00:30Welcome to our press conference ahead of Sunday's game against Manchester United.
00:34We've got three sections today, we're going to start with the broadcast and we'll begin with Jeremy Langdon.
00:40Enzo, hello. Manchester United have just made a massive announcement,
00:45Rumin Amirim is their new manager, he's only 39, he's never managed outside Portugal, what do you think?
00:52No, first of all, all the best to him, and again, if the people in charge,
00:58they took that decision, it's because they think it's the correct one,
01:01so all the best to him and all the best to Man United.
01:05And your old friend Ruud van Nistelrooy is in interim charge for this weekend's game,
01:11have you spoken to him and do you think that Chelsea can capitalise on all the upheaval
01:15currently going on at United?
01:17I didn't speak with Ruud, I will give him a big hug on Sunday and before the game,
01:23and yeah, we expected a tough game.
01:28What are your memories of playing with him?
01:31First of all, fantastic guy, humble, very professional. Unfortunately, I shared with him
01:39a time when he was already finished in terms of playing, but even with that you can see
01:46how good he was. But first of all, the best thing is that we had a very good
01:52group of human beings in that time with Malaga, so it's always nice to remember that kind of moment.
02:01Chelsea haven't won an Old Trafford in the league in over a decade since 2013,
02:06is this a good time to be playing them do you think?
02:09We didn't win them since 2013? Hopefully it's a good time, I hope so.
02:14That shows how difficult is that stadium, and not only for us, for every club,
02:19and we're going to try to do our best and try to win the game.
02:23Can you tell us about any team news? Obviously,
02:25Rhys James is hoping to start a third Premier League game,
02:28is he okay? Wesley Fofana, you were saying he was playing in pain, is he okay to start this one?
02:33They are all available, unless Jadon, that he has been ill in the last days.
02:39You made 11 changes in the Carabao Cup,
02:43is it true to say that you were willing to sacrifice the Carabao Cup to win at Old Trafford?
02:48No, absolutely, we prepared the game to win in the last game against Newcastle, Carabao,
02:54unfortunately we lost, but we prepare every game to try to win, and the reason why we
03:00make changes, I said many times, it's not because there is A team or B team, we are all one team,
03:07the only reason is because they all deserve to play, some of them they are playing in the
03:11Premier League game, some of them in the Conference or Carabao, but in one game,
03:16they can change, the ones that are playing in Carabao, in the Conference, they can play
03:20in the Premier League game and in the other side, so I said already 2-3 times that for me,
03:27we have 24-25 outfield players, and there is only one team, only one squad,
03:32and what we try to do is to share minutes with all of them.
03:36And what would you say about Enzo Fernandes at the moment,
03:38you seem to show your frustration with him during that game,
03:42obviously he's not starting for you in the Premier League, do you still believe in Enzo?
03:46I show frustration with Enzo?
03:48I think so, when he misplaced a pass.
03:51Poor, I show frustration with all of them, so don't look only at Enzo, I still trust Enzo,
04:00there is not any reason in the world that I can lose confidence on him, the reason why he's not
04:06playing in the Premier League is because in this moment I take different decisions,
04:12but my confidence is 100% with Enzo.
04:18Cole Palmer, you kept him back in midweek, you didn't put him on the field,
04:23he scored four times against United last season, are you expecting a big performance from him?
04:30I hope so, he's going to play, I guess he's going to play,
04:36but Cole is doing every time very good. I said at the beginning of the season,
04:41if we expect from him 20 goals again and 20 assists again, probably it's wrong,
04:46because we don't need to put all the pressure on his shoulder, he has to enjoy football,
04:52and if he enjoys it, for sure he's going to score and for sure he's going to assist his teammates.
04:59Cole is playing well not only when he scores goals, he's playing well even when he doesn't
05:03score, because he allows the rest to play in the right way.
