00:00Okay, good morning and thank you for joining us.
00:22We will take the usual format today, beginning with a broadcast section.
00:27Please do raise your hands if you'd like a question, and we'll begin with Gail Davis and Sky Sports News.
00:34Off you go, Gail.
00:38Morning.
00:40Morning.
00:41I saw a good picture of Cole Palmer on social media in a dressing room with his little egg timer,
00:47suggesting that he could well be back.
00:50Where is he?
00:51Where did he go for you?
00:52He's probably not available for tomorrow for sure, Barcelona for sure, Arsenal for sure.
01:05Unfortunately, he had an accident at home two days ago,
01:10and he hit his toe, but it's nothing important, but for sure he's not back next week.
01:28Sorry, he hit his toe at home?
01:30Yeah.
01:31Any more details?
01:33I think it's enough.
01:35It's enough.
01:36So we're looking at what, a week and a half more?
01:40We don't know.
01:41The only thing we know that it's not available is fracture, fracture, yeah.
01:47The only thing we know is that it's not available for this week, next week.
01:52How frustrated is he, given it's a huge week for Chelsea, and given how long he's spent on the sidelines?
02:03Yeah, but it can happen.
02:04It can happen.
02:05I wake up many times during the night, you know, to go to the toilet,
02:09and I eat my head, my leg, my everything, so it can happen.
02:14You're not going to miss Bank Barcelona and Arsenal, though.
02:16Not now, not now.
02:17Can you just confirm as well, the Sassi reports that he is now part of your first team squad,
02:26he's no longer in that squad, is that the case?
02:31And if so, what's he done to earn his place back?
02:35Can you just clarify if Sterling was still just the only one that came to play himself now?
02:41Yeah, I said many times that Axel Rahim, at the end, they are Chelsea players,
02:46where Axel is helping the second team, he's helping the young players.
02:52During the international break, we had just five, six players here,
02:56so we need some second team players,
03:00and Axel was part of some session with the second team players,
03:07but I think it was just one session with us.
03:11So that's, A, he's not actually part of your first team squad going forward?
03:17At the moment, he's helping second team, he's working with second team,
03:22and he's there with second team.
03:24So that's a no, then?
03:26It's Chelsea player, and he's with second team.
03:28Okay, and in terms of Sterling, he's still out of the picture?
03:33Rahim, again, he's Chelsea player, and he's in the same situation.
03:37Can you just talk to us about Norgensen as well?
03:42I mean, clearly Denmark aren't had a World Cup yet,
03:44but there were reports coming out in their camp
03:46saying that if they are to make it, then he needs a bit more game time.
03:51Has he spoken to you about the prospect of maybe looking for a move in January
03:57if Denmark are to be part of the World Cup?
04:00I spoke with Philippe at the beginning of the season,
04:05and I didn't speak with Philippe in the last days about that.
04:10I think all the players that they don't play a lot,
04:14or they don't use to play,
04:15they would like to get more minutes, more games.
04:18It's completely normal.
04:19But I didn't speak with Philippe.
04:23Just finally, how's Estevelle this week?
04:25He was a bit cold, and it was about 7 degrees.
04:28He's got his thermals on, smooth gloves, muted socks.
04:32Yeah, he's back from the international team
04:38where he scored two goals.
04:39He's very happy, and we are very happy with him.
04:43Thank you, Gail.
04:44Soraya?
04:45Morning.
04:46I want to talk about Mullen Gusteau.
04:48His 99th appearance could be tomorrow.
04:51Every time he started, he won six games in the Premier League,
04:54and he's had a great international break with France.
04:56This season.
04:57Every time.
04:58Last season?
04:59Yeah.
05:00You don't know, eh?
05:02He played wide, full-back, midfield.
05:05We've spoken previously about that,
05:07when he ends up in the 10th position.
05:09There's been some criticism on that,
05:10but your patience has paid off.
05:11He's clearly learning.
05:13Is this the vision you always thought?
05:14Because he seems to be in a quite consistent form right now.
05:16Absolutely, yes.
05:18We've said many times that for us,
05:21Mullen is the main player in the way we want to play.
05:25He can play in different positions.
05:28You already know that we like players that they can give us,
05:32you know, we can be dynamic with them.
05:35Mullen is one of them.
05:36And we are very happy with Malo.
05:42Personally, since I joined the club,
05:44I consider Malo, for us, a main player.
05:47Your midfield has had, again, positive and negative this season.
05:54But in your last game against Wolves,
05:56progressive passing, they've had 18 progressive carries,
05:59which is the most of any Premier League game this season,
06:01in the midfield.
06:03What kind of decision-making now are you hoping to see tomorrow against Burnley?
06:06Because there will be different spaces available for this midfield.
06:09Yeah, it will be a different game.
06:11We know that every game is different.
06:13Probably tomorrow we need to use different strategy,
06:16different weapons.
06:20No doubt that it's going to be, again, a tough game,
06:24especially after international break,
06:25after 12 in the morning, you know, away.
06:28It's always a tricky game.
06:31We need to pay attention.
06:33And lastly, there's been noticeable progress in your counter-pressing.
06:36Your recovery time has actually increased,
06:39so when you lose the ball,
06:41you get it back to live several seconds,
06:43which is the highest it's been on the EU.
