Maresca on Palmer fitness and challenge of facing Arsenal (Full Presser)

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Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca on the fitness of Cole Palmer and the challenge of a Premier League clash with Arsenal Cobham, London, UK

Transcript

00:00okay good afternoon thank you for joining us we'll take the usual format

00:20today beginning with Sky Sports News and James Green we go James

00:25he's available for both no is we have also Dario Sugo that he took part of the session

00:48this morning so good news for both

00:51good news on that front good news to see Esteval in the form that he was on on Tuesday

00:57I know you spoke about him a lot after the game and he's a young player you want to manage

01:03really carefully being young but is he making it very difficult not to pick him week in

01:09week out with performances like he did on Tuesday?

01:12it's it's always good when the the ones that they start and they play they do the right

01:19things it's good because they give in this case they give me a doubt always for the next

01:25games but it's important that when they have the chance they play good they do the right

01:30and then it's it's good problem for the manager always

01:37going into a big game against Arsenal look Arsenal top of the league top of the Champions League

01:43what is it about Arsenal that you think are setting them apart from everybody else this season

01:48what are they doing that's making a difference to everybody else?

01:52for sure they they they defend fantastic any teams against them they struggle to to score goals

02:01not only to score goals but even to create chances so it's a team that they defend they

02:06defend very well then they have weapons when they attack so I think it's as you said in this

02:12moment they are top in the Champions League they are top in the Premier League and we're

02:16going to try our best to win the game

02:19and a lot of people are making the midfield battle with Moises Caissano and Declan Rice

02:24a bit of a theme going into this game because of the form both of them are in

02:29are those two currently the best midfielders in the Premier League and do you see that

02:34midfield battle as being maybe a key between who comes out on top on Sunday?

02:39I think the Premier League is full of good players very good midfielder as you said

02:45Moy, Declan, Roddy from City, Anderson from Nottingham Forest, Guimarães from Newcastle

02:54I mean I think the Premier League is full of very good midfielders

02:58Do you see that midfield battle though as being crucial on Sunday?

03:03It's a big part but it's not the only one I think it's 11-by-11 the ones that they go inside

03:08from the bench so it's the big picture it's not just one part of the picture

03:15And finally for me, it's a big game, first versus second

03:19you win, you go three points behind Arsenal

03:22there is talk that there's not too much expectation on Chelsea to perhaps win the Premier League this season

03:28but if you were to beat Arsenal on Sunday and close that gap

03:31would there be a feeling internally that actually this might be something we could achieve this year?

03:37We go, I think it's too early in any case, if we win, if we don't win, I think it's too early

03:44we are still, you know, end of November we are still five, six months to go

03:49I think it's very important when we're going to be in February, March where we are

03:53and from there we decide and we see if we can achieve something important

03:58I'll ask you in February

04:00Thank you

04:01Thanks James

04:02Alex

04:03Hi Enzo, you've just beaten Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League

04:06How does the challenge on Sunday compare?

04:08Would you say it's an even bigger challenge?

04:11I think it's, I said after the game, it's another big game, we finished one again against Barcelona

04:21as you said we won, it was a good feeling and now we have another one

04:25now if it's bigger than the last one, I don't know, for me they are all important games for sure

04:34beating Barcelona or in case we are able to beat Arsenal, it's a nice feeling but at the end it's three points

04:44then choose the ones that we have leads that are three points in the same way

04:48so we're going to try our best to beat Arsenal and then we see

04:53We do have matches as big as this one in the same week, is the feeling different in training?

04:57Is the mood different, the mindset different at all?

05:00Yeah, the mindset and the mood in this moment for us is very good

05:04because we are doing quite good in the Premier League, we are doing quite well in the Champions League

05:12I think it's a good feeling also that we can see that we are improving, we are growing

05:17so this is the best feeling for us

05:20It was an amazing atmosphere on Tuesday night at Stamford Ridge, how important to recreate that on Sunday

05:25can you use that to your advantage?

