- 23 minutes ago
Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso on their recent form, latest injury news and the challenge of a Premier League clash with Sunderland
Cobham, London, UK
Cobham, London, UK
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00:17Okay, good afternoon and thank you for joining us.
00:20We will take the usual format today and begin with Sky Sports News and James Favundra.
00:26There you go, James.
00:27Hi, Joey. Good to see you.
00:29Cole Farmer wasn't included in the England squad this morning.
00:32Have you spoken to him about his disappointment?
00:34No, we have not spoken about that.
00:37We have been talking about our game on Sunday.
00:42What have you made of his form this season?
00:44Do you feel like he's back to his best level?
00:46We are very happy with Cole.
00:48I think that he's enjoying his game.
00:52He's connecting very well with the other attackers.
00:56He's helping the team.
00:57He's helping the team as well in developing and improving what we want and what we want to achieve.
01:03Knowing that everything takes time.
01:05But I'm very happy with his quality, with his attitude and the impact that he's having on the rest of
01:11the team.
01:11Thomas Tuchel said once again this morning that Cole misses too many chances to impress.
01:17Are there perhaps any regrets at all that he missed the last international camp?
01:22We have not talked about that as far as we are playing games.
01:29We are focused on our things, on Chelsea things, how to do better, how to help him,
01:34how that he can become more and more influential in the game.
01:39And those are our topics to talk.
01:41Your focus with him is Chelsea, but he's not played for England since March.
01:46Has he spoken to you at all about his hunger to play for the national team?
01:49No, we speak about Chelsea.
01:50We speak about us.
01:51We have enough on our plate.
01:53We have to focus each weekend and that's my impact area, my control area and what we talk about.
02:02OK, let's talk about Chelsea then.
02:03Emi Martinez back in training this week.
02:06Is he going to start on Sunday?
02:07Tomorrow we have the last training session before Sunday and we will decide, but he's training well.
02:16Is that going to be a tough decision if he's fully fit because Mike Benders has impressed in the last
02:21two games in particular?
02:22All the decisions are tough in all the positions, but it's very good that Emi has made a great effort
02:28to be back,
02:29that he's been ahead of the plans to be part of the team.
02:35And tomorrow we will check and Sunday we will take the final decision.
02:42We didn't see Moyes and Caicedo in the first part of training on Wednesday.
02:47Are there any issues at all?
02:50Well, after the last game he had little problems, so we expect to check tomorrow different situations and Moyes is
02:59one of them.
03:00Is that to do with the card or is this a frustrating group?
03:04Well, it's a discomfort, more than the calf.
03:07And do you have an update when it comes to Maxence de Croix and Gilles Pedro?
03:11No, not really an update.
03:13For sure we are not expecting them for tomorrow, that's clear.
03:17And let's see after these two weeks of the international break, how is their recovery, the progress that they make.
03:24And for sure ahead of the Leeds game.
03:27I will have more updates, but not today.
03:30And finally for me, you said the team will look different in May, but right now you're in the top
03:34four.
03:35Do you feel like you're on track with when you want to be right now?
03:37Table means not too much because that can change so much in one week, in two games.
03:43You can be fourth, you could be so.
03:46We are taking a step forward, I think, and with the ball, against the ball, being more solid, and we
03:55have a tough opponent, tough visit.
03:59Sunderland, we know what it takes to win there, we know how demanding it will be, it doesn't matter the
04:06table, I think that they deserve more points that they got, and it's going to be a tough game away.
04:15Thanks, James. Roger.
04:31He needs to focus on his thing, his thing is to play good football, to enjoy his game with us,
04:41with Chelsea, to connect with his teammates.
04:43For sure we spoke about the red card after the first game, this is something that we have spoken, but
04:50most of the things apart from that are about the game, about football, about what we can do better.
04:57Last time Chelsea played against Sunderland at the end of last season, there was a game that they lost, Sunderland
05:02qualified for Europe, Chelsea missed out.
05:04When you look at the league table now, do you think that that result in any way has worked in
05:08the long term in Chelsea's favour, perhaps?
05:13You could say, you could think that, but I haven't thought much about it, I remember watching that game, because
05:20it had a direct impact on the following season.
05:23Now we are what we are, we are fully focused on Premier League, and for sure they have the Europa
05:30League, but as I've said, early days to talk too much about the table, we need to, we want the
05:37last game, keep winning, winning, winning, and to build this mentality to go game by game.
05:42And you watched that game then, and then you see where Sunderland are now, what can you see, is there
05:48something different about the make-up, the way they're playing?
05:49No, no, no, I analyse them, but it's a different season, and for sure they have to take their considerations,
05:57but we are expecting, it was tough, and we are expecting a tough game on Sunday as well.
