Enzo Maresca has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final clash with Palmeiras on Friday evening.
The Blues are back in Philadelphia, having already played in the city twice during this competition, and are looking to book a trip to New York for the semi-final. Maresca conducted his press conference on Thursday evening where the Chelsea head coach looked ahead to his side's crucial clash. Here is every word the Italian said:
I just wanted to ask you about the unfortunate and serious news about Diogo Jota and his family as well, and just how Pedro Neto's taken it as well.
Yeah, it's a very sad day. I struggle to find words because it's very difficult. You know, the feeling that you are, that you feel a little bit, you know, helpless in this kind of situation, and the only thing I can say, you know, all my love to, you know, his family, the people that in this moment, it's a big tragedy for them. And then in terms of Pedro, he's very sad, probably more than sad, but we are also close to Pedro to support him in this moment.
Just to follow up on Pedro, has the club given him compassionate leave? Do you think he's in the right frame of mind to play tomorrow?
It's completely Pedro's decision. I had a chat this morning with Pedro. We support him. Any decision he will take is the correct one, and we are going to support him in any case. So it doesn't matter if we'll be in the pitch or not. Tomorrow, we'll see how he is feeling tomorrow. But in any case, we're gonna support him.
On Estevao Willian, do you tell your players to go easy on him given he is going to be their teammate in a couple of weeks?
When we prepare games, we are used to prepare games thinking about the team, not the players that they are on the other side. And we have done exactly the same in this game. So we prepare the game against Palmeiras, not against Estevao. In this moment, he is a Palmeiras player that is going to play against Chelsea tomorrow. So we don't care if in the future he will be with us when this competition is finished. The only thing we are focused on is to do our best to try to beat Palmeiras and not to beat Estevao. Just think about them as a team.
How do you feel now about this competition? And how do you feel about playing against a side like Palmeiras that finds this competition so, so special?
Yeah, this competition is special for Palmeiras and also for us. Since we start, I said that we are happy to be here. We are grateful to be here. But at the same time, I said more things. And the reason why we were happy to win against Benfica is because we work every day, not just to have fun. We work every day to win games. So the reason why we were happy is because at the end, we beat Benfica. And today we are here and tomorrow we can play a game, a nice game, that hopefully we can continue and we can beat Palmeiras.
Is Romeo Lavia?
And if not, what the problem is? Romeo, not sure he can be fit. We're gonna try tomorrow. He had small problems at the end of the last game against Benfica. And it's just a muscle problem. And as I said, tomorrow we see if he's fit. Otherwise, we're gonna find a different solution because Moi [Caicedo] is suspended also. So we need to find some different solution.
How big of a future does Estevao have at Chelsea?
I never talk with Estevao since I joined Chelsea. I met his family at training ground. Nice family, fantastic family. But as I said, we start to talk about the future when this competition is finished. Now is not the moment to talk about the future, Estevao's future. Everyone knows that this is a talented player, but in this moment is Palmeiras player. And we are here to play the game against Palmeiras tomorrow and hopefully we can win.
Has the Club World Cup made you respect Brazilian football more?
We always respect Brazilian football. We don't need this tournament to respect Brazilian football. At least me personally, I always respect Brazilian football because it's one of the best country, all the best country in the world in terms of quality, in terms of football. So I really respect Brazil. I don't need this competition to respect Brazilian football. They show each game here in this competition how good they are. And they're going to continue also after this competition.
You played Cole Palmer more on the left in the last game. What did you learn from playing even more on that side and will we be seeing that again tomorrow?
Yeah, Cole can play in both sides. He was playing against Benfica in the left pocket. He used to play in the right pocket. He just changed right and left. But during the season he played already different games in the left pocket. I remember the game at home against Newcastle, I think. He played in the left pocket against Benfica. He started a little bit more wide than to come inside in the pocket. But Cole's position was exactly the same position that he's playing all season. The only difference that he was in the left side than the right side.
Thoughts on Enzo Fernandez's season so far?
Very, very good. Very good. If we achieve what we achieve and if we are where we are, it's also because Enzo, the way he has done during the season, I said already that at the beginning he struggled a little bit. He was not even playing games against Liverpool away or Arsenal at home or Man Utd away. He was on the bench. But he was working very well and now he's one of the main players.
There's a statement earlier today from Dortmund confirming a deal between the clubs has been agreed for Jamie Gittens. Can you update from Chelsea's point of view and maybe comment on the player you're about to sign?
I don't have any update to be honest. I was on the fly watching the Palmeiras game again. I don't know. Not yet. Probably something can happen but I don't have any. I don't have more information about that.
Can I ask you about Joao Pedro? How excited are you to have him on board and how close is he to playing a part tomorrow?
Yeah, Joao's situation is a bit strange or different because you know he was on holiday. Even if he was working but it's not the same when you work for yourself compared when you work with the team. But we are very happy with Joao. In the last two days he worked with us and we see if we need him tomorrow or we have chance to give him some minutes. We're gonna give him some minutes.
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