06:45What do you think has been key to that improvement?
06:49Probably the time that we spend together.
06:51We said many times that with more time together,
06:54we're going to be better and better.
06:57It's something that we have in the way we want to recover the ball
07:04as soon as possible.
07:06Sometimes it's possible,
07:08sometimes it's not possible
07:09because the other team, they do different things.
07:12But for sure, it's something that we are getting better
07:14and we can be even better.
07:17Thanks, Soraya.
07:19Nizar?
07:20In terms of Cole Palmer,
07:23you were speaking about his toe,
07:24but how is his grinding dream?
07:26Is that something you're still managing in terms of fitness
07:28or is he 100% better from the groin injury perspective?
07:31He was very close,
07:34he was back with us almost with the groin
07:36and it's very good news.
07:39And then again,
07:40he had this small problem
07:42and hopefully it's nothing important.
07:44Do you think that he has enough time
07:47in terms of an England perspective
07:48because the World Cup is going to be a huge target for him,
07:51but Thomas Tuchel says he has Bellingham,
07:53he has Bill Foden,
07:54he has Morgan Rodgers,
07:55they're all playing well.
07:56Do you think that Cole can get into that group
07:59and sort of take one of the England places before the World Cup?
08:02For me personally,
08:04Cole is one of our best players
08:08and no doubt that for me personally,
08:13he can play in any international team,
08:15but then it's Thomas' decision.
08:17In terms of the other injuries you had in the squad,
08:20I wondered if Caicedo played two 90 minutes for Ecuador,
08:23is he a doubt for tomorrow?
08:25And how is Pedro Neto, Enzo Fernandes and Benoit Badi?
08:29Moet came back last night,
08:31I didn't see Moet yet,
08:33so I will see Moet now in a while,
08:35but he's good,
08:38Benoit is back,
08:40he can be available for tomorrow,
08:41that's great news for us,
08:43and then Enzo Pedro,
08:45they used the international break
08:46to recover a little bit of the energy,
08:48also to recover from the injury,
08:52the problems they had,
08:53and they are both available for tomorrow.
08:57Thanks Nizar, Simon?
08:59Simon is posting it up on social media,
09:02Enzo, is Cole wearing a protective boot
09:06or is he just sort of putting his foot up,
09:08or how has he been looked after?
09:11The last time I saw him was yesterday morning,
09:14and he was without socks, without flip-flop,
09:20he was without nothing,
09:21so I don't know how he's today to be honest,
09:23I didn't see him in the changing room.
09:27He was limping around, he was OK?
09:29He was limping, no, not too much,
09:33no, he was walking OK,
09:34the problem is that it's the small toe,
09:36so the contact with the boots
09:38probably can be a little bit painful.
09:40And is the one sort of bright side that you can think about,
09:44is that I know you've always said,
09:47Chelsea are better with Cole obviously.
09:49No doubt.
09:50But since Cole's been out,
09:52Chelsea have climbed third in the table
09:54and done pretty well with that,
09:55so that means that you might think that you can...
09:59Absolutely not.
10:01I'm nothing here, I don't think that.
10:03I think that the teammates, they are better players with Cole playing.
10:11I feel much better when Cole is inside the pitch,
10:15and we all want Cole inside the pitch,
10:17at the same time when Cole is not in the pitch,
10:19we need to find a solution,
10:21and the team is doing fantastic,
10:25he's doing very well.
10:25Also, I think for any manager,
10:31it's nice when you miss players,
10:33but at the end the team still play in the way we want to play,
10:37it's good.
10:39But again, we are a better team with Cole.
10:44Thanks Simon.
10:44And we'll finish with David.
10:48Obviously, before the international break,
10:50the team seems to grow.
10:51You have Berlina, then Barcelona,
10:53then Madrid, again in the Premier League.
10:54What are you most happy about the growth of your team since the beginning of the season?
11:02Probably dealing with different problems has been important,
11:07because, you know, everyone is talking about Cole, because it's normal,
11:11but also we had Leon Delap two months out.
11:14I said many times in the way I like to play as a manager, our best defender in build-up,
11:30Levi Cole will out since day one.
11:33So it's not just Cole, it's Cole, it's Levi, it's Liam, it's Enzo out, Pedro out,
11:38Moet out.
11:39So the way the team is dealing with problems is very good.
11:43I'm pretty sure you think the team needs to grow a little bit more to go to the goals,
11:49you want to reach at the end of the season.
11:51What do you expect in these next few games?
11:54So important games against Barcelona, one of the best teams in Europe,
11:57what are the best teams in the Premier League coming next Sunday?
12:01Just try to continue to play in the way we want to play.
12:08As you said, for sure they are a big team.
12:11But I was also happy with the performance against Bayern Munich, even if I was not happy with the result.
12:21But to go there against a team that in the last five, six, seven years,
12:25they always play semi-final, final, quarter-final, and to go there and play face-to-face,
12:32for the moment of the game we were quite good.
12:36So I want just to see the team in that way, with the personality,
12:40and also the belief that we can, I think, we show already that we can beat any team
12:46and also we can lose against any team.
12:49Thank you, Davide.
12:50OK, cameras off, please.
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