Now World ViewEvery word Enzo Maresca said on why Palmer missed training, Jackson return, James fitness update
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Enzo Maresca has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Conference League round of 16 second-leg against Copenhagen.
The Blues take a 2-1 lead into tomorrow night's return leg at Stamford Bridge after last week's trip to Denmark. Here is every word Maresca had to say in his preview of the tie:
What are you expecting from Copenhagen tomorrow?
"I was surprised, as I said last week because I watched many games, they were off the ball always defending with a line of four and then against us, they were in a line of five. Even in their game two days ago, they were again a line of four. The reason why we were a little bit surprised was because of that, but then we tried to adapt.
"Tomorrow, to be honest, I do not know if they are going to be in one way or another way. We will see tomorrow."
Is Cole Palmer fighting fit and raring to go?
"Cole, Reece [James] and Christo [Nkunku] today has been the first session. Yesterday they were not here and two days ago they had a rest. The reason why is because all of them had some problems but today, they were all back and they were all better."
Has there been an illness going through the squad perhaps?
"Probably, yes."
Does that worry you for tomorrow?
"As I said, yesterday they were not even here. Today they trained with us and we will see tomorrow if we are going to use some of them."
On a separate issue: If Tottenham win tomorrow and Chelsea win and they both go through, you play the first-leg of the next round away and if not, you play it at home. Will you be cheering on Spurs?
"It's an English team, I hope for England they go through that game. You never know, sometimes it is better to play at home and sometimes away. We need to be focused on us and then we will see."
How difficult is it to balance this game with Arsenal on Sunday?
"The priority is tomorrow. For us, the priority is tomorrow because it is the next one and the most important one. After tomorrow, we will start to think about Arsenal, but for sure we will be focused on tomorrow's game."
Are there any players that might not be physically be ready for tomorrow but might be ready for Sunday?
"The only one that is still injured is Malo Gusto, the only new one. Noni [Madueke], Nicolas [Jackson] and Marc Guiu are still out, but the rest they can play."
How is Romeo Lavia looking fitness-wise?
"He's much better, Romeo is much better. He's not in the Conference League squad unfortunately. For him, he's more or less similar to Reece James in terms of the main target for us is to help him to be fit until the end and play as many games as he can."
Can you take anything from Copenhagen's draw at the weekend?
"The 1-1 draw? No, it's a different game. Tomorrow, for sure, will be a different game. I watched the game but I don't think it has anything for tomorrow's game. We watched the game to see how they behave but I watched many games before the first-leg and they changed completely against us, so we will see tomorrow."
How is Nicolas Jackson?
"He could be back, probably after the international break. Him and Noni also. This is good news. Before the international break, we have two games tomorrow and Sunday and then we have international break, we can recover energy, recover players and then go for the last [bit of the season]."
With the way football is evolving, where do you see your playing style fitting in?
"I think football always evolves but then you can find teams in the league that just play one way or a team that plays in different ways. We have 20 clubs in the Premier League and more or less we are all different.
"Teams try to be aggressive with high pressing and some prefer to sit back and go with transition. I think it is clear we try to be aggressive off the ball and try to control the game on the ball, score when we need to score and defend when we need to defend. In this moment, I think we are the second or third best attacking team in the Premier League, so that means we are scoring lots of goals and defending, we are also there but for sure, we can attack better and we can defend better."
Who will be starting in goal tomorrow?
"We'll see, to be honest. I didn't decide yet and we still have more than 24 hours. They are both very good."
Filip Jorgensen was called up to the Denmark national team. Did you speak to the Danish coach to be part of the process?
"No, no, no. I'm happy for all the players that can play in international games. It's something good for them and for us as a club. We are happy with that."
In the 2006 UEFA Cup, you scored twice in the final to help beat Middlesbrough. That was massive for the club and the players. Can the Conference League be used similarly for Chelsea?
"It could be, could be. Even if I think Sevilla's history is very different than Chelsea's. Every year, they fight, especially in the past, for important titles; Champions Leagues, Premier Leagues, these types of things.
"It's a bit different with Sevilla. They never won anything until that day in terms of European competitions, so it was the first one. Since then, they have won more titles. But for sure, when you start to win, it is something that can become addicting, you can start to win games and hopefully for us, it can be exactly the same."
Liverpool and PSG went to penalties last night, do you practice penalties? And if it comes to that, do you get the sense Cole Palmer would be fine to step up?
"Absolutely. I said Cole is going to miss more penalties and the reason why is because he is the one in charge to shoot the penalties. If you don't shoot, you don't miss. So I don't have any doubts that he is going to miss more penalties in the future, but he is also going to score more penalties. I don't think that the other day affected him in a negative way."
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