- 2 months ago
Maresca on Chelsea's champions league trip to Qarabag
04/11/2025
Cobham Training centre, Surrey, UK
04/11/2025
Cobham Training centre, Surrey, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Morning, afternoon, sorry, you're all right.
00:18Hello, Nizar.
00:26Okay, thank you everyone for joining us today.
00:28We will have a slightly different format in terms of the press conference
00:32whereby we'll start with questions in the room
00:34and then we'll move to the computer for the remote offering
00:38for the media based in Azerbaijan.
00:40For those in the room, if you'd like to ask questions,
00:42please raise your hand, we'll get around as many as possible.
00:45We'll start with Gary from Sky Sports.
00:48Hello, thanks for your time.
00:50Without Pedro Neto out there that we saw, has he got a problem?
00:53Yeah, not a problem, just a small issue.
01:00So to try to, again, try to protect him,
01:03he's not involved in tomorrow's game.
01:08But after that, hopefully...
01:11Yes.
01:14So it'll be another game, I guess, where you have to rotate the squad,
01:17particularly given the logistics, the travel, the time difference.
01:21Yeah, it's an important game
01:25because it can give us three wins in a row in the Champions League,
01:30it can give us nine points,
01:31and so it's very important.
01:35For sure, we need to, again, probably we need to rotate some of the players
01:39also because I think we come back in London first morning, 6 o'clock,
01:46and then Saturday we have one more game.
01:49So it's a demanding schedule,
01:50but we're going to try to adapt and do our best.
01:54People would have you as the favourites for this game, I'm sure.
01:58You know, when you're plotting the route through the Champions League,
02:01potentially you put this down as hopefully three points.
02:04But Carabango have been surprising this season
02:08and the logistics of it.
02:10You know, the five-and-a-half-hour flight,
02:12going ahead four hours, arriving, you know, at midnight.
02:17Are all those danger sides, are all those reasons to be a bit cautious?
02:20Absolutely, yes.
02:21And also because they are a good team.
02:25They beat, you know, Benfica, they beat Copenhagen.
02:27They were winning against Bilbao.
02:30Then at the end they lost,
02:31but for sure it's going to be a tough game for different conditions.
02:37For different reasons.
02:39And then in terms of the Champions League,
02:41obviously your next game is going to be Barcelona
02:45after the international break.
02:47Your time schedule would suggest that potentially
02:50Cole could be back in time for that game.
02:52Is that your hope?
02:54We hope so.
02:55But with Cole, we try to plan,
02:59we try to schedule, you know,
03:01at the beginning.
03:02Then we need to review that.
03:06So in this moment we go day by day with Cole.
03:08It's still apart.
03:10It's not taking any session with the team.
03:12And we have Benoit Badiashili that probably can be available after the international break.
03:20And then for us it's a huge news.
03:23But ideally for Barcelona and then Arsenal,
03:26you're hoping you've had to win Cole for being available.
03:30To be honest, I would like to have Cole even tomorrow.
03:33I would like to have Cole every game.
03:35I've said many times that we are a better team with Cole.
03:38Unfortunately for us, he's out, he's injured.
03:42But for sure we want him back very soon.
03:46Okay, we'll go to Kieran.
03:47Front row.
03:48The attempt to leave anyone else at home,
03:51like those players you've tried to protect,
03:52you could say it or you can under the shot of Pedro.
03:55Is anyone you're going to leave back rather than that?
03:57No, no.
03:57Just Pedro or Neto won't be available for tomorrow.
04:02Can I check on, is there an update on Asugo?
04:06Because he was sort of signed to be Kasedo's deputy,
04:09so it's probably put a lot of pressure on Kasedo.
04:12He's dealt with it quite well.
04:14But is there any update on him when he's coming back?
04:15No, he's still, I think, he's still out for a while.
04:20Probably we need to wait.
04:22I don't know if New Year, I don't know, January, December, January.
04:27Not sure yet.
04:29But we are already in November.
04:31And as you said, Moe is doing well.
