Tuesday, November 28, 2017

RECAP OF ANTONIO CONTE'S PRESS CONFERENCE AHEAD OF SWANSEA CLASH.

Chelsea play host to Swansea in Wednesday night's premier league match.

The Blues will hope to pile more pressure on Paul Clement's side who are with just one win in their last ten games.

Chelsea Boss, Antonio Conte responded to questions by the media ahead of the clash.
Here are his reactions;

WILL VICTOR MOSES PLAY?
He is in contention but at the same time I have to make the best decision for every player. For sure Victor is back from a bad injury and needs a bit of time to find the best physical condition. He is an important player for us.

DAVID LUIZ'S INJURY
I must be honest at the moment it is difficult for me to answer. It will be up to the doctor to assess it and take the best decision.
(How long out) I don’t know.

DIFFICULT TO KEEP HAZARD ON THE BENCH?
Every game I must make the best decision and protect every player. I would like to start every game with the best players, but at the same time I do not think it is possible. I take the risk that I do not think is right and the season has just started and it is a long season. I must protect every player. At the same time it is not easy or simple or leave great players to rest. I want the best for the team and the player.
The kick during the game is part of the game and the play. To stop him sometimes you have to take a tough decision of our opponent. I think Eden is an important player. He is used to face this type of situation. It is normal in the past if you see, for Messi or Neymar, or Ronaldo it is the same. They are very fast and physical players.

RATE BAKAYOKO'S PERFORMANCES SO FAR
Bakayoko is a player very young. He is only 23. For many reasons he played a lot of games and for sure he needs to improve with the tactical aspect and our idea of football. For a young player to play regularly. I think he is playing well, it is normal you can alternate a good performance with one not so good. He is working well and I am very happy for his commitment and his behaviours. He has a lot of space for improvement

PAUL CLEMENT AND SWANSEA
I think he is a really good coach, did a really good job with Swansea last season. It is not simple to fight for relegation. Bu I have a great respect for him and his job. I repeat he is doing a really good job. I think there is a big difference as a manager and coach. If you are only a manager you cannot be a coach. If you are a coach you can be a manager.

DIFFICULT TO KEEP WILLIAN ON THE BENCH?
Why ask about Willian and not Hazard at the start of the season or Pedro? They have the same situation. The player must be happy to stay at Chelsea and play for the fans. If they start or are on the bench. I have players who understand this situation, like Hazard accepted the situation to be on the bench. Same for Willy or for Pedro to accept this. You must be happy to stay with a great team.

IS THE SQUAD BIG ENOUGH?.
My hope to have all my players available. When I have spoken before with our problems we started with a lot of injuries. Hazard, Pedro in pre-season and with N’Golo and Moses. For sure it is always important for every team to have everyone available. We try to do our best in every moment. I am very happy to work with my players and face every situation, easy or difficult.

NO ITALY IN WORLD CUP DRAW
There is a great disappointment after 58 years that they are not in the World Cup this season. Football in Italy is very important and we have to face the bad situation and we have to find the right solution.

THIBAUT COURTOIS AND NEW CONTRACT
He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and has a great potential. He is young but he shows a great maturity. I hope to find an agreement with the club, but I think this topic is the club’s responsibility .
This is for the club, I hope in the future they have an agreement.

TEAM NEWS
I can tell you the players not available. Luiz for a knee problem, Musonda, Batshuayi and Kenedy are trying to find the right form to be back.

RECALL LOFTUS-CHECK?
As I said before now is not the right moment to speak about this. It is important to always have respect for the other team. Ruben is another young player with the right prospect to be a Chelsea player.

CONTE'S VIEWS ON TAMMY ABRAHAM
I think to talk about Tammy now is very, very soon. For sure we are talking about a young player with a really good prospect for Chelsea’s future. To go on loan was the best decision for him and the club. He is playing regularly and getting good experience.

TOUGH GAME ON THE HORIZON?
Every game in this league is very tough. We must pay great attention. We drew away last season. We must pay great attention to try to take three points. It won’t be easy because every game in this league is very tough. You must fight with great concentration.

TITLE HOPES
We are trying to do our best this season. We started the season with a lot of problems, we have the points we deserve. Manchester City are doing some extraordinary, it means they are having a great path. The most important thing is to look at ourselves and improve. We are becoming more solid and finding different solutions in the tactical solution. We have to try to do our best.

BUSY PERIOD, AND FIT PLAYERS
The most important thing for us is to have all players available, it is very important during a busy period. November, December and January will be very busy. We have just started this period and it will be important to rest players.
To give the opportunity to my players will be very important, in this way we keep the concentration very high. The players that need to rest can do this. If you play every game and stop to train, the probability to have an injury is very high. It will be very important to create a good balance between matches and training.

DERMOT DRUMMY
Today we had bad news, our former youth coach Dermot Drummy died. I want to pass condolences to his family and friends.
It is a great importance to have this type of figure and person to develop the young players. This is a big loss and this type of person, a great person who has a great value for the club. It is not easy to work with a young player, not only on the pitch but especially off it to teach them what is the life. I think that this is for sure, and we are sorry because this person was important for this club.


Kickoff: 20:45.

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