Every word Enzo Maresca said on Chelsea vs Arsenal, Noni Madueke reaction, Cole Palmer injury
Enzo Maresca has just spoken to the media following Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Pedro Neto saved a point for the Blues on 70 minutes after Gabriel Martinelli put the Gunners ahead in the second-half. After the game, Maresca underwent his media duties and provided us with some interesting comments. You can read the full transcript below...
Happy with the draw?
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"I think the performance was good. We played in the way we want to play on and off the ball. The game in some moments was open - anything can happen in both sides but for sure, 100%, we deserved a point and this is important."
Noni Madueke didn't look happy to come off. Do you have an opinion on Noni's reaction?
"The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy. Probably the only way to be happy is after the Wolves game where he scored a hat-trick and we changed him, so he was happy. It's not only about Noni, it's about all the players.
"It's a good thing because they want to be there until the end. But in that moment, we thought in different ways, probably Pedro with Timber could be a little bit more aggressive - and also with Misha. So it was a tactical decision, no more than that."
Was it a risk playing Cole Palmer?
"I don't think we took any risks. For sure, he was a doubt until the end. His performances have been very good. In the first 10 minutes, we contact with him, from Colwill to him, three or four times. Then they adjust and Partey was marking him man-to-man so it was difficult for Cole in that case. But overall, very happy with Cole's performance."
Is he okay?
"Yeah, he is painful now but it doesn't look something important."
You've been very close in these big games this season but are yet to win one. How far away do you think you are?
"I've said many times. Do you think we deserve to lose against Liverpool? No, but it's football, it can happen. Very soon, we are going to win these types of games. But in this moment, the performance is very important because if we draw tonight and you don't deserve the draw, then you are probably happy about the result
Do you think your team needs to show more conviction?
"No, I don't think so because the team until the end was trying to win the game. It's about scoring one more goal than the opponent but I don't think that. I was more worried if the performance was not good enough but I think we competed very well against City, against Liverpool, against United and tonight - this is important."
You're third in the Premier League...
"They showed me after the game. To be honest, it's nice, especially for the fans because the last period has not been great or as good as the club are used to. We are happy. Now we have an international break, we can recover the energy and then when we come back, we go again."
You're best of the rest in terms of teams that are close together. How encouraging is that?
"Very happy. For me, we are behind this kind of club, like City and Arsenal. The reason why is because they work every single day in the last five years or nine years with the same manager, so we are behind them.
"This doesn't mean when we face them, we are not going to compete and try to win. Chelsea are one of the biggest clubs in Europe, in the world. Yes, we need to compete and try to win games. Tonight, we competed and tried to win the game and very soon we will win these kind of games."
How do you manage the balance between developing these players and competing at the top?
"I try to focus on the day by day. They just asked me on where I see the club at the end of the season, and I said that I am not worried about where we can be [now]. To be honest, now I am relaxed because we have an international break but when we work every day, I'm more worried about how we can improve the players and the team. This has been the most important thing."