Liam Rosenior has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash against Leeds United on Tuesday evening.
The Blues recorded their fourth straight top-flight victory at the weekend with Cole Palmer scoring a hat-trick against Wolves on Saturday. Rosenior is hoping to continue his fine start to life at Stamford Bridge with the visit of Leeds this week.
Here is every word the Chelsea head coach had to say in his pre-match press conference:
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Is there an update on Reece James?
Yeah, Reece is fit. Issue, small issue, he's feeling unwell today. It's not a conspiracy, it's the truth. Hopefully he'll be feeling well enough to be involved in tomorrow's game.
Tomorrow will be a month since your first match in charge. It's very clear that you're enjoying your time here. Do you feel like your message is getting across to the players and how you want to work with them?
I think so. Yeah, it takes time but in terms of what's been really encouraging and really pleasing is that the players have taken on so much information, so many team meetings, not many training sessions and they've put into practice what we've wanted in the main. So yeah, pleasing, pleasing signs but we need to continue in that vein.
In terms of Cole Palmer, you said he was world-class the other day. How important is he to what you want to achieve here with this squad?
Yeah, I think any world-class player is important to what you want to achieve. So for me, it's been great to see him enjoying his football and on Saturday it's been great to see him banging in the goals and hopefully his form continues in that way.
It was two very contrasting performances at Wolves, obviously a positive first half, not so much in the second half. How do you get your team to give you that full 90-minute performance?
Yeah, I think that's the perfection that you're striving for in every training session, every meeting, every game that you play. Even in the second half, there were some really, really pleasing things in terms of controlling the game but because the level was so high in the first half, we didn't achieve that level. My aim is that we play a really high level in every minute of every game and we've had a few conversations about that in the last few days.
Josh Acheampong a centre-back or right-back?
Yeah, if you look at... Firstly, Josh is an amazing talent. In the time I've been here, which is a month, I've got to meet him, I've got to meet his parents and you can see why he's such a great lad because he's been brought up in the right way. Josh has got immense potential. What I like to do with all of my defenders, especially at the age they are, is put them in different positions because it improves their understanding of the game, it improves their positioning. But yeah, long-term, Josh is a centre-back and he's got all of the attributes to be an outstanding centre-back at a really, really high level. My job is to help him, is to develop him and I'm really, really looking forward to working with him in the long term.
Wesley Fofana has been going long a lot more - is this something you've told him to do?
Yeah, I don't want to limit Wes. Wes is 24 years old. Trevoh has been magnificent. Josh, Mamadou, Tosin, still young for a centre-back. You want to try and improve them and to do that, you have to put them in positions where they may make mistakes, especially trying to break lines or to play forward. But I want them to feel like they're able to do it. I think Wes has been top in his performances. With Trevoh, I think Trevoh's been great. They can all find passes if the players are in good positions to receive the ball. And that's what we've been working on a lot with them. And hopefully they continue to improve.
And Chelsea, like a lot of teams, with Leeds next, have kind of suffered against a back five or low block. We've seen you be a bit more fluid, though, and you've had three central players in between the lines. We've seen some of your solutions. When it comes to these players themselves, do they choose and assess situations on the pitch? Do you want them to have that game IQ in that moment? Or are these premeditated plans?
When you're the level of player that I get to work with here, the reason they are most of them, they're top elite, world-class players for me, is because they make great decisions in the moment. My job is not to tell them where to be. My job is to put them in positions where they can affect the game in their own way. Being fluid has positives in terms of being unpredictable for the opposition. But if you do not have the correct structure behind that, you can become really, really open in transition. So I was trying to find a balance between the two. I felt against Wolves, there were some really pleasing aspects of our rotations and our fluidity in possession. In the second half, we didn't stay true to our structure. That's one of the reasons why our performance wasn't as good in that half.
Chelsea were bullied away at Leeds. What have you learned from that?
