On the eve of Chelsea's away match against West Ham United in the 5th round of the English Premier League, Chelsea manager Maresca attended a press conference to elaborate on the team's injuries, players' status, and team strategy.
Injury Updates and Recovery
Maresca began by confirming the team's injury update: "Enzo (Fernandez) and Kiernan (Dewsbury-Hall) have returned to training, which is good news for us. However, Reece (James) is still out with an injury and we will need to wait for him to make a full recovery before we consider bringing him back." On the handling of Reece's injury, Maresca emphasized, "With any injury, the most important thing is to make sure the player comes back when he's 100% recovered, so we won't be rushing things."
Player Attitude vs. Work Ethic
Speaking about Jadon Sancho's performance in training, Maresca spoke highly of it, "Since he's been here, he's been working very hard. He's done well both with and without the ball. We used the international break to pay more attention to him and he did well."
Player Match Load and Protection
Addressing the issue of players playing too many games, Maresca was blunt: "Yes, it's true that the players are playing too many games. I don't think we are doing enough to protect the players. But the only ones who can take action are the players themselves. We have communicated with them to try to find a better solution." He also revealed that players such as Cole, Wesley and Romeo are outside the EHFU squad to protect them from over exertion.
Frontline competition and positional adjustments
On the battle for the forward position between Nikolai Jaksson and Christopher Nkunku, Maresca said, "Nikolai is a pure number 9, while Christopher is more flexible. We can adjust their positions according to the needs of the game. They are both versatile, which is an advantage for the team." He also emphasized the team's competition and flexibility at all positions.
Team Strengths and Goals
On the question of whether the team has what it takes to make it into the top four, Maresca said, "I think it's a very good team, but we also need to recognize that the last two years have not been good. To be in the top four, we need to keep improving and working hard. We need to focus on each game and not focus too much on distant goals."
