Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on picking the squad and protecting Palmer
02/10/2024
Cobham Training Ground, London, UK
02/10/2024
Cobham Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Hi Enzo, what's your team news for this game?
00:07They are all available, unless the guys that are not in the squad and Rhys, the rest they
00:15are all available.
00:16How are you finding the balance between keeping everyone happy with the playing time, plus
00:17the fact that competitions like this and the Conference League and the League Cup, does
00:18that help you as a head coach?
00:19Yeah, absolutely.
00:31We try to share minutes with all of them.
00:38In this moment probably it looks like we have players that are playing in the Premier League
00:45and players that are playing in the Cup, Conference or Carabao or FA Cup, when we're
00:50going to start.
00:51But it's not like this, it's just because in this moment it's like this, but in general
01:00it won't be like this.
01:05We try to give them the opportunity.
01:08In the moment, last week for instance against Barro, I think they all did a very good game
01:16and hopefully tomorrow we can do the same.
01:17Going to ask you about Jorgensen, I'm assuming he comes into the team for this game, is it
01:24a chance for him to put a little pressure on Robert Sanchez after the difficulty he
01:28had at the weekend?
01:29No, no, no, absolutely.
01:31Philippe he has to do well because we need him doing well, not because he has to put
01:37pressure on Robert.
01:40Also because I said the other day after the game, usually we like to see the end part
01:46of the thing, that was Robert's mistake, but the mistakes start with Malo.
01:53We concede a yellow card, we concede a chance and then from the goal kick we concede the
01:57goal.
01:58So it's not Robert's problem or Malo's problem, it's just a matter of making some mistakes.
02:03But I don't think Philippe is going to put pressure on Robert playing a good game.
02:09We need him to play a good game because the team needs that.
02:12Going to Nassau, I just wanted to check on Dries Buehler, he wasn't in the squad for
02:17the last game, was it one of those difficult decisions you sometimes have to make?
02:21Yeah, absolutely.
02:22For Keenan and for all the guys that were out of the squad, there was not any physical
02:29problem, just a decision, but it happened with Keenan last week, it can happen with
02:36a different player and it's the bad part of the...
02:40In this case my part is not the one that I prefer, but sometimes you have to do that.
02:45Of course Rhys James has some injury problems but Ben Chilwell is not available for this
02:49competition, do you think maybe with the problems you have at full-back, maybe you have regrets
02:54about not including Chilwell in the UEFA squad?
02:58That's why we have a problem at full-back.
02:59Just because Rhys James has been out for a while and maybe having another full-back in
03:03the mix would be a good thing?
03:05No, I don't think so.
03:07But with Chilwell, do you not have any regrets about him not being available for the UEFA
03:12matches?
03:13No, no.
03:15OK, go to Andy.
03:17Hi Endo, just following on from what you said in your first question about the players playing
03:24in various competitions, could you focus on Mudrik please?
03:28Because I know you say you need different players, but they all want to play in the
03:34Premier League, that's the one they want to play in, and Mudrik has not started a Premier
03:38League game, in fact he's not started a game since the Servette away game.
03:44He was signed as a big, big player for Chelsea, a big marquee player as we say, what's he
03:53lacking in at the moment, what's he got to do to get himself back up the top, because
03:58you've signed Sancho as well since that Servette game?
04:02I think Misha played from the start against the Wolves in the Premier League, so we gave
04:12him already some games, the other day he was inside from the bench, I said many times that
04:17they all want to play from the start, but sometimes it's not possible, and you have
04:22to take some decisions.
04:24Misha I think last week against Barro, he did very well, the other day when you go inside
04:30it's never easy, but I think for the minute he was inside he was OK, hopefully he can
04:34do a good game tomorrow, but it's not just about Misha, we can say exactly the same from
04:40CristĂŁo Cunco, that we signed him, the club signed him as a big player, in this moment
04:47he's not playing in the Premier League, but as I said in football things change quick,
04:54so for CristĂŁo, for Misha, for all the players that in this moment they are not starting
04:59in the Premier League, that does not mean that they are not going to start in the next
05:02game or in two games, it's just that right now the situation is this, but that doesn't
05:06mean that it will be the same for all the seasons, the only thing we ask them is that
05:12in the moment that we give them a chance, five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, they
05:17give everything and with that it's enough.
05:20Uncunco has done that, that Bournemouth particularly, he came on and scored the winning goal, just
05:26from my personal perception, I've watched Madrid, it seems like a player who struggles
05:30a bit with confidence in the Premier League, or am I wrong?
05:36I don't think it's, I said already probably in the last press conference here, that I
05:39don't think with Misha it's a lack of confidence, it's Misha and he needs to improve something
05:48like the rest, but we are happy in the way he's working.
05:53In the Barra game you saw Cesare Cassavet play in the deepest position, how do you
06:02think he's adapting to that role and can we expect to see him there in these conference
06:06league games?
06:07I think Cesare did very well in that game, probably he struggled at the beginning but
06:12then at the end he finished very well.
06:16We can see Cesare again there for sure, no doubt, and the idea is because I think he
06:21can cover different things, physicality, he can help us off the ball, on the ball,
06:27understanding how he has to move, he can give us again things, good things, so I was happy
06:34the other day and for sure we are going to see him again in that position.
06:39Is it more of a mental adaptation for someone like him because he's been an attack minding
06:43too?