You watch every game. It's very difficult for me because I watch games... When I first watched that game, it was as a neutral. I had no idea within two or three months I'd be manager of Chelsea. Going to Elland Road, it's always really, really difficult. Always been difficult. It's a club, their fans have backed them really, really strongly at home. Daniel's an outstanding coach. You can see in our recent performance as well, Calvert-Lewin's in really good form. The way that they press, their energy, they're direct in a really positive way. It's going to be a really difficult game again. I'm not here to talk about what's happened in the past or what happened before I was here. I'm focused on the game tomorrow.
Do you expect that same approach from them, that physicality from them?
Yeah, you saw it against Nottingham Forest. They were magnificent in that game. Very forward-thinking. When I say direct, I mean it in a really positive way. They used the strengths of the team. They used Dominic. His movement in the box is outstanding. They get crosses in the box. They counter-press really, really well. We have to stand up to that and overcome those intensity things that are key to the game.
How do you manage everyone's workload given the hectic fixture schedule?
Yeah, it's difficult. You've seen we've rotated a lot, which you need to do. You need to do it in this stage of the season. I mentioned this before. Bearing in mind the players' long-term schedule, they've played all the way through the summer. They've had no pre-season. They've been magnificent. So, you have to try and freshen up the team in the right areas, mentally and physically. You have to be really, really well-prepared tactically to give the players the best plans and the best solutions to the problems you face. So far, I have to say, in my time with them, the players have been great in achieving that.
For the players' welfare, is that a concern?
I think so, to be honest. The thing now with these lads, they are fantastic professionals, on and off the pitch. They look after their bodies so well. They live for their job, which is so important. Most of them are used to it now. Through their careers, they've played in, whether it's Copa Americas, or Mamadou's won the Africa Cup of Nations, or the World Cup, or the Euros, or now the Club World Cup. Their bodies are used to it, but you want the best product possible. To have the best product possible, you want the best players on the pitch. We have to find a way that we can find a balance between the two.
Is Cole Palmer ready to start tomorrow? Can he play 90 minutes tomorrow?
He's available for tomorrow.
How's Andrey Santos?
Yeah, Andrey trained today. He's absolutely fine. He's a soldier. He had a swollen ankle. It wasn't a great tackle on him. He couldn't continue, but he's absolutely fine for tomorrow.
And other players, how's Tosin getting on?
Tosin's looking good. Tosin trained today as well, which is great to have him back in and around the group.
Romeo Lavia?
We have a really detailed plan for him. He was back on the training pitch with us the last two days. It's been great to see him. He's been such a great player. We all know that. But what we have to do is make sure that when he's back, he's back for good. So we're just making sure that he gets the right plan over the next 10 days to two weeks to achieve that.
Still need to prove mental toughness?
I don’t speak about what’s happened before me, I only speak about what I see. Our two defeats came against what many people say are the best in Europe. I look at those two games and our player availability, we didn’t have full availability in those games. Players are showing me extreme mental toughness, extreme quality, to come back from two goals down against West Ham, to come back against Napoli. I’m not questioning their mental toughness at all.
Are you making an impression?
I think it’s my job [to make an impression]. It’s aways nice when players speak well of you. Most of the time they just want to stay in the team so I take it with a smile. You can see, whether it’s Cole or Joao or Enzo or Moi, all of them, they're playing with a real enthusiasm at the moment. They’re enjoying the football. As a coach that's pleasing to see. At the moment things are looking good. We have to continue. The demands have gone up. Its going to be a physical game tomorrow, but the signs are looking really good for what we want to achieve.
Eleven different goal scorers in your time so far. What do you put that down to?
I think it's to do with the fact we've got so many good players. To be honest, we've got so many different threats. You see Marc Cucurella, you see Malo Gusto heading the ball and the opposite full-back is in the box trying to score. That's the type of football that I believe in. And when you have different threats on the pitch, it's so difficult to cover that. So at the moment, in terms of goalscoring record, it's really, really good. I would like more clean sheets with that. And we've got to try and make sure we get the balance of our game right.
