Maresca on Chelsea latest ahead of Carabao Cup tie with Barrow
23/09/2024
Cobham Training centre, Surrey, UK
23/09/2024
Cobham Training centre, Surrey, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00Okay, good afternoon. If you'd like to ask a question, please raise your hand.
00:27Gary, we'll get started with you.
00:29Thank you, mate. Hello, good afternoon.
00:31I think last time you said that Labia and Gusto were back on the grass.
00:36Are they anywhere near being available?
00:39Yeah, Malo is available for tomorrow.
00:42Romeo is not available for tomorrow.
00:44Hopefully he can be available for Brighton game.
00:47So this is a chance for you to use some players who maybe haven't had the minutes so far?
00:54Yeah, it will be a chance also to give them some minutes.
00:58It's in the same way we have done in the Conference League.
01:02We try to share minutes with them.
01:04So hopefully it can be a good chance for them also to show a little bit of themselves
01:09and to continue to get minutes.
01:11Having said that, obviously this competition, Chelsea came so close to winning it last season.
01:20And also for you it would be your first chance to make your mark here in terms of winning a trophy.
01:25So how important is this match in this competition?
01:28No, no, it's important but not because we think we're going to win this competition.
01:33It's important because it's an official game.
01:36It's a different competition but as I said it's an official game.
01:40So we're going to try in the way we always try to prepare the game in the best way and try to win.
01:48But to think in the first game already, thinking that because we were close last year,
01:55this year for sure we're going to try to win all the games.
01:58But the main focus has to be that it's an official game and we need to do our best to win the game.
02:04But would you like to win the first trophy available?
02:07Yeah, for sure, for sure.
02:10Smiling and that's apt because the way you're playing, the two recent results, clean sheets,
02:16full of praise for a lot of your players.
02:19Attention for once seems to be on the pitch rather than off the pitch.
02:25How relieved are you about that?
02:28We try to be focused on the things that we can do better,
02:35we can do and we can do better, the things that we can control.
02:38And the pitch side is where we can be focused.
02:43So I said many times it's the only thing that we need to pay attention to,
02:49is how we can do the things better, how we can improve.
02:53And I think we are progressing, we are in the right direction,
02:59but we just started two months ago.
03:03But for sure the feeling is a good feeling.
03:07How pleased are you that you've improved?
03:09You've always said all the talk about ownership,
03:12all the talk about the size of the squad,
03:14that's not affecting us out there on the training pitch.
03:16And now certainly the last few games you've improved,
03:18is that a nice feeling for you?
03:20Absolutely, because it's the things where we work every day
03:24and it's the things where we can control a little bit.
03:28It has to be the main focus for us.
03:32Do you know who the last Premier League manager
03:35to win their first three Premier League away games was?
03:38It was in 2016.
03:39Yeah, they said to me, yeah.
03:40Oh, they told you?
03:41Oh, they spoiled you?
03:42That's cheating.
03:43Pep Guardiola, that's good footsteps to be following, right?
03:47Yeah, it's good to win games, first of all.
03:51We won three games in a row away, hopefully we can continue,
03:55but hopefully we can share some good moments at home with our fans,
04:00that also will be important.
04:02Hopefully we can give them three points,
04:05starting with tomorrow and then hopefully also the next game at home.
04:09Because at West Ham and Bournemouth,
04:11there were some nice moments at the end of the match
04:13shared with the Chelsea fans who were travelled
04:16in the next ballgame to now at home,
04:18so you'd like to have that kind of result,
04:21that kind of performance for the home fans?
04:23Exactly, to share that moment with our fans.
04:26As I said after the Bournemouth game, Wolves game and West Ham game,
04:31it's always nice to share that moment with our fans,
04:34but it's even better when we can share that moment at home with all the stadium.
04:39Do you get a sense that they are,
04:41even though you haven't done it quite at home yet,
04:46although it's a bit obvious,
04:47but do you get a sense through social media,
04:50through the coverage,
04:51that the fans are now beginning to believe
04:53that things are moving in the right direction?
04:56At the end I think the result is always going one way or the other way.
05:02I said in this moment, for us it's always important the result for sure,
05:08but it's also important the other part,
05:10that is to see how the team is progressing, is improving.
05:14And then in terms of social network,
05:18I'm quite lucky because I don't have any social network.
05:22I know that people, but people most of the time,
05:25I think they just write things.
05:28It depends if we win or if we don't win.
05:31They don't have time to focus on the performance,
05:37if it was good or not.
05:38They just judge us because of the results.
05:41But overall I think we need to see,
05:44we need to also analyse the way the team is progressing.
05:48That's obviously very well at the moment.
05:50Barrow, top of their league,
05:54still about 60 places below you in the football pyramid.
05:58Is there a danger you can underestimate them?
06:01No, it's dangerous also because football is full of these kind of games
06:06that you think it's an easy game and then it's a tricky game.
06:09Probably in this moment it's the worst game for us.
06:12It's much better, different kind of games.
06:15This is the reason why we need to take it serious.
06:17We cannot allow ourselves to drop a little bit.
06:24You're within point-blast on three of Man City in those early days.
06:30Does it feel like you're a little bit ahead of schedule
06:34in terms of how close you are with those teams?
06:36Especially given you lost to Man City in the opening game.
06:39No, I said that we are ahead where we expected to be today,
06:46but not in terms of results,
06:48in terms of the way the team is progressing and is playing.
06:52Then in terms of results,
06:54I still think that we are far from these kind of teams, clubs,
07:00like I said many times, City, Arsenal,
07:03because we need to learn many, many things.
07:06We need to improve many things.
07:09Attacking better, defending better.
