Every word Enzo Maresca said on Romeo Lavia return, Chelsea injuries, Brighton, Moises Caicedo
Enzo Maresca faced the media ahead of Chelsea's Premier League meeting with Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues are looking to win their fourth successive match in all competitions after beating Bournemouth, West Ham United and Barrow in their last three games. Chelsea look in fine fiddle going into tomorrow afternoon's game - and you can read every word Maresca had to say below...
Injuries... Is Romeo Lavia still out?
"No. Romeo is available for tomorrow. The only one who isn't available is Reece [James]."
Is he fit enough to play the whole game or start?
"We will see. We will see. We have one more session and then we will decide, but the important is that he is finally back."
No update on Reece?
"Yes, exactly."
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Plenty of players knocking on your door to start this weekend?
"Not at the moment [laughs]. As I said after the last game, it's a good thing for me to have some doubt. They are doing well, they are doing well when we give the chance to them.
"This is something important and something we need to continue to do because we can create the right culture in terms of the team competing. This is important."
One of your biggest headaches is deciding between Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku?
"Yes, it's one of them but Pedro [Neto] did well the other day, Misha [Mudryk] did well the other day, all of them. Benoit [Badiashile] did well, Axel [Disasi] did well, Renato [Veiga] and Cesare [Casadei], for me, played a fantastic game the other day.
"It's important that when there is a chance, even if it's five or 10 minutes, they give everything. It's important."
Will you look to give Ben Chilwell some more minutes in the Premier League?
"Yeah, in the moment that we need, why not? I said already many times and I will say again; in the moment Chilly is with us, he is one of the Chelsea players and one of our players. If we need, we can give him time and minutes."
When you were advising Chilwell to leave, do you now believe that was a mistake?
"We all make mistakes. Probably yes or probably no. I'm here to make decisions; sometimes they are good decisions, sometimes they are not good but the only thing I can say is that there is not any bad intention from me. It's to think about the best thing for the club."
If you win tomorrow, you could be nominated for Manager of the Month...
"The focus is just about the game. If we are able to win, that is the most important to continue with the momentum. This is the only thing. I will be happy to share the three points with the fans at home. This is the most important thing."
Has this been easier than expected?
"Not easy, not easy [laughs]. As we said, we have already had two weeks where there is no noise around the team - this is important. I think it's not easy, it's what I expected in terms of hard work, but at the same time it's exciting."
How important have the last few weeks been for creating the belief inside and outside of the club?
"It's always important to win games. It gives us energy, confidence and trust. Even sometimes when you don't win, you play some good games and you have to be focused on that. Sometimes it happens on the other side, sometimes you win games you do not deserve and you think everything is fine but it's not fine.
"The main thing in this moment, for sure, the results are important but it's to see how we progress. It's to see how we can change players but the identity and idea is still there. This has to be, in this moment, the main target and then for sure, we are going to win games."
Have you seen the players grow? How long will it take for all of this to come together?
"Since day one, they have been open-minded and trying to understand what we want from them. I have seen this happen from day one. There is no limit in terms of we need three months to learn everything. No. We are going to continue to learn everyday.
"There is not a moment where we say, 'okay, we need six months to learn', no, no, no. It's a working progress. We can improve everyday."
Is one of your biggest challenges keeping players happy? Nkunku scored a hat-trick on Tuesday but might not start tomorrow...
"I'll be honest. I'll be honest with him and with all of them. I've said to them since day one we cannot play with seven or eight attacking players otherwise there is no defensive balance.
"Nico is playing in the Premier League and scored two goals [vs West Ham] and Christo played the other day and scored three. This is good because not one of them can drop, that means the other one has more chances; thinking and knowing that it is impossible for them to be at the same level all season. But it is important they compete with each other."
Three clean sheets in a row. How important is that?
"Absolutely it is important because we don't concede. When you don't concede, you have more chances of winning. It's also important that the feeling we have. We conceded against [Manchester] City two goals but we didn't concede many chances and City is a team that always have big amount of chances and goals.
"The other game against Wolves we conceded two goals but in the second-half we did not concede any shots. So I think defensively we also need to improve many, many things but we are in the right direction. That doesn't mean every game we are not going to concede, that's not real, we are going to concede goals but it's important that we improve the concept between all the team.
"When we talk about the defensive line, you used to think we are just talking about the defensive players but it's not. I said after the West Ham game that the best players defending were Cole [Palmer] and Nicolas, the way they started the high pressing to give us a chance to manage the situation better. It's about all the team."
How important is Marc Cucurella?
"Marc is very important. Marc has something you sometimes struggle to find in players. Marc is good. He is also making good the players around him because he is a guy that is always talking, always demanding and when you have five, six or seven players like Marc, always talking and improving the other players, it is something important. I'm very happy with Marc."
How well has Fabian Hurzeler done so far?
"Fantastic. He is doing a fantastic job. I also watched some games from last year where he was in Germany. You can clearly see the idea. When you join a club where the previous manager more or less has the same idea, it helps a lot. My big friend De Zerbi was there so they have continued also with the same style and that is something that helps a lot."
Chelsea play on quite a tight pitch. With the style of play you are bringing to the club, would you ideally like to play on a bigger pitch?
"I think in the end, the pitches more or less are all the same. Sometimes the pitch looks big when we are in the right position. When we do not move a lot, sometimes we want to move a lot and we make the pitch small. It depends more on how we behave than the pitch."
How impressed have you been with Tosin Adarabioyo?
"Very impressed. I know Tosin since City. Very impressed with him, the way he has behaved on and off the pitch. He is one of the leaders in the dressing room. We are very delighted and very happy with him."
How good is Moises Caicedo?
"He is top player. He is very good but as all the top players, he can improve things and for sure he can improve. The way he is playing in this moment is fantastic.
"About the price, it is not Moi's problems. It is the market that sometimes decides the price. Most of the time because clubs pay a lot of money for players, we expect that kind of player will be always the best but it is not like this.
"Moi has to enjoy, to play, and to work hard, but the most important thing is for him to be happy and enjoy football - and don't think about these types of things because it is not his problem. If a club pays for a player, it is because the club decide, it's not because the player asks to pay this amount. It's an agreement between the clubs. For a player in this case, just enjoy playing football. Moi does that very well and that is the most important thing."