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Rosenior on Chelsea's champions league clash with Pafos at Stamford bridge
20/01/2026
uefa26
20/01/2026
uefa26
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00:00Oh, good afternoon.
00:02He can talk to you now.
00:21Okay, good afternoon and thank you for joining us ahead of tomorrow's Champions League group
00:26closed game against Pathos.
00:28We will take questions from the floor.
00:31Please raise your hand if you'd like a question.
00:34We'll do one each and then come round again if we've got time.
00:37So we'll start with Nizar in the front.
00:40Hi, Liam.
00:40Can you wait for the microphone, please, Nizar?
00:43Hi, Liam.
00:44I just wanted to know how the team is shaping up in terms of injuries, illness.
00:48You mentioned that after we last spoke.
00:50How are the players?
00:51Yeah, so Enzo Fernandes was ill yesterday and missed training.
00:55There were signs of it during the game.
00:58And that goes to show the type of performance that he put in against Brentford.
01:03Fortunately, Esteval's been back in.
01:06Jamie Gittins is back in.
01:09Who else was it?
01:10There's so many.
01:13They're all involved.
01:14Gittins is back.
01:15Malo Gusto's back involved, which is great.
01:18Another outstanding player.
01:20There's a few coughs.
01:21They're working really, really hard, like I said.
01:23It's not just at this club.
01:24Many clubs at the moment at this time of year, you're going to get that.
01:27And it's about making sure the players are right for the game tomorrow.
01:30Kieran.
01:33Hi, Liam.
01:34Hi, Ken.
01:35Can I just get you, in your own words, just to tell us what it means for you to be managing
01:39a Champions League match?
01:41Because I imagine that since you came into coaching, it's long been a dream.
01:45Yeah, I think your dream, whether you're a player or a coach or a manager, is to be
01:49at the very top of the game.
01:50The Champions League is a signal of that.
01:54It's not about me.
01:55It's not about me or my ambitions.
01:57I'm proud to be here, like I've said before.
01:59My focus is on winning the game.
02:01My focus is on being successful here.
02:03So I'm preparing the game like we would for any game to make sure we put in the best
02:09performance to give us the best chance of winning the game.
02:12Gary.
02:13Hello, Liam.
02:14Hi.
02:16You've been around football enough to know this is a time of year where you have to
02:19field plenty of transfer questions, particularly when you're a Premier League head coach.
02:24There's a lot of talk linking you to Jeremy Jacquet, obviously from the French League.
02:29You'll know him well.
02:30What can you tell us about that?
02:32You'll know about me.
02:34I don't speak about players at other clubs until something is agreed with any player.
02:39I think it's so disrespectful.
02:40If I was a manager of another team and a manager speaking about my player, I wouldn't be a happy
02:45person.
02:46So whether it's true or whether it's not, I will speak about that at the right time.
02:50With Axel Di Sassi back in the fold, certainly when it comes to training with his first team
02:55teammates, is that a factor?
02:57Would he be available training again to be sold?
02:59No.
03:00My decision on Axel, I had a really good meeting with him a couple of days ago.
03:03I wanted to catch up with him, see where he was in terms of his career.
03:07I said to the players, it's one thing saying things, it's another thing living that.
03:11I said to the players when I came in, it's a clean slate for everybody.
03:14So it was only right for me to have a conversation with him.
03:17Really good conversation.
03:18I got to know him really, really well and it was the right for him to be back involved
03:22with the group.
03:23Because of the situation he's been in, he's behind in terms of his fitness, his match
03:27fitness and we'll keep working with him really, really hard to get him up to speed.
03:32Still no sign of Raheem?
03:34No, Raheem at the moment, we're in conversations at the moment about different things and different
03:40options that are going on in his career and hopefully that will be clearer in the next
03:44few days.
03:44Hi Liam, I just wanted to check in on Tosin after he picked up that injury and also with
03:52what you just said about Enzo, is he expected to be available tomorrow?
03:56Yeah, so Enzo trained today.
03:59None of those lads are at 100%.
04:01It's a bad illness.
04:04So we'll make that decision on Enzo tomorrow and what he looks like in terms of starting
04:09or from the bench.
04:10Unfortunately for Tosin, there's something in his hamstring which is going to rule him
04:14out for the next few weeks, but I can't be more precise with that at the moment.
04:19Peter, just in the back please.
04:22Hi Liam.
04:23Hi Liam.
04:24We're going to speak to Liam Dillat I think shortly and obviously you worked with him
04:28at Hull.
04:29I know you've spoken a little bit before about him, but I was just wondering now that you've
04:33worked with him for a little bit, I know he was ill, but compared to when you were coach
04:38at Hull, how have you seen his progress?
04:40What kind of player is he now compared to then?
04:42And what does he need to do now to really kick on at Chelsea?
04:46Yeah, I've been delighted, not just with Liam, with a lot of the players that I've worked
04:51with through my career.
04:53When Liam moved to Ipswich, we were watching every game, not just him, Jacob Greaves, Jadon
04:58Filagin.
04:59I like to keep a track of the players that I've worked with and it was so good to see him
05:03perform at the level that I really believe he was capable of in the Premier League.
05:07So it did not surprise me at all to see him come to this club and move up a level again.
05:14And the great thing for Liam with his age, with his potential, with what I know he's
05:18capable of, it's exciting because he's got so much more to come.
05:22But in terms of working with him at Hull, I'm not surprised at the level he's got to
05:26in a short space of time, but he also knows with me I'm going to keep pushing him to keep
05:30improving.