07:11But the important thing is the feeling that we have in this moment
07:15that we are going in that direction.
07:18This is very important.
07:19Has Kiernan Dewsby-Hawke got a chance of starting tomorrow?
07:23Yes, probably.
07:24Is he starting?
07:26Yes, we have a session today, this afternoon.
07:30I also like to tell the players before...
07:37How do you think it's gone for him so far in terms of...
07:40He's obviously one of the sides you were particularly keen to do.
07:45He arrived currently in injury.
07:47There's a lot of focus on him,
07:49given that Chelsea let Kyle Gallagher join the team.
07:53No, I'm very happy with Kiernan.
07:56This is the reason why I said before
07:59that if we simply judge a team or player
08:05because of the way they play or if they win...
08:08But we also need to understand
08:11that Kiernan was the main player at Leicester.
08:14He arrived here now and he's not the main player.
08:16He's one of the players.
08:18For him, for any players in the world,
08:20you need to adapt.
08:23Mentally, you need to adapt.
08:24Because you go from,
08:25OK, I'm the main player here,
08:27I'm one of the players.
08:28And that period requires a little bit of time
08:32that you understand that and you adapt that.
08:34But I'm completely happy with Kiernan.
08:37The way he's doing, for sure,
08:41when you go inside five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes,
08:43it's never easy.
08:44It's not easy for Kiernan.
08:45It's not easy for the rest of the players.
08:47So you need a little bit to understand
08:49that kind of situation
08:51that is different from the previous one
08:53where you were the main player.
08:55So it's just a matter of adapting a little bit.
08:58But overall, I don't have any doubt for Kiernan.
09:04Is that why, in a way, this fixture schedule,
09:08it's now going to be midweek, weekend, midweek, weekend,
09:11is it going to help a player like Kiernan?
09:14Absolutely.
09:15Absolutely.
09:16Like him and like all the rest of the players,
09:18they are not starting in the Premier League,
09:21but they're going to start in the conference,
09:24on the Carabao, the different competitions.
09:27With that in mind, you have five competitions,
09:31maybe 80 or so games along the season,
09:34extended into July.
09:36So how do you view the Carabao Cup
09:38in relation to all the different competitions
09:41and how will you manage that load across all five?
09:48Probably because of the last two years,
09:51we cannot allow ourselves to make,
09:55OK, the first target is this,
09:57then we need to go game by game
09:59and to see where we arrive close and fight for that.
10:05I don't see in this moment any competition
10:07better than the other one.
10:09For sure, the main one is the Premier League, always.
10:12It's the competition where you try to do your best, always.
10:17But in terms of, OK, this is the most important,
10:20this is not important, it's not for us.
10:22We need to take every game in the same way
10:25and then we see at the end if we are close something
10:27and go for it.
10:29I only ask because Carlo Ancelotti said
10:31that he might rest players during the season.
10:33He said because of the player workload
10:35that they have in Real Madrid,
10:37he'll maybe rest some of his players,
10:39one player this week, one player another week.
10:41Do you have any ideas like that because of the workload?
10:44And you spoke a little bit about maybe playing a strike last week.
10:48No, the only thing I mentioned is that
10:52the reason why we left out from the conference squad
10:56is because we try to protect players.
10:59More or less it's the same idea.
11:02But in this moment I'm not thinking to leave out players
11:06for another competition.
11:08I could ask, you have your squad,
11:10a lot of people said it's big,
11:12but it's maybe a little bit big but it's not so big.
11:15Is that helpful and will you give a chance to Chilwell,
11:19Chukwumaika, maybe some of the young players,
11:21George or Akinpong in this game?
11:23They're going to be the ones that you just mentioned,
11:26they're going to be on the squad for tomorrow.
11:28Some of them we'll see if they start from the beginning,
11:31but if not they're going to be all on the bench
11:34and hopefully we can give them some moments.
11:37OK, final question, we'll go to Bobby.
11:40Hi, Enzo.
11:42Mikhailo Modric, because you mentioned last week
11:45that you see Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho as your left-back.
11:52Pedro Neto and Non in the right,
11:54and Sancho and Misha in the left.
11:57Sorry, Pedro came on on the left against West Ham.
12:01Do you see Modric as a third-choice left-winger
12:06with Neto being able to play there as well?
12:08Or do you see it solely as the two right-wingers
12:12and then Modric on the left?
12:13No, the main idea is, as I said,
12:15Pedro and Non in the right side
12:17and Misha and Jadon in the left side.
12:19Then also the game requires a little bit
12:22who in that moment is the one that I think is the correct one.
12:28For instance, West Ham, because Wan-Bissaka attacked a lot
12:32and Jadon was doing the first half
12:34and the beginning of the second half very good
12:36and then he was tired.
12:37So we tried to change a little bit,
12:38but to continue to keep the same idea.
12:41So our winger to be in charge a little bit of Wan-Bissaka.
12:45And I know that Pedro can do that very good,
12:47also Misha, but in that moment I decided for Pedro.
12:51And quick, just a final one.
12:53How important is this sort of competition for Mikhail and Modric then?
12:57Because chances in the Premier League have been sort of limited so far.
13:00No, it's important for him,
13:02but it's important for all of the rest, the other players.
13:06They are players that they train every day very good,
13:09but unfortunately I cannot give them a chance like,
13:12I don't know, Benoit.
13:13Benoit is working very well,
13:15but he's not getting minutes in the Premier League.
13:17But it's not because he's doing bad,
13:19it's because sometimes you have to take some decisions.
13:24But Misha, like Benoit, like all the players,
13:27they are not getting so many chances.
13:29Tomorrow it's a good chance for them to get minutes
13:32and hopefully to win again.