06:44Yeah, Cesare is more box to box, he likes to attack, to arrive in the box, I had Cesare
06:49last year at Leicester so I worked with him already many months, but he can do also the
06:54other part, that is more give balance to the team, stay in that position, don't move from
07:00them, help your teammates in the build-up, help your teammates when we need to defend,
07:05I think he can do that.
07:07Do you feel like the players have got enough control of matches at the moment?
07:13You've won an eight-goal thriller, you've won a six-goal thriller, it all feels a little
07:19bit chaotic, would you like to see more control from yours?
07:25Yes, if for instance you ask me about the last game against Brighton, for sure I was
07:30more happy about the second half than the first half, but the reason why we concede
07:36something in the first half is not because of the player, it's because we analysed Brighton
07:42and we expected them in two different ways, the two ways that they were playing during
07:47the beginning of the season, but they did completely different things against us.
07:53So they surprised us a little bit in the first half, then half-time we adjust the way we
07:59were pressing and I think the second half worked much better.
08:04But for sure we like more control, but sometimes also we need to analyse that there is another
08:10team that they want to control, they want to attack, sometimes it's not possible.
08:15But for sure we like more control, like the second half or the West Ham game that I think
08:23overall we controlled very good.
08:26You said then you were more happy with the second half than the first half, are you more
08:32happy with a half that finishes 0-0 than one that finishes 4-2?
08:36Yes, because you analyse the result, but I analyse the performance.
08:39In the second half we create five, six at least clear chances, three of them 1v1 with
08:45Keeper.
08:45So sometimes if we don't score, if you analyse the results, I know that we are here for that,
08:52but the performance in the second half I think was good because we created many chances,
08:57we controlled better and we didn't concede chances to them.
09:00So this is the reason why I said probably in the second half I was more happy.
09:06This competition is kind of the third tier in terms of European competitions,
09:11how do you view it?
09:12Do you view it as a bit of an inconvenience you're playing in it or do you feel excited
09:16about the prospect of it?
09:17No, it's an official competition.
09:20So we are excited and we are going to try to do our best and also because, as I said,
09:28it's a European competition and we need to be ready for that.
09:36Yes, this is not because the conference is the same Europa League and now even the Champions
09:42League, they play some games on Thursday, so it's complicated.
09:47When we play Cervéta away, we arrive here at four o'clock in the morning on Friday
09:50and we play Sunday against Palace, but we need to adapt.
09:55If Chelsea do win this competition, it's the first time they've ever won a European competition.
10:02But we are still far away.
10:03It's not that far away, is that something you're aware of?
10:06Now we are, yes, but we are happy or excited about tomorrow's game.
10:12We are not thinking that, as I said in the last game against Barrow in the press conference,
10:16you asked me that last year Chelsea lost the final, Carabao, but you cannot start the first
10:21game thinking a final.
10:25You have to go game after game and I think it's the way we are trying to approach all
10:30the season.
10:33Do you think you have to show that you're not too reliant on Paul Palmer tomorrow night?
10:38Second?
10:39Do you think you have to show that you're not reliant on Paul Palmer?
10:43No, it's not about reliance, it's about protecting.
10:46You have to decide.
10:47I understand the reason, but the team that scored all the goals on Saturday obviously,
10:54the team, you don't have to rely on him on other occasions.
10:58No, I think we already played some games without Kool, but for sure, for us and for any team
11:05in the world, Kool is an extra, it's something that you need.
11:10But also, we need to think a little bit that we need to protect some players, that they
11:16need that.
11:17It's not because we decide to protect Kool or Fofana or Lavia, it's because there is
11:25a reason why behind and I think Kool needs to be protected a little bit.
11:31One other one about the format of this cup.
11:34A lot of criticism of too many games.
11:36Do you like this format, this new expanded format for all the competitions, especially
11:40one you're in?
11:45Yeah, it's okay.
11:49I didn't pay too much attention.
11:53We have five, six games in the group, six games, but we go game after game and we see.
12:01To be honest, if you ask me in three games in the Premier League against which team we
12:05play, I really don't know.
12:07I don't go too much, otherwise too many games, too much information.
12:12It's better to go one, two, three games and then we see.
12:16But we have six games in the group and we're going to try to play all the games in our
12:23way and to do our best.
12:28Do you feel that when you look at where Chelsea are now, they're already better than they
12:33were when you took them on at the beginning of the season?
12:35Because in the last five league games, I think Chelsea have got more points than any other
12:38Premier League team.
12:41Do you already sense improvement?
12:43I just said, if you analyse the results, probably yes.
12:47But I said the last time, sometimes you don't win games and the performance is good and
12:54you deserve to win games.
12:55For instance, Palace.
12:57Sometimes you win games but you don't deserve, like Bournemouth.
13:02So it depends how you...
13:05In terms of points, for sure we are doing well.
13:08In terms of the way we are playing, we are, in my expectation, we are ahead.
13:14We are doing very well.
13:15We are in the right direction.
13:17But we have many, many things that we need to improve.
13:21Attack better, defend better and we are...
13:26But we are happy because the feeling is good.
13:29I believe tomorrow will be the first time for you, at senior level as a head coach,
13:34taking a team into European competition.
13:35Does that give you personal pride?
13:39Yeah, it will be a good moment.
13:42We already played one against Cervé.
13:46So it will be a good moment.
13:51OK, we'll end it there.
13:52Thank you, everyone.
13:53Finish, yeah?