00:27OK, good afternoon and thank you
00:29for joining us. We will take questions from the floor for a live section and we'll begin
00:35with James Ovundra and Sky Sports News. Away you go, James.
00:38Chawi, good to see you. Pre-season is nearly over. How ready do you feel for Monday night?
00:44Yeah, good afternoon everyone. We feel ready. We've prepared the whole pre-season these six
00:51weeks with some players from the first day, other ones coming later. But the desire, the
00:58ambition, the hunger to start the Premier League is already in the...
01:04...in the door.
01:11Hello.
01:13Hi Chawi.
01:37OK, good afternoon and thank you for joining us. We will take questions from the floor for
01:43a live section and we'll begin with James Ovundra and Sky Sports News. Away you go, James.
01:48Chawi, good to see you. Pre-season is nearly over. How ready do you feel for Monday night?
01:54Yeah, good afternoon everyone. We feel ready. We've prepared the whole pre-season these six
02:00weeks with some players from the first day and other ones coming later. But the desire,
02:08the ambition, the hunger to start the Premier League is already in the building in each
02:13training and we're looking forward to it.
02:16Joao Pedro is set to sign a new contract. He's got the No. 9 shirt now as well. Just how
02:21important is he for you?
02:23Yeah, we talk a lot with Joao because he's not just a great player. He has a great personality and
02:33I think that his development as a great player and as a leader is very noticeable every day in each
02:45game. So he has this focus and this desire to have a great season.
02:53Scoring goals but helping the team and I'm very happy. I'm very impressed with his personality as well and now
03:01we need to help him in reaching his goals.
03:05You've made a number of signings this summer already. Are you happy with the squad you have or do you
03:10think there could be more additions?
03:12No, I'm really happy. I think that we have made many right choices. Very good balance in terms of quality,
03:20in terms of personality,
03:21maturity, and different stages of the career. We have good momentum and we are in a good position I would
03:29say.
03:30There's been a lot of speculation as you'll know about Enzo Fernandes in this transfer window. Will he still be
03:36a Chelsea player on deadline day?
03:39Enzo is a Chelsea player. He's a top, top player. He's training really well since he started 10 days ago
03:49with the team, very integrated. We are happy with him and he's getting ready for Monday.
03:54Has he told you that he wants to stay at Chelsea?
03:57He's training really well and I see him with a good attitude and that's what we want. That everyone is
04:03trying his best to prepare for the kick-off of the Premier League.
04:08There are around 40 senior players at the club right now. Can you talk us through the thinking between splitting
04:14the players into different groups and what that means for the players that aren't involved in the main group?
04:20No, we have good managing well with group dynamics. Whenever we need we have different groups so it's not been
04:32an issue at the moment.
04:33And finally, Danny Werbeck was training on his own today. What was the latest with him? Could he be involved
04:38on Monday?
04:39He can be involved. He just needed a couple of days not training that much because of a little thing
04:46but we are expecting to be back on Saturday.
04:49We need to go day by day but that's the plan at the moment.
04:52Thanks, Xavi.
04:53Thanks, James.
04:56How big a challenge is this for you personally and how different a challenge is it to what you've faced
05:02so far in your managerial career?
05:05It's a challenge for everyone. We are all together in this new start of the season but the main thing
05:12for me is the targets and the goals that we share all together.
05:17And we have the ambition to have a great year and we don't need to think about what's going to
05:23happen late in the season.
05:25What we can control is what we do, how we start the season, how we prepare for the games.
05:30And for sure now the only focus at the moment is Fulham but for sure Premier League is challenging.
05:36Each game is going to be challenging. We are going to be improving game by game.
05:42I'm sure that the team that started Premier League and the one that's in December, even in November will be
05:51better because everything takes time.
05:54It's a process but we feel that we can have a good start and that's so important.
05:58The players who have been in the World Cup, players like Morgan Rodgers, will they need a bit longer to
06:03get up to speed?
06:04Are they ready to go flat out from the start?
06:07Let's see. We will check, we will assess but for sure because of the World Cup they came a little
06:13bit later and they will need maybe a little bit more of time but they are for sure selectable for
06:21the line up.
06:22When you talk about Tigers games, is top four a must for a club like Chelsea this season?
06:29Ambition and to be as high as possible. Let's see where we are in May but it's still a long
06:34way to go there.
06:36So for that you need to earn points and to win from early days and that's our goal and time
06:42will tell but for sure.
06:43The hunger to have success, the ambition to do well, to create good energy, good spirit within the team.
06:51That's the first goal because that helps you be more competitive and win more games.
