Every word Calum McFarlane said on Liam Rosenior talks, Chelsea future, Fulham clash

The full transcript from Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane as he reacted to the club announcing Liam Rosenior as Enzo Maresca's permanent successor

Calum McFarlane has just finished his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's trip to Fulham on Wednesday evening. Though the game was just an afterthought in a presser dominated by today's announcement that Liam Rosenior has become the new Blues head coach.

Rosenior has signed a six-and-a-half year contract at Stamford Bridge after leaving Strasbourg. McFarlane, who will take charge of Chelsea tomorrow night, has just reacted to that and much more in his press conference. Here is every word he had to say:

Will Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo return?

They're all training today. We've got training in a few hours, so they'll be taking part in the session today. We'll have a lot better idea after the session.

At this point, none of those more doubt?

No, no, not at this point. So we'll look at training, see how they look, and make a call after that.

Have you spoken to Liam Rosenior? What's your role tomorrow?

I spoke to Liam briefly last night. He's obviously really excited about taking the role. So, it was a brief conversation. So, my understanding is he's going to be at Cobham later on today at some point. So, I'm sure I'll catch up with him more on that. And the second part of your question, yeah, I've been told I'm leading the game tomorrow. So, to try and do as best a job as we can, as we have done, and give him the three points to move on and build from.

Obviously, having taken a point at Man City against Pep, did you give him any advice on the phone when you spoke to him last night?

No.

What did you say to him in the chat you had?

Yeah, the conversation was really brief. Probably keep most of that private if we can. I wouldn't be giving him any advice. Liam's an accomplished coach. He's had a really good start to his career. So, I'm sure he's got his own ideas and things that he wants to attack. So, I'm here to support him with whatever he needs in the best way I can. So, I won't be giving him any advice.

Have your paths ever crossed before?

Obviously, I was at Southampton when he was at Hull. So, other than watching our first team against their first team, which he'd done really well in those games, and they play some really good football, that's the only interaction I've had.

Have you reflected on what you managed to achieve on Sunday?

Not really. We got in really late and we was up again really early. So, it was straight to business and getting on Monday morning and getting ready for Fulham. So, having had any time to think about anything else other than the next game.

But what you've done is pretty extraordinary...

No, it was a great experience. It was a great challenge. Some people haven't experienced it before. So, it was really enjoyable and I loved it every minute of it. But still, the football match is still two top teams with loads of top players playing. So, there's a lot more to it than me against Pep. It was enjoyable.

What have you asked from your side as they come up against Fulham?

The same thing we did against City. Try and prepare with the limited time we have as best we can and try and build on that second-half performance. They know the belief we have in them and we just want to keep reinforcing that.

You used Estevao Willian, Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez vs City. What do you think you need to do against Fulham to make sure you can apply that pressure? Do you think you're always going to have to have that physical midfield there?

I think it was obviously impacted by Moises being suspended. Everyone knows how well Moises has played this year. Since he's come to the club, he's a top player, potentially the best player in the world in his position. I think he'll help us with that tomorrow. We definitely missed elements of his game in that first-half. But like you said, Andrey [Santos] came on, was exceptional in the second-half, really gave us a foothold to control the game both in and out of possession. So, I'm hoping Moises not being suspended, being available, we should be able to really control that midfield area.

What position do you see Andrey Santos playing in long-term? Does he deserve to play more?

I don't think it's my place to say how much he should be playing. I thought he was exceptional the other night. He's played for Brazil, he's more than capable of playing on his side, more than capable of playing in the Premier League. There's not many tougher places to play than 1-0 down at the Etihad away and they were exceptional in the first half. So, if he can play that level in the second half, it's clear that he can play at this level and the more he performs like that, I'm sure the more opportunities he'll get. He's been a pleasure to work with.

It's a massive time of change for everyone around the club and for supporters and do you feel really positive and optimistic being on the inside with the players?

Yeah, definitely. Really talented group, young, hungry, have shown they can play at the top top level against top top sides. Anyone associated with the club should be proud of their performance on Sunday and moving forward, this team has massive, massive potential so we should all be excited.

I wanted to ask you as a coach watching from afar from what Liam's done, particularly maybe his job at Strasbourg, what have you made of his coaching style, what do you see on the pitch and the tactics?

Yeah, really enjoy watching his sides, like I did with Hull as well. Aggressive, front foot football, really good on the ball, good positional play concepts. So yeah, really excited to see the work he's going to do at this club.

Good for British coaches to see one taking such a big job?

That's a really good question, yeah. I'm sure all young English coaches from an academy background will be, in some way no matter who you support, rooting for Liam. It's really inspirational for young academy English coaches to see that someone get that job with that profile and we hope he does really well.

And then I think from your perspective, you'll obviously meet back to the U21s after Thursday and I was wondering what's your sort of vision, how do you want to see it link up?

Yeah, I hope it works. I'm sure it will be a really good connection. Cobham is part of this club, is part of the history of this club, even the other night, we had three academy graduates starting the game, Man City away, it's something the club is proud of. Obviously it's in the DNA and I know that the ownership, I know that the sporting directors believe in that so we'll continue that and it's our job to make Liam's life difficult with really producing talent in young players that can come through and I believe there's a lot in the other side of the building that can really push this year in the short period of time.

Earlier you spoke about team news, is that Wesley Fofana training today as well?

Yeah, he's going to be checked when he comes in, they're reporting shortly so he'll be checked when he comes in.

Are you going to be involved at all in the build up to the Charlton tie?

I have no idea, I've been briefed to take the Fulham game, Liam spoke to me last night and that's going to continue through to the Fulham game and then Thursday I'm expecting to be back with the 21s, getting ready for the Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Do you know why Liam is not taking charge against Fulham tomorrow?

No.

And obviously his first two games are at Cup games, Charlton and Arsenal, do you think it'll help him to not be in that pressured environment at the Premier League straight away?

No, I think he's obviously been appointed the Chelsea manager because they believe he can handle the challenges of the Premier League, so I don't think it helps him. I think any game at Chelsea you need to win, there's always been pressure on that and he'll understand that as we all do, so I don't think it makes any difference. He's going to come in and put his stamp on the team and we'll all be behind him.

Do you expect it to be a smooth transition?

I think it'll be a smooth transition, I think the lads are in a really good place. I've mentioned loads of times the level they've shown this year and it's just about getting that on the most consistent basis possible and I think Liam is really excited I'm sure to take this job and he'll have full faith and we back him fully that he'll come in and it'll be a really smooth transition.

You're still relatively new to the club, what would you say to someone coming in about what it's like to work here?

It's been an amazing six months, the people from the academy all the way through to the first team are all aligned in what we want to do. It's a great place to work, I'm really, really enjoying it and that's what we want to do. Thanks Rob and we'll finish with Martin.

Fulham played a back five on Sunday. How do you prepare for that?

Good question, they obviously changed shape against Liverpool in a different shape to what they've played in the majority of the season. It's a good question and you're right, we have to probably prep for two different scenarios. Try and find as much alignment between both plans so there's not as much confusion or as much to fix if they don't do what we expected. We'll be ready for any scenario. Like we were at City, they didn't shape up how we completely expected and we adapted and got to give the players credit for that because it's easy to give them an idea but they've got to go out and believe it and execute it. I think they've done that really well so we'll be ready for hopefully every eventuality.