05:31And if he can do that, and I'm very confident he can, he's going to have an outstanding
05:35career.
05:35Jacob?
05:37Hi Liam.
05:39I'm not sure if you've seen, there's been quite a lot of reports in Europe over the
05:42last few days talking about PSG, Real Madrid wanting Enzo Fernandes this summer.
05:49Obviously he's already looked really important for you in your first few games, so I just
05:52wonder what your reaction is to those suggestions.
05:56It means nothing to me.
05:58When you're a world-class player, an outstanding player, there's always going to be speculation
06:02that you can't control.
06:03What I've said about Enzo on record is the case.
06:07He's been outstanding in the time I've worked with him.
06:10And he's even surprised me in a good way in terms of what he did on Saturday to be ill.
06:16I know it was his birthday, but to be ill and cover the ground that he did, the way that
06:19he's trained and the way that he's performed.
06:21I'm speaking on the realities of the situation, which is he's a Chelsea player.
06:25He's very, very important to me.
06:27And I think we're going to have a really, really good, hopefully winning relationship
06:31moving forward in the short term and the long term.
06:33Liam, how much of an advantage would it be to avoid playoff games in February, given you're
06:43coming in mid-season and you're literally just playing games, recovery, maybe one or two
06:47training sessions in another game?
06:48Yeah, it would be optimal.
06:51It would be great.
06:53Especially when you're a new manager coming in, you want those training days so you can
06:57imprint a little bit more.
06:59But the most important thing is getting through.
07:01That's what's important.
07:03So tomorrow we focus on the game.
07:06Pathos is not an easy game.
07:07They're still in a position where they can qualify, analysing them.
07:11They have strengths in terms of the way Albert has put the team together, that we have to
07:16be aware of.
07:17But we need to go out and perform really, really well and not think too much about how important
07:21it is to miss out games.
07:22The most important thing is qualifying.
07:25And one of those strengths, if he's fit, will be David Luiz.
07:29I wondered how much you'd come up, whether you'd played against him, because you're not
07:33much older than he is, and whether you come across him and what you think he's brought
07:36to David, over his career, has had an outstanding career.
07:42Obviously, he's had successful times at this club, and I'm sure he's working really, really
07:46hard to be fit to play in what would be a really important game for him.
07:51Analyzing the last game, I think he came off.
07:55We don't know how serious that is, but I think for him, he would love to play in this
07:59game and perform really well in it.
08:01Rob, in the middle, please.
08:02Hi, Liam.
08:07What do you think Enzo's best position in the team is, from what you've seen?
08:11Because a few different Chelsea managers have tried him in a couple of different places.
08:14Is he next to Caicedo in midfield, or is he a more effective team, do you think?
08:20Yeah, I think Enzo, because he's got an extreme skill set.
08:23Firstly, technically, he's outstanding.
08:26He covers a lot of ground.
08:27He's actually a very, very good athlete in terms of the way he can cover ground.
08:30He can finish, he can score goals.
08:33He arrives really well in the box.
08:34When he plays higher up as a forward running eight or a number 10 in the pocket, he really
08:40does arrive well in the box.
08:43And a player of his level can do many different things.
08:46What I need to do, not just with Enzo, with all of the players, is find out what the chemistry
08:49is around his position.
08:51It's not just him.
08:52It's how other players fit around him.
08:54But for me, Enzo can play deeper as a six, which he did really well against Arsenal.
08:58I brought him on against Charlton as a pocket player, and he did really well there.
09:02It doesn't surprise me, because he's an outstanding player.
09:04So I don't like pigeonholing players.
09:07I don't say they're one position.
09:09If you look in my career, what I've done with players, I've used them in different roles
09:14because of the way teams play against us and the strengths and weaknesses of each game.
09:19And I'll do that with Enzo, because he's an outstanding player.
09:22OK, we've got time for a few more.
09:24Jacob, in the back.
09:27Hello again.
09:29Both times Chelsea won the Champions League, it comes when they've changed manager mid-season.
09:34I just wonder if you think it's realistic this season that you could be the third to do that.
09:39It would be great.
09:40Hopefully, third time, not lucky, because you're not lucky to win a Champions League.
09:45I've said to the players, if we focus on each game, not think too far ahead,
09:50perform as well as we possibly can, and never limit the ambitions of my group,
09:54no matter what group I'm working with.
09:56But those games and those trophies don't exist if you don't do the job now.
09:59We have to focus on this game, and hopefully another three points puts us closer to that target.
10:05Peter?
10:06Hi, Jan-Lim.
10:07We saw Mamadou Saar win the African Cup of Nations on Sunday night.
10:12He's someone, obviously, that you know really well.
10:15Is he someone that you could see have a strong career back at Chelsea?
10:19Is that something even under consideration for this month?
10:22Obviously, we've spoken about looking for another defender.
10:25Where does Mamadou fit into all of that?
10:27Yeah, firstly, congratulations to Mamadou.
10:30It's a huge honour to win a tournament.
10:33I watched the game.
10:35It was a crazy game.
10:36We performed really, really well in it.
10:38It doesn't surprise me working with him.
10:40Again, he is someone at the moment who is not my player.
10:44I won't speak about players, their futures or what's to come,
10:47because I have a lot of respect for Strasbourg.
10:50I have a lot of respect for Gary O'Neill and what they're doing there.
10:53He's got an amazing potential.
10:55He's got an amazing career in front of him.
10:56But in terms of our plans in the future or now,
10:59I don't think it's the right time to speak about that.
11:01OK, if there's no more questions, we'll end it there.
11:05Thanks, guys.
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