06:57Incredibly, your first game was against Alvaro. I think a good friend of yours is that right?
07:02Do you speak with him regularly? What's the relationship like? What's it going to be like on Monday?
07:06Well, of course you can have a relation but once on the pitch. No friends, no past.
07:12It's just the 90 minutes that we are playing, fighting for each club and after is everything.
07:19Final one, there's no European football for you this season. Does that give you quite a significant advantage against all
07:28your rivals who are playing European football?
07:31We'll have more time to prepare each game, that's for sure. That's a fact. After we need to prove that
07:36we use the time in a right way,
07:39that we have enough players in good momentum to approach this game and for sure we'll have wanted but it
07:48is what it is and we need to use the time properly.
07:50Thanks, John. Saraya?
07:52Xavi, good to see you.
07:54Rhys James is entering his eighth season as a first-team player. We've seen him play as a right-back,
07:59a midfielder, a centre-back...
08:01A wing-back.
08:02A wing-back.
08:03Where do you see him in your side primarily?
08:06He's flexible in his game but he needs to feel important. I think that's the main thing. Not just because
08:15of the role he has as a captain but as well because of the quality he gives to the next
08:20team.
08:21Even wherever he plays as a right-back or as a midfielder, normally he makes the next team better because
08:28of his quality, because of his game intelligence, his experience, his composure with the ball.
08:34So it's good that we have players that can play in different positions, not just him but other players as
08:39well.
08:42I see him in a good mood, in a good mindset. For sure the club means so much to him
08:51and we want to have a good start, a fresh start with good momentum and that's why the start is
09:00so important on Monday.
09:02Lots of the boys have highlighted your skill in the training sessions. They say you can make the starting line
09:07-up for Chelsea today.
09:08They enjoy actually playing with the manager in training and it helps them get better. How important is that for
09:13you to actually play football?
09:15First, no chance for the line-up.
09:18Well, it is how I feel it. I like to be close to the players. I like to be involved
09:23in the trainings. I think that you need to be authentic and that's something that for me to have this
09:30close relation, to have this close impact with the players is so important because I think that my main goal
09:37is to help them.
09:37To help them understand, to help them know what to do after they need to be on the pitch, on
09:45the game day, they have control. They need to decide, they need to do their thing but for that we
09:51can prepare and for that preparation this is where I have my goal.
09:56To confirm, do you have your designated penalty takers? Are they the same to last season?
10:02I don't know which ones were last season but yes, we have our own decisions.
10:09You don't want to say?
10:10No, sorry.
10:12I'm going to ask just not more.
10:13Not too early. Hopefully we have a penalty and you can see that on Monday.
10:18I just wanted to talk about your first game in charge. It's a West London derby against another Spanish manager
10:23in the league. How is it preparing for an away game that's also a derby? It's a good mentality?
10:29Football is about mentality, it's about competitiveness, it's about going through good moments in a game, rough and tough moments
10:40in a game to deal with different momentum. It's so important and each game starting on Monday is going to
10:47be a nice battle.
10:49Good luck.
10:51Thank you. Time for two more in this section, Liam and then Rob.
10:54Hi Xavi, another positional question I wanted to ask about Marco Palestra. He seems like a really unusual player in
11:02a good way in terms of how comfortable he is with both feet. You've used him on both sides more
11:06recently on the left in pre-season. Is that where you see him starting the season?
11:11I would say it's probably unusual in England because in Italy, for example, it's quite common and he has had
11:20this toxic education in the Italian football to play both profiles. It doesn't matter if you are right footed or
11:26left footed that you are versatile.
11:27So he has this option, this energy. He's had a great impact as well within the changing room. He's integrated
11:38really well. He's a great guy and this freshness that he has brought, apart from his football qualities, it's a
11:47very great addition to the club.
11:50But yes, he's something different, maybe not that common here, but in Italy it's quite common.
11:58Finish with Rob.
11:59Hi Xavi. How has Levi Cole been in the pre-season, having had such a long time off most of
12:06the season? Is there any way in that having had that time away is helpful?
12:12Yeah, I would say so. I would say that having a proper precision has helped him in taking the right
12:21steps in the right moment, not trying to rush it too quick because of what he had last year.
12:30Even last year he finished playing in a good way and now after the precision we are expecting that and
12:37that he feels well and that he's with confidence and with the fitness to have him in the best level.
12:44Because if he's feeling okay, he's for me one of the best centre-backs in the world because of his
12:50composure, because of his presence, so complete, so dominant and Levi is going to be a key player for us.
13:00Thanks Rob, thanks everyone. Cameras off please.
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