05:09We've seen two right backs, Rhys and Gusto, this season,
05:12play more, a little bit on the left, Gusto a little bit more,
05:15he's been getting into more attacking positions, sometimes even as a 10,
05:18taking a shot outside of the box, what's your reasoning and thoughts of him playing this role
05:23over a natural left back and can we expect to see him stay in that role now Rhys is back?
05:28Yeah, the reason why it's all, first of all because we think that with Malo there,
05:35playing as a 10, we can create or cause problems to the opponent, and for sure he's doing fantastic.
05:43I said in the last press conference, Malo is helping us a lot in terms of process,
05:48because he's playing as an ultimate midfielder, he's playing in the pocket, he's playing,
05:51I think for some moment, like a central defender, so it's likely to be like Renato,
05:57some of them that they are playing in different positions,
05:59but for sure Malo is doing well and he's going to continue in that way.
06:05Another player that played in a different position,
06:07Doosby Hall against Newcastle was on the right wing,
06:09was this something that in your head you wanted to implement on the pitch and wanted to try out,
06:13or was it because you wanted to sort of rest Noni and Sancho was sick, will we see him there?
06:18No, no, no, yeah, the idea was to try also with the Keenan,
06:23we play in different shape against Newcastle,
06:26just to try to control a little bit more the game, don't make basketball game,
06:30that I think for 20, 25 minutes until their goal, the plan was there,
06:35then we conceded the goal in 10 minutes, we lost the game, but could be an idea for the future.
06:42And when it comes to loan players, how often do you manage to keep up with them?
06:46Because Andre Santos has been phenomenal, he's played eight games, five goals,
06:51he's won the most duels in the league, how much can you actually consider him?
06:54Because he's a wonderful 8-8 box and he kind of fits the profile of
06:58what you were picking on midfield.
06:59Yeah, Andre Santos is just show what we said already many times,
07:03that probably for some players it's better that they go,
07:06they prove themselves and they can come back, so it's what Andre Santos is doing.
07:11We see now it's too early, but if continuing in the way that he's playing,
07:15could be an option for us.
07:17Rob.
07:18Hi Enzo, it would have seemed quite hard to believe when Enzo Fernandes,
07:23when the club broke the British transfer record to Brinkman,
07:26that within a couple of years he wouldn't be a first-choice starter.
07:32Is it fair to say that he's not indispensable now to your plans,
07:36in the way that, say, Parma or Jackson or Caicedo are?
07:41I'd like to say that we have, as I said, we don't have A team or B team.
07:49I'd also like to say that there are players that they are fantastic players,
07:59but for me we don't have indispensable.
08:05Exactly, because if Cole for any reason is not playing, he's playing Joao.
08:15And if Nico is not going to play for any reason, he's playing Cristo.
08:19So there is not the one that we cannot change them,
08:24but the reason why we change players is because we think that all of them are good.
08:30As I said, for sure some of them are better than the rest,
08:34but that means that they are always the ones that they are going to play.
08:39In this moment, I know that you are looking for some different reason for Enzo,
08:48but for Enzo it's very simple.
08:50He's not playing in this moment.
08:51We have so many games.
08:52He's going to play for sure in the future.
08:54Now he's not playing.
08:56That means that he's not going to play tomorrow in two days.
08:59And that means that Romeo and Moye, they are always going to play,
09:03because in the moment that some of them drop, probably we can change.
09:07What do Jose and Davide as a partnership bring the team that Fernandez doesn't?
09:16First of all, it's a matter of balance.
09:18I think in this moment, Romeo and Moye, they give us also physicality, strength in the middle.
09:27And this is the reason why we found the option Malo in the pocket.
09:35Otherwise, when we play with Enzo, it has to be Enzo and one between Moye and Romeo.
09:40And when Enzo moves, probably we struggle a little bit in the middle in terms of physicality.
09:45That is something that in this moment, Moye and Romeo, they give us.
09:50But that means that in one game, we cannot play with Joao and Kool in the pocket.
09:55Depends on the game.
09:56Probably soon, we're going to see Joao and Kool playing together in the pocket with a striker.