04:33We have also Romain that is covering that position.
04:36We have Andre Santos that are covering that position.
04:40And in some moments, we use also, I don't know, Josh or we use Riz.
04:45We try, as always we said, we try to find solution when we miss players.
04:51We go to Aitan.
04:53After the football match, you mentioned that you will be watching some of Karabakh's games.
04:58What was your first impression of them watching the game and which player caught your attention?
05:03Yeah, as a team, to be honest, as a team, they are a very good team.
05:06They are a very intense team.
05:09The way they press, the way they work all together as a team,
05:12you can see that it's many, many years they work with the same manager.
05:16Yeah, and then, especially at home, they are more intense.
05:23And as I said, it will be a tough game.
05:26Yeah, we'll go to Simon.
05:28Hi, Andre.
05:29You started Jordansson in the last Chelsea game.
05:33Will he be starting tomorrow?
05:35Could be an option, yeah.
05:37Could be an option also because we need, you know, we need also both keepers ready
05:42and at the end we need to deal or treat with Robert also in the same way we try to deal with different players.
05:55We spoke to Rob on Saturday after the game.
05:59He feels like he's now in the best form of his Chelsea career that he's now settled in.
06:04Does Jordansson need that sort of similar time to make his mark that he's taking Rob this long to settle in?
06:12In recent performances, Jordansson has looked like he's struggled quite a bit.
06:16It's also true that I think Robert arrived here and he was playing from the beginning since the day he arrived here.
06:24Philipp is a bit different.
06:25He arrived here, he joined our club knowing that Robert was the number one choice.
06:33But last year he was playing all the conference league games.
06:38We use him in the Premier League, we use him in the different competitions and he was doing well.
06:44This season, again, he's doing exactly the same.
06:46It's not easy for players in general but it's even worse for keepers when you don't play and you have to play some game
06:54because it's very difficult for a keeper.
06:57Do you still have full trust in him?
06:59100 per cent, 100 per cent.
07:01OK, go to Jack.
07:03Enzo, you mentioned just that Caravan was the same manager for quite a long time.
07:08Is that something you've never seen yourself doing, staying at one club for 17, 18 years?
07:13Yeah, it's something I've never seen that.
07:16Is that the hope for this job?
07:19Oh my God, it's something unbelievable for 17 years now with the same club, it's amazing.
07:31Rhys James, you mentioned you've used him as an option in midfield and put in a very good performance at Tottenham.
07:38Is he now physically at a point, do you feel, where you can rely on him to play three games a week
07:44or are you still having to really consider how and when you use him?
07:49Rhys is good, he's doing well, he's fit 100 per cent, the way he behaves every game is top,
07:59even when he's not playing inside the changing room with his teammates.
08:05Now, yes, I think he's ready to play three games in a week.
08:10Also depends, I said many times, also depends on the way we use Rhys, we didn't use him up and down.
08:18I think it's a big job for him, for Malo, for any full-back to continue to do up and down.
08:25We use the full-back in different ways, so probably we also protect and save him in the way we try to play.
08:33So I think it's a right to play three games in a week.
08:37You mentioned this could be a chance for three straight wins in the Champions League.
08:41Everyone will put importance on finishing in that top eight to avoid the playoffs.
08:46Have you got a point to tell in your mind that you think, getting there, you'll be safe for that top eight?
08:51No idea, no idea. The last year, I think, was 15 or 16?
08:5615, 16.
08:57So probably you need the same points, and we are very far at the moment.
09:01Okay, final question in the room will be Martin, and then for those online, please raise your hand and we'll look to get round to you.
09:08Hi Enzo. I'm fascinated by the logistics of this trip. It's less than 30 hours to kick off, and you're all here.
09:17And you've got a long way to go, big time difference. What's the thinking behind going so late into it?
09:24No, it's also because of the schedule, because of the amount of games we have. We used yesterday to recovery after Tottenham games.
09:35So it was important to be in our facility, to use our facility for all the treatment that the players need.
09:41Probably if you go there, you don't have exactly the same. So we try to, as you said, we try to balance both situations.