05:27Absolutely, yes, we need that environment, we need the fans in the way they were

05:34and it's always nice to share that kind of moment at the end of the game with everyone

05:40Good luck

05:41Thank you

05:42Thanks Alex, John

05:43Just going back to the title, I know you were saying you could win the title

05:47but I remember it was about this time last season when you got to second in the league

05:52You said that you weren't ready to win the title but other teams know how to win the title

05:58Do you think it's different now? Do you think you are ready as a group to win it?

06:03I think it's different compared to one year ago and it's because we spent one more year together

06:11we went through a moment where we can learn from that moment

06:18then again, for me it's very early, we are still at the end of November, December

06:24so it's very early and it's important to be where we are now in March, April

06:29and then we'll see

06:31Can you see different mentalities in the players this season?

06:34and wins over Barcelona, surely that's anything else?

06:39Yeah, but these players...

06:41I can understand that we are always talking about the last game

06:46but I think these players in 16, 17, 18 months together

06:50they show many times that they can beat teams

06:54I mean, in the Premier League last year

06:57I think we had some good moments where we were able to beat teams

07:02and then PSG, the Club World Cup final

07:06this season, I don't know, again, Liverpool or Barcelona

07:10I mean, we compete always

07:12then sometimes we are able to win, sometimes we are not able to win

07:15but it's an important thing that we compete against any team

07:19so it's the hard part of maintaining that level of performance that you produced on Tuesday night

07:24trying to get some consistency, given that it is a young group

07:28Yeah, yeah, but I think we are in the right direction

07:32Just want to ask, obviously set-piece is a real strength

07:36we've spoken about this with numerous teams

07:39but what do you do to try and counter that?

07:43We try to defend in the best way we can

07:45and I think Arsenal is not just against one team or two teams

07:52Arsenal score goals in set-pieces against any team

07:56the last game against Bayern Munich

07:57they scored the first one from corner

07:59but it's not just that they score goals against any team

08:03they have a system in place that works very well

08:07and we're going to try to do our best to defend in the best way

08:10How different a challenge is it for you

08:12to going from trying to prepare against Barcelona

08:15and now against Arsenal?

08:17It's nice, it's a different challenge

08:20as you said, we plan the game against Barcelona in one way

08:24we need to plan a game against Arsenal in a different way

08:27and then we see at the end of the game

08:29Thanks John, Simon?

08:31Enzo, going back to Coles

08:34have you noticed around the players

08:36they must be pretty happy anyway in post-Barcelona

08:41but a real lift for the Coles back?

08:43Yeah, yeah, everyone is happy

08:45everyone is happy

08:46the teammates are happy

08:48we are all happy

08:49and the most important thing is that Coles is happy

08:51because at the end football players want to play games

08:56and they make sessions every day

08:59There's a lot of good players obviously for you to choose from

09:02but I think Chelsea fans can't wait to see Parma with Esteban

09:07how sort of worrying for opposition defences do you think those two can be as a combination?

09:14No, they can play together

09:17they can play together

09:18it depends against which team

09:20it depends a little bit on the game plan

09:22but for sure they are excited

09:24the fans are excited to watch both together

09:27we also are excited

09:29thinking that at the end

09:31we need always balance between the two faces

09:35Thanks Simon

09:36Davide?

09:37Speaking of mentality

09:40your team seems to be improving also in that aspect

09:44how are you working on that?

09:46How are you working on building the winning mentality you have been talking about?

09:51For me personally I already said a few times

09:54that the only way to build a winner mentality is to win games

09:58no matter the competition

10:00I think we are in the right direction

10:04we have also players inside the changing room

10:07that they behave like a leader

10:11they are growing also in this aspect

10:14and it's very important

10:15especially when you have a group like our squad

10:20Cole has played since September

10:22you've said many times he's the best player

10:25what kind of contribution can you give him?

10:28How much do you think he can elevate the level of the team?

10:32a lot

10:34a lot

10:35as you said

10:37he's probably our best player

10:39we are happy that he's back

10:41now we need to give him time

10:43to be 100% fit

10:45but he has done fantastic in the past

10:50and no doubt that he's going to do very good

10:53for this club in the future

10:56thanks David

10:57okay cameras off please

10:59okay that's good

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