Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on their transfer window and their upcoming Premier League clash with Wolves
Cobham, London, UK
Cobham, London, UK
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00:00Great Enzo, how are you? All good?
00:04Good, yes.
00:05Good, good. Firstly, team news, what's the latest team news, how are the injured players
00:10doing?
00:11We don't have any update at the moment in terms of the situation is still the same,
00:18that means Rhys is still injured and Romeo.
00:23It's been almost three months for you here now at Chelsea, has it gone to plan would
00:27you say?
00:28Very happy, I think at the moment it's less than two months still, very happy. In my expectation
00:38we are ahead so I'm very happy about this and the good thing is, as we said, we just
00:44started so we have many things that we need to improve but we are in the right direction.
00:51How pleased were you with what you saw away at Wolves, the performance from your players?
00:56I was very happy, I was not happy because we lost against City but I think the performance
01:03against City was good, everyone now talk about Wolves because we won but as I said we are
01:10in the right direction that for me at this moment is the most important thing.
01:15Would you say the Chelsea fans got a clear indication of how you want to play this season,
01:20the style of football?
01:22The style is clear, this is the way we like to play, logically sometimes there is also
01:28another team that they are there trying to do the best for them so sometimes it's not
01:33easy but overall I think since day one the identity of the team is quite clear and hopefully
01:41as I said day by day we can improve and we can win more games.
01:45A hat-trick of assists for Cole Palmer, there were a lot of people saying it was going to
01:49be hard for him to replicate his numbers from last season but how impressed are you
01:54with what you've seen so far?
01:57Very impressed with Cole even if I know him very well from already many years, as you
02:03said it's never easy to repeat again the same numbers than last year in terms of goal and
02:08assists but I think the most important thing for Cole is to enjoy football, to relax, don't
02:13feel pressure on his shoulders, he has to enjoy every day, training, the game and then
02:18goals and assists they are going to come for sure.
02:22Thiago Silva, Conor Gallagher both left, they were big leaders in the dressing room, who
02:27do you turn to, who do you look to as your leadership group in that dressing room?
02:33In this moment we have different players that behave like captains but I said since day
02:38one I like all of them to take responsibility and feel like a captain, at the end I know
02:43that only one is going to be the captain inside the pitch but the important thing is that
02:47all of them they feel part of that and they feel responsibility and in this moment we
02:53have Reece, we have Enzo, we have I said Levi could be one of the captains, we have four
03:01or five players that they can be.
03:03Looking at your squad now, how pleased are you with what you've got and what would you like?
03:10I really like the squad, I said that since day one, since my first year I said that,
03:16I feel very lucky because we have many players that they can play in different positions,
03:20they are versatile, that is something that I love and I feel lucky, I feel happy because
03:27they are first of all good boy, good person, good human being and then they are very good
03:32players so this is important.
03:34You've made it clear which players you want to work with, obviously there are some training
03:39away from the group, if they aren't to get that move away, what will happen then, will
03:43you bring them back in, do you have a plan for that?
03:45At the moment we have still four or five days, three or four days, I don't know how many
03:49days for the window transfer, we'll see what happens, so in this moment I think we cannot
03:55give any information or any update because we don't know how we finish when close but
04:02we're going to see.
04:03Will there be a sense of relief for you when the window does close, you finally know the
04:08group of players you'll be working with?
04:13I think it's something for all the managers to be honest because the squad is close and
04:18you can work just with that squad, that numbers so you feel a bit better but I said already
04:25two or three times, since we start I'm working with around 25 players so you can manage quite
04:30well.
04:32First Premier League game, Stamford Bridge, Crystal Palace, how important is it to carry
04:36that good momentum from the game against Wolves?
04:42We are the conference league against Cervé, also we won, then it was Wolves away, hopefully
04:48we can continue with the Palace and we'll see, we're going to try our best to win that
04:56game too.
04:57Palace have lost both their games so far but they seem to be a serious team under Oliver
05:01Glasner, what kind of game are you expecting?
05:04Absolutely, I watched both games, probably they didn't deserve to lose to be honest but
05:08this is football and they are a very good team since last year they finished fantastic
05:13and for sure this year they're going to be again there and they're going to do some good
05:18results.
05:19Have you felt a connection with the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge or too early to say?
05:26We really enjoyed the other day, Wolves away, with away fans it's always special because
05:32you can hear them more, at home we played just one game against City and then Cervé,
05:39I think the game against City and also against Cervé they were fantastic the fans so hopefully
05:44we can give them a good day, a joy and we can enjoy it all together.
05:50Fans aren't overly patient, they want to see results straight away, do you feel that pressure
05:55or do you feel like you've been given time?
05:58No, I feel pressure for myself in terms of we want to play good and we want to win games
06:04but sometimes it's not so automatic, you need a little bit of process but I just focus to
06:12be honest in the day by day to try to improve players, improve the team and then we'll see.
06:18Good luck.
06:20Thank you Enzo.