09:48Be ready for the game, recovery all the energy, knowing that the flight, the four hours ahead, these kind of things.
09:57Especially when we arrive here, we will arrive here first in the morning, six o'clock in the morning.
10:03We have a game after, I think Saturday afternoon, Saturday night. But it's the schedule, and we're going to try to adapt.
10:11We'll stay in English time, I guess.
10:13We'll stay in English time, yeah.
10:16Okay, we'll now go to the reporters online, and we'll start with Nazar Kinsella.
10:21Hi Enzo, it feels like Covid times, unfortunately.
10:26Hello. I wanted to ask you a bit more about Liam.
10:29I presume he's going to be back. Do you think this is an important game for him?
10:34Especially because it's his first Champions League game, maybe, to play for Chelsea?
10:39Yeah, Liam is back. He's an important player for us. He's an option for tomorrow.
10:45And I said already many times that I don't have any doubt that at the end of the season,
10:50we're going to be very happy with Liam in terms of goal, in terms of also the way he works off the ball,
10:59how intense he is when we need to press. So, no doubt that he's going to help us.
11:05Okay, we'll go to Peter Roetzler.
11:12Hi Enzo, can you hear me? Sorry about that.
11:15Yeah.
11:16Filling over with the video.
11:18I just wanted to ask, we've seen Chelsea perform very well in some, I think, big games,
11:25or high pressure games, like we saw on Saturday against Tottenham.
11:29Is it important that when facing matches like against Karabag, where you are the strong favourites,
11:34that you manage to maintain a strong performance level?
11:38And is that the key to maintaining the consistency that you probably want from your team?
11:46I don't think it's about being the favourite one, no.
11:49It's the way we try to deal with all the details of the game.
11:56Karabag, I just said, they won two or three games like us in the Champions League.
12:02They were also winning the other one and then at the end they lost.
12:06It's a very good team, organised, well organised, the way they press, the way they are intense.
12:11So, it's going to be a tough game.
12:15Okay, we'll go to Jacob Steinberg.
12:21Hi Enzo.
12:22You spoke about how Riggs is now in a position where he can start two or three games a week.
12:27What's the situation with Romeo?
12:30Because he's not completed night with the minutes this season, but he's been in and out at points.
12:36He's such an important player.
12:38It seems to make your team, when he's there, kind of function extremely well.
12:43Where is he physically at the moment?
12:46Because obviously he's had his injury issues in the last couple of years.
12:50Yeah, the main target for Romeo now is to be fit.
12:53Don't, you know, don't get any injury.
12:57For me, in this moment, Romeo is where probably Wes, sorry, Romeo in this moment is where Riggs was more or less one year ago.
13:09In terms of back after a long time, we need to manage him every minute, every day, every seconds.
13:15And the target with him is just to keep him fit.
13:20So, he's training with us, he's okay, he's 100% fit.
13:25But we need to be very careful with him because we don't want him, you know, to be out again.
13:31And finally, he can enjoy being a football player.
13:35Is he, because of those fitness issues, is he able to perform quite well where you want him to at the moment?
13:43Because, you know, for example, the Forest game, you have to take him off at half time.
13:46Yeah, the Forest game, we planned for him 45 minutes and then Ajax, I think he played one hour, 70 minutes.
13:53The other day against Tottenham, when he was inside, he was very good.
13:58So, we are happy with Romeo, we are happy in the way he's progressing.
14:02And the only thing we want is to keep him fit.
14:05So, I would like to have Romeo inside the pitch always.
14:09But, you know, it's my duty to try to protect also him.
14:14OK, we'll end it there.
14:16Those online, please stay and we'll bring Andre Santos in a couple of minutes.
14:21Thank you, guys.
14:23Bye-bye.
14:25Bye-bye.
14:26Bye-bye.
14:27Bye-bye.
14:28Bye-bye.
14:29Bye-bye.
14:30Bye-bye.
14:31Bye-bye.
14:32Bye-bye.
14:33Bye-bye.
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