06:03And a team that, they do many good things, they should have more points probably, and that is not going
06:12to be easy for sure.
06:13Now, ask Matt Esteveld, where you said in the Manchester United game, there was always the intention that he would
06:17play, it was a very different challenge against Sunderland, so do you take that into consideration about whether we play
06:22together?
06:22It was very good for him, for the team, that he had such an impact, that we had taken the
06:29decision, and he knew what was going to be the game like, and it was for him very important, that
06:36game, and for the team as well.
06:37Thanks, Roger.
06:39Hi, Xavi. With Cole, I just wanted to go back to him, his situation suffered because he's sort of withdrawn,
06:45and then he played for 88 minutes against Bournemouth straight after the break.
06:49I was just wondering, how have you found him sort of, do you always have players available for international duty,
06:54don't stop him at all?
06:55So, can you repeat from the beginning, I missed the first part?
06:57With Cole, he sort of withdrew from international duty, and then he played 88 minutes against Bournemouth.
07:02I was just wondering, how's your relationship with the national team as a club, how does that work?
07:07You know, you never tell a player to withdraw with you, like, push them to withdraw?
07:11No, no, no. I never tell. I think that whenever a player is fully fit, is selectable. When he's not
07:19fit, we try to give the national teams the reasonable information to decide together sometimes, because sometimes it's not good
07:27for the player.
07:28For example, Anselmino has been called up for Argentina, they ask us, and he's been training for the last ten
07:35days better, and for him it's very important to have this first call-up.
07:39And with the others, quite the same.
07:42Exactly. And I guess with, you know, Joel Hayto as well, I felt like he was the closest to coming
07:47back. How was his fitness?
07:48Who, sorry?
07:48Joel Hayto?
07:49No, no, no. He's not fit. He's not fit yet. It will take some more weeks.
07:53How was his fitness? It felt like it was closer when you left?
07:57Not yet. Not yet to be close, so maybe after the international, but it's going to take longer.
08:06I guess with, you know, these players out, how have you managed to cope with it quite well? How have
08:12you sort of managed that, you know, with the squad and all these players?
08:15You know, there are moments when a player feels that he's far from the pitch, but actually he's not that
08:21far. It's about having the opportunity. Everyone will have their moment.
08:25We have seen it and we will see again happening because of the situations that we have dealing with injuries
08:33in certain positions, other positions more than others. But at the end, in the long run, you see that everyone
08:39will play their role.
08:40Thanks, Nizar. Simon?
08:42Back to Emi, Emi's face mask. Where did you get it from?
08:47The mask? I guess from a specialist, not from a Halloween shop, I guess.
08:59A specialist, for sure.
09:02It might sound an obvious question, but what does it actually do and how is he finding it so far?
09:07Because Nizar has been wearing it and training.
09:09He's getting used, for sure. It's not the most comfortable thing, but he's getting used to it and he's been
09:14training almost the whole week with it.
09:17And for a certain period of time, I'm sure that he will have to deal with it and to cope
09:22with it.
09:22So there's no obstruction, no obstacle being played on Sunday if you make that decision?
09:28No. No, no, no. He's been doing everything with that, so it's not obstruction and we have the green light
09:34from the doctors after the concussion.
09:38It's been already three weeks, so we have everything.
09:42Thanks, Simon. And we'll finish this section with Rob.
09:45You said last week you felt that whether the final was ready to step in with Max Sensal for a
09:51while.
09:52But he had quite a difficult first half on Saturday and gave way to big chances.
09:57Was there a temptation for you to take him off for a half-time?
10:00No. No, because it's about dealing with difficult moments and he did many good things.
10:08For sure the mistakes he knew and he reacted really well in the second final half.
10:14He was solid, he was reliable as he was in Liverpool despite of the penalty.
10:20So no, no, there was no... that went through my mind.
10:24There was a bit of a negative reaction from behind the dugout, specifically when you made the second mistake at
10:32Messi Island.
10:34What kind of character is he? Is he someone that can move out well against that kind of thing?
10:39I think that he's been already in the Premier League for years, he's been in the club for three years.
10:44Four. Four, yeah. Four. You know better than me.
10:47And so it's part of the job to deal with sound that is not what you want to hear, to
10:59deal with mistakes, to deal with difficult situations.
11:02So I'm seeing now that he's very focused this year, he's mature, he's had his baby.
11:11So it's making him more mature as well as taking more responsibilities on the pitch as well.
11:18That sometimes is not direct but sometimes helps as well.
11:21So we support him and he's important.
11:25Thanks Rob. Thanks everyone. Cameras off please.
11:27OK, so good luck, please.
11:27Hey, guys.
11:27Bye bye, bye guys.
11:29Bye bye.
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