The full transcript from Xabi Alonso's latest pre-match press conference previewing Chelsea's Carabao Cup fourth round tie away at Liverpool on Wednesday evening
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso speaks during a press conference(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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Xabi Alonso has spoken to the media ahead of Chelsea's trip to Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
The Blues are looking to bounce back from an extremely disappointing 2-0 defeat at home to Tottenham with a win at Anfield, Alonso's old stomping ground, in the fourth round of this season's Carabao Cup.
Alonso spoke a little bit more about the defeat to Spurs, returning to Liverpool, the latest on Joao Pedro's injury, and much more.
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football.london were live at Cobham to bring you every word the Chelsea manager had to say.
Harry Kane won the Ballon d'Or last night. Is he a worthy winner?
First, congratulations to Harry. For sure, he is a player of a different class. All of them would have been a fair recognition, but Harry deserves it, especially in the last years he has got better and better. He is having a great impact in Germany as well with the national team. So, fair enough and congratulations to him.
What's the latest on Joao Pedro?
Yes, he has an injury on his thigh and he is going to be out for a few weeks. Let's see how many. We don't want to predict on that, but he's not ready for the next games.
How damaging is that for you?
Yes, of course, he is a key player. We will miss him, but we will have to be ready to deal with the injury and to be competitive and to try to win games with the players that we have available. We are starting tomorrow against Liverpool, a cup game. This is the situation. We are ready to fight for it and ready to prove that we can show the level.
Joao Pedro
Joao Pedro missed Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham due to injury(Image: Mike Hewitt)
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Are you confident that you have got enough solutions within this squad to cope with his absence?
Yes, for sure. This is why you build a squad. Some players are important, but these are situations that can happen and you need to be looking for solutions, not looking for excuses.
Everybody at the club was clearly very disappointed with Saturday's game. Did you have any regrets from a tactical perspective?
Yes, we were not happy, for sure, with the result, with the performance. It was a big game and there were many things that could have gone better. Details as well that were important. Reflection, but we moved on and now the focus is just on Liverpool.
You only had 31% possession in the game. I know stats can be read in different ways, but are you happy for the opponents to have more of the ball than you or would you like more control?
That depends on the game. What I want is to win the game. I want that we are better with the ball. I think that we can do better and we were not at our best. It's not that significant. The possession can be 60, it can be 40, 30 as long as you create chances and you have chances to score goals and win games. That's the most important.
Will Danny Welbeck and Estevao Willian be involved tomorrow?
They are in the squad, so every player in the squad can be playing.
Was there a reason why you didn't think either of those two players was the right solution on Saturday?
I assess all the possibilities we have, what we have been preparing during the week and the qualities that all the players have to choose the best team for each game. That was the case on Saturday and that's the case for tomorrow.
You spoke really well on Friday about all the great attributes that Mike Penders has. What do you see in him mentally? How do you think he's going to respond to Saturday?
It's a challenge to deal with good performances, with mistakes, but that's part of the job. That's part of being a professional footballer, playing on the highest level and what happened on Saturday, it's past. It's a lesson for him, for everyone and now we fully support him for tomorrow.
Is there any update on Pep Chavarria and also Emmanuel Emegha as well?
Emmanuel is in the squad.
Just to pick up on that, how important will Emmanuel Emegha be with Danny Welbeck now that Joao Pedro is out?
Yeah, for sure it's important that we have him available because he has special qualities. He has to feel fully fit. He's been training for the last couple of weeks, 10 days, in a good way that allows him to build a strong base for his fitness and now gradually we want to see him and maybe tomorrow he has the chance to play.
Emmanuel Emegha in Chelsea training
Emmanuel Emegha will travel to Liverpool(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)
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With Joao Pedro being out, do you have to find other solutions as well, a bit like you did against Tottenham, that other players might step in, like Morgan Rogers?
Yeah, they are the strikers but there are other players that can play in that position. We need to find the right balance between the things that they are good at and how they connect with the other ones. We tried with Morgan, playing close to Cole. We have to sometimes be creative and sometimes try a few things to see how this is going to work out.
On Cole Palmer, how has he reacted to the sending off? Did he apologise to the squad?
We spoke and for sure he knows the mistake he made. Things that you can avoid. I hope that this is not going to be repeated. He's aware of that, he's mature and it was a mistake.
What's he like in the building? How is his standing in the dressing room? Is he in a really good space at the minute?
No, he's in a good space, he connects very well socially with his teammates. They like him, they want Cole smiling, they want Cole having fun, enjoying his game because when we see that, he'll have a better team. I'll just ask you because he's got this very cool persona, you probably know his personality is very interesting.
Sometimes maybe people judge him the wrong way perhaps?
I think that the teammates and everyone in the building know him well enough to know how special he is. He embraces everyone, everyone likes him and he's popular in the building.