10:02But it's always the game that requires a little bit different plan.
10:10A lot of Chelsea's goals this season have come from slightly quicker attacks,
10:15but you've spoken several times about you don't want the team to get involved
10:20in basketball games and give up quick attacks as well.
10:23How do you go about finding that balance?
10:25You mean the goal we score?
10:28A lot of the goals Chelsea score...
10:29Ah, we score, yeah.
10:30You've said you don't want to give up quick attacks to the other team as well.
10:34So how do you find that balance between playing slow but also trying to play fast at times?
10:40No, for me, it's not play slow or play fast.
10:46If you think Brighton game, we prepared the game,
10:49tried to attack quick because the space was in behind.
10:52But we cannot plan the same game against Nottingham Forest
10:54when they sit back and they are in their side.
10:57So it depends on the game.
10:59For sure, we are players in the wide area or in front that they can attack quick, for sure.
11:05But I said many times the problem, when you attack quick,
11:09then they're going to attack quick and then become like Newcastle, up and down, up and down.
11:14That for a physical team, physically strong, it's much better for them than for us.
11:21But probably the reason why we scored many goals in the second half,
11:25happened the same last year when I was at Leicester,
11:27is because probably the first half, because we touch, touch, touch, touch,
11:32and they run, run and run.
11:34Probably they cannot maintain that for 95 minutes.
11:36So second half, the last half an hour, they start to drop.
11:41And this is the moment that we start to create more chances and score goals.
11:44So it depends a little bit on the plan of the game.
11:48Roman?
11:49Hi, Enzo.
11:51In the last six games, no clean sheets,
11:54and five of those have seen goals scored in the six-yard box.
11:58So again, it's Gein, Panay Znaikos, Curtis Jones in the six-yard box,
12:03Isaac's goal in the six-yard box, Disass' in the six-yard box.
12:07Is it one of many problems? Does this continue?
12:12No, from the last six, you said?
12:15Yeah.
12:20How many we won from the last six?
12:22No, because if we concede one and we score two, I'm happy.
12:25The problem is, it depends.
12:26No, I said many times that we have, seriously,
12:31we have many, many things that we need to improve.
12:34We need to improve.
12:35But I said the way we attack, but also the way we defend.
12:39For sure, it's something that we need to improve.
12:42But because there are so many things that we need to improve and we need to do,
12:46you cannot focus on all of them.
12:48So you start with the priority.
12:49OK, go with this, and then with this, and then with this.
12:52And then, for sure, it's something that we need to consider
12:55and we need to improve.
13:00I want to talk about Nicos Jackson
13:02and how he has developed into a reliable striker.
13:06How happy are you with his progress?
13:07Oh, yeah, very happy.
13:08Very happy, first of all,
13:10because Nico is helping us not only in terms of numbers, score and assist.
13:15It's also helping us in terms of the way we want to play,
13:18the way he's linked with his teammates.
13:21And he's helping us a lot in the process.
13:23Every time he drops, he gives us an extra man.
13:28Against Newcastle, you saw he was dropping and creating many, many problems.
13:33When he attacks him behind, he's quick and he can score goals.
13:37So we are very happy.
13:38And since we started, we are trying to work with him in different areas.
13:42And one of the areas is when he drops.
13:45And when I drop, what do I have to do?
13:47Because sometimes you say, yeah, you have to drop.
13:49But then what happens?
13:50So we are trying to improve Nicolas
13:54and trying to work on him since we started.
13:57And how happy are you with the progress in general of the team?
14:03No, very happy.
14:04Very happy because the way we want to play on the ball and off the ball,
14:10I think it's quite clear.
14:12Every game is there.
14:13Sometimes, as I said, sometimes we do the things good and sometimes not.
14:17But it's normal.
14:18But in terms of process, I said that we are ahead of my expectation
14:23after, I think, four months, almost four months.
14:28Fortunately, also the results, more or less, they are OK.
14:31So hopefully we can continue on that.
14:34Cameras off, please.
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