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Every word Enzo Maresca said on Cole Palmer injury doubt, Chelsea form, Trevoh Chalobah recall

Enzo Maresca
-Credit:Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC


Enzo Maresca has just conducted his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Premier League meeting with Wolves on Monday evening.

The Blues are on a five-match winless run in the Premier League as the west Londoners now face a serious battle to finish in the top four this season. Tuesday night saw Chelsea draw 2-2 with Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge, with it now being well over a month without a victory in the Premier League for the Blues.

Maresca faced the media on Friday afternoon where he previewed Monday night's clash, and also addressed a variety of other topics. You can read every word the Chelsea head coach had to say below...

READ MORE: Enzo Maresca reveals huge Cole Palmer Chelsea injury worry for Wolves clash

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Is Reece James ready for a start?

"For Reece, it's not about to score goals or how many minutes; it's just about his situation. For sure, if you play 45 minutes then that means you can be ready but what we don't want for Reece is that we go again and injury again. We don't want that.

"Since we started, we are in any case trying to help him and we are going to do exactly the same in this moment."

Can you talk us through the process of bringing Trevoh Chalobah back from his loan?

"The process is quite an easy process in terms of we have a few injuries so we were looking for solutions. We thought probably the best solution was to call back Trev - first of all because we know him very well and second because we are sure he can help us, so we decided for that solution."

Has he settled back in well?

"Yeah. He knows the house better than me, he was born here. First of all, he was very happy; I can see it in his face. I had a chat with him a few days ago and I had a chat with him and you can see it in his eyes when he is really happy. We are really happy he is here."

Has he got something to prove to you?

"The reason why he left at the beginning of the season, it was more to do with these kinds of problems, financial, these kinds of things. It was not only a technical decision. We are sure he can help us now."

Will Armando Broja be coming back to Chelsea?

"No idea, to be honest. No idea. I didn't speak to [David] Moyes and I didn't hear what he said, so at the moment, I don't have any news about Armando."

Is anyone else not available for Monday?

"We have Cole [Palmer] who is a doubt, he was not in the session today. Levi [Colwill] was not in the session today, Enzo [Fernandez] was not in the session today, Romeo [Lavia] was not in the session today. We have three or four players that are a doubt for Monday's game because in the last game they got some problems."

What happened to Cole?

"Cole was the ankle. In the first-half, they kicked him. He didn't train today, we don't know if he is going to train tomorrow or in two days. The same situation for Romeo, Enzo and Levi."

What do you make of Erling Haaland signing a new 10-year contract?

"If they decide, it is because for sure, it's deserved. In terms of duration, the only thing I can say is that he is a fantastic guy, humble, works hard; he deserves all the goals he scores and these kind of things."

Enzo Fernandez has transformed his form at Chelsea. What is it about him that he has been able to produce this fantastic progress?

"He is understanding the game much better compared to at the beginning of the season. It is something normal when you start a new process because in the way we want him to play, it is a bit different to what he's done in the past; not only here but two years ago, three years ago when he was in Portugal and Argentina.

"We were sure he was going to score goals, give assists and create chances. I think being even more clinical, he could score three or four more goals with three or four more chances. But we have no doubt that we are going to be there soon with Enzo and help the team."

We've seen recently a tweak with Cole Palmer in the second-half. Can you explain the thinking behind that?

"For instance, in the Palace game, we changed Cole and Enzo two minutes into the second-half and the reason why was because in terms of pressing, Enzo was better on the other side and Cole was better on the other side. Sometimes we change them depending on which side we thought we could attack and it can give more space to Cole. It depends a bit on the game-plan but there is always a reason why."

How can you as a manager help with your players being more clinical?

"Probably being more clinical solves all the problems [laughs]. I think they showed me this morning, in the Morecambe game we had 27 shots and in the last game against Bournemouth, we shot 26. We shot the same amount of shots, so we are creating. Now, it is a matter of being more clinical.

"I've said many times: I am always worried even when we win. For sure, now I am concerned about how we can score more goals. But the important thing is we arrived there, created chances and hopefully we can be more lucky in the future."

Have you told Chalobah to assure him of game time?

"I'm not sure but I think Trev trained with us until we flew to the USA. I'm not sure so he trained with us and then when we went to the USA, he was here [at Cobham] training and we were there. So he trained with us.

"As I said, I had a chat with Trev two days ago and had a chat this morning. He was doing well there and also that is the reason why we called him back."

How are you finding January?

"Disaster [laughs]!"

On and off the pitch...

"On the pitch; this is also something you can say I've said since the start. It is normal that you judge the results because the business is a business where you judge the results. But I'm happy with the performances, I'm happy because we create and we play. I'm not happy about the second-half against Bournemouth because there is no reason why we can change from the first-half to the second-half.

"In the Palace game, the performance was there. I don't think it is only Chelsea. Except Liverpool, [when you look at] Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, City, us, Aston Villa; we all have some moments of the season where they lost three games in a row, four games in a row, two games in a row. It's a moment for all of us except Liverpool.

"On the pitch, for sure I would like to win more games but I'm okay. Off the pitch, it is a disaster because of so many noises that don't help us but I don't think they help any club."

How are the players reacting to the noise?

"It's not just for us, it's for every club and every manager. In this moment, whenever there is any noise about any player, it is not easy because even if you think the player can be focused on us, but in the end he is a human being. So if there is any noise about another club then he is probably not focused 100%. But we need to adapt because it is like this."

Do you know when Mykhailo Mudryk's B sample will come back? When will we get clarity on his situation?

"I don't know. I don't know. We are close with Misha as a club and we are trying to help him but in terms of an update, I don't have any update on the situation."

How much do you need a win at home? Does your home record need to improve?

"For sure, we need to win games. Now if we win all the games away and we draw some games at home, it doesn't matter, but in terms of balance, for sure, we need to win games. We also need our people, our fans with us; they can see the effort of the team every game but at the end of the game when we win, we are all happy and hopefully we can give them three points on Monday."

Can you see a difference in the way your team play home and away?

"Probably when we play away, against teams that sit back, probably we are more calm because we don't rush. When we are at home, sometimes we want to play quick because we want to show the fans that we want to be quick. This is a mistake against teams that sit back but when teams press higher, you can attack quick.

"Against Bournemouth, they were high pressing and we attacked so many times aggressively with Nico, Cole and Enzo. It depends a little bit but probably away, because of the behaviour of the other team, we could be better."

If Cole isn't fit on Monday, is this a chance for the team to show they can win without him?

"We rely on Cole because he is a big player. We prefer to play with Cole, for sure 100%, but if he has an injury, we are going to find a different solution."