Chelsea’s Maresca on Garnacho signing, Palmer injury and Fulham test (Full Presser)

NicheSportMedia

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on the impending signing of Alejandro Garnacho,Cole Palmer injury and Fulham test Cobham, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Afternoon.

00:01Hello, hello, hello.

00:24Okay, good afternoon and thank you for joining us.

00:28We will take the usual format today

00:31and start with a live section beginning with Kim and Sky Sports News.

00:35Away you go, Kim.

00:36Hey Enzo.

00:37First of all, can you give us the latest on Cold Farmers Fitness

00:39and how the squad is looking ahead of tomorrow?

00:41Cold is out.

00:42Cold is out.

00:43Benoit is out.

00:44Romeo is out.

00:45And we are...

00:48The rest, they are okay.

00:51It's been reported today that Alejandro Garnapcho

00:54is undergoing a medical care at the club.

00:56Can you confirm those reports?

00:57And where do you see him fitting into your squad?

01:00I know that he is around here.

01:02I don't know exactly where he is, but he's around here.

01:05And then he's a player that is quite clear his position is a winger.

01:10And I see him as a winger.

01:14And it's also been reported that any more players to come into the club

01:22over the next few days would require some players to leave.

01:26Can we expect to see a lot of players leaving over the next couple of days?

01:29You can expect anything.

01:30The window transfer is open, so anything can happen in and out.

01:35And are you confident and happy with the squad you've got at the moment?

01:39Or would you be looking to bring maybe in at the player end?

01:42I joined the club one year ago saying that I was in love with the squad.

01:47And the squad, I think, getting better and better.

01:49So my feeling is exactly the same.

01:51And just a final one for me, last Friday we saw both Jao Pedro and Liam De Laat playing together.

01:57Is that something that you're looking forward to using for the rest of the season?

02:01Or was that more of a reaction to Colt Palmer being injured?

02:04No, I guess I think we have been the team with more changes in the entire season last season.

02:13So I'm not looking just for two players to play all of us.

02:16I'm looking for a different solution.

02:18For sure they can play together.

02:19But it's the game plan that demanding if he's one, two or both, we'll see.

02:26Thank you, Kim.

02:28Alex?

02:28Hi, Nzo.

02:29So you've just said no Colt Palmer at the weekend.

02:32But how much of a boost was it for everyone at the club scoring five goals away from home without winning last Friday?

02:39For sure, 100%.

02:41And I will say again, we are a much, much, much better team with Colt, no doubt.

02:45But when Colt is not in the game, we need to find a different solution.

02:49Last week we found a different solution and hopefully we can find tomorrow again a different solution.

02:57Three more days to go until the window closes.

03:00What happens to those players when they're not sold or loaned out, the ones that have been training apart?

03:04What's the plan for them?

03:07No idea, to be honest.

03:08I don't know.

03:09I just, you know that they are not even with us.

03:13They are training with a different time, with a different pitch.

03:17So I don't have any idea.

03:19This is not, I don't know.

03:20It could be re-integrated, maybe?

03:23I don't know.

03:24We see when the window transfers close, we see and we decide.

03:28For the last visiting side to win at St. Louis in the Premier League, what makes Marco Soler's team hard to play against?

03:36They are solid.

03:38They are well-organized.

03:39They play nice football.

03:41They are very strong.

03:42And it's not random that they are doing well.

03:46Last year was a record of points in the Premier League, I think, for Fulham.

03:50They show how Marco is good, the players, they are good.

03:54So it's a game that, like always, we need to be careful.

03:58I know it's been a bit of a whirlwind for you since the end of the Club World Cup.

04:01Are you welcoming an international break at a chance for a bit of a breather?

04:05Yeah.

04:06Fantastic.

04:07How do you plan to use it at the time?

04:09Off.

04:10Yeah, yeah.

04:10Especially for the players.

04:12It will be a good time for us also, for sure.

04:15But especially for the players, the ones that they don't go with the international team,

04:19that also they need to recover.

04:22Holidays?

04:22Holiday.

04:23No, holiday, but we're going to try to recover energy.

04:26Thanks, Enzo.

04:27Good luck to me again.

04:27Thanks, Alex.

04:28Nizar?

04:29Hi, Enzo.

04:30How long is Cole Palmer out for?

04:32And could La Vieira and Mbani Shile be back after the international break?

04:36Cole, we need to see day by day.

04:39And the other two, I don't think they're going to be back after the international break,

04:44but they're going to be more close.

04:45Are you a bit worried about their fitness, or do you think they'll be back relatively soon,

04:50Benoit and Romain, La Vieira?

04:53Are you worried about their fitness longer term?

04:55Is it a problem for you, tactically and with the squad?

04:58I'm always worried, but not about just them.

05:02I'm always worried, but I think with Romain and Benoit, because it's a long time out,

05:06it's normal that they need time, they need session.

05:09It's the same that we are doing with Wes.

05:11Wes is back.

05:12The other day, they play some minutes.

05:13Hopefully, we can give him more minutes and slowly, slowly get the right condition.

05:17And if you think you and Jackson leave, do you think you can sign another attacker?

05:21Do you think Chelsea might sign another one if they both leave?

05:25I don't know.

05:26Thanks, Nizal.

05:27Simon?

05:27In terms of Cole and England, was that a discussion that sort of happened between Chelsea and England

05:37to make sure that he hadn't been left out?

05:40I spoke with Thomas a few times, but then at the end it was Thomas' decision,

05:47so he decided for that.

05:49But again, he's not available tomorrow, so it's quite normal that he shows that he has some problems.

05:57Do you have a time frame in mind for Romain coming back?

06:04He's still not played 90 minutes for Chelsea.

06:07Is he going to have to be really carefully managed?

06:09A bit like how you managed to get Ries back regularly again?

06:13Yeah, I think two years ago he didn't play any game.

06:19Last year he played some games.

06:20This season the target again is to give him more games.

06:24And hopefully in the moment that he's back, he can be fit.

06:27For a long time, I'm playing more minutes, more games, because it's a player that we really trust.

06:34Thank you, Simon.

06:35In October, sort of thing, or October for the return?

06:39I don't know.

06:40I don't know.

06:40And just quickly, on the Chelsea tour, there's no doubt about the Champions League tour.

06:45Confident Chelsea progressing with that?

06:48First of all, we are happy to be in the draw.

06:56We are happy, very happy, because I think we brought this club where this club has to be, the Champions League.

07:02Now the draw is always a draw.

07:06The only thing I can say is that it's nice to be there.

07:09And then when we start the Champions League, we're going to start talking about that.

07:12And we will end with Davido.

07:15I want to bring you back to the Champions League, sorry to do that.

07:19Napoli and Atalanta are on the road with your return to Italy.

07:23Are you looking forward to those games?

07:25And what do you think of those two teams?

07:28They are both fantastic teams.

07:32Napoli just won the league with Antonio.

07:35And Atalanta in the last five, six years with Gasperini, for me has been probably the best Italian team also in Europe.

07:43So both, they are a very good team, happy to come back to Italy, especially for, you know, to eat some good food.

07:54And yeah, I'm excited for the draw for the Champions League.

08:00And one of the players going out in Kumku, he reported to be going to AC Milan, but what do you think Italian fans should expect from Kumku?

08:08Christo is a fantastic professional, first of all, with us he was very professional, training very well.

08:14The only problem with Christo has been that in his position there was another player like Cole, so it was difficult for him to get minutes.

08:26But they can expect fantastic things, first of all because he is very professional and second because he is a very good player.

08:33Okay, thank you very much.

08:35Cameras off please.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended