance with all of them

07:57and I can understand that not all of them can be in their position. They have to adapt

08:04a little bit. So it's for Joao, for Mischa, for Christo. They are all players that probably

08:11they deserve more chances in the Premier League. But also we have more players that

08:17they deserve that.

08:20On Ludwig, after Panathinaikos game you talked about the learning process for him is slower

08:28than the rest. What in particular were you referring to? Is it the defensive side of

08:35the game or is it the attacking side?

08:37No, first of all we have to say that probably after Panathinaikos I think we played Newcastle

08:45at home and he played Samir in the second half. Then we played Newcastle away and he

08:51played from the start. And we played United the other day and he played Samir. So he's

08:56not playing from the start but he's playing. Then in terms of, as I said, probably defensively

09:03also. But there are things that he needs to improve. But him, like all the rest.

09:12Can you be more specific or is it something that you are talking with him on a daily basis?

09:17It seems like you have quite a good relationship when he came over to you.

09:22No, no. Just on the ball I think we need our winger arriving in the box. The goal he scored

09:30against Panathinaikos. The post from Pedro against Newcastle, second post. So we want

09:38our winger to arrive in the box. That is something that at the beginning they struggled but now

09:43they are doing much better. And on the ball I always said the same. I like winger 1v1

09:51but when there is no chance, don't force it. If you have two defenders there, don't force

09:56it. Start again. And it's something also that we need to learn how to manage that.

10:01And for sure, defensively, sometimes when you find a full-back like, I don't know,

10:08Livramento, that is a full-back that he attacks a lot, you have to follow. So you need both

10:15phases, attacking and defending.

10:17How have you found him as an individual, as a bloke, as a personality? Is he someone

10:25that needs to come out of his shell a bit more? We obviously don't speak to him very

10:29often. Is he someone that needs to...

10:32No, everyone we are in the way we are. It's difficult to change people. We can try to

10:37improve people but if you are shy or you are not shy, this is something that is inside

10:45of you and it's difficult to change. With Mischa probably, you can see that he looks

10:52a little bit shy but overall when he is with us, he is OK.

10:58Kieran?

10:59Do you know which academy lads are going to be training with your first game today?

11:04Yeah, Tyreek for sure and Sam Raksaki too. We'll see if some of them...

11:13There was a new U21s coach, Philippe Coelho, how have you found the years with that, utilising

11:20the kids bringing them into your squad?

11:22Quite good, yeah. Good, no problem.

11:26Just on Kunku, when he signed, he pictured himself being a Premier League starter in

11:33that team. How do you think he's found being used in these other competitions and how have

11:38you found balancing egos in a squad?

11:42I feel shame for Christo because I said before in pre-season, probably he was our best player.

11:52Playing, I think, in his position but because we need also to adapt players, we start to

12:01move him as a striker, knowing that he's not a nine, knowing that, but to find balance

12:07sometimes, we try that. But for me, Christo is similar to Joao, if they continue to work

12:14in the same way, for sure they're going to get minutes in the Premier League or, again,

12:21in different competitions.

12:22Is that what you want to see from these bigger name players, that they're not sulking when

12:27they have to get used to it?

12:28No, not only about them, about all of them. I said since we started, I think it's a matter

12:35of respect for players. If you, for instance, you don't play Sunday Premier League and we

12:44have Thursday Conference League and from Sunday to Thursday you don't train well, you are

12:49not going to play Thursday. So you don't play Sunday, you don't play Thursday. But it's

12:53not because, it's because I think they deserve respect and to show respect to them, I try

13:00to help them to work every day in the right way. So if you are not playing Sunday and

13:06you don't work properly, you are not going to play Thursday in both games.

13:09And we'll finish with Jack.

13:11Enzo, just on Kov, you said you're hopeful that he'll play at the weekend. Is there a

13:16feeling at the moment that he could be a risk either way?

13:18Yeah, for sure. We said he didn't train the last two days and we see hopefully he can

13:26be fit. The tackle I think has been quite clear that it was not a normal one. But yeah,

13:33hopefully he can be back.

13:35You mentioned it's a bit of a tricky competition for you because of the stature you've got

13:40within it. Is the feeling that if you don't win this trophy it will be a bit of a failure

13:45because of that stature?

13:48If we play the final, probably yes. But for me the main thing is the group stage, to go

13:56through that. Then after the group stage we'll see. And if we play the final and we don't

14:01win that, for sure. But now you cannot think about the final when you have still the group

14:08stage and all the rest to play.

14:11Great. Thanks very much.

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