Every word Liam Rosenior said on Chelsea red cards, Premier League meeting, Cole Palmer fitness

The full transcript from Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior's pre-match press conference ahead of the Blues' Premier League trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday evening

Liam Rosenior has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday evening.

After the Blues' 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday evening, there is a quick turnaround for Rosenior's side as they go to Villa Park later this week. On Monday afternoon, the Chelsea head coach previewed his side's next fixture. Below is the full transcript:

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What are your main takeaways from last night's loss?

Disappointment, missed opportunity. I think they're the two main things. And not just from the game yesterday, from the last three games we've now had. I think the performances in terms of tactically, technically, how we set up the game, how the players performed in between both boxes, very good. But in the moments that mattered, we haven't taken advantage of the moments. And for me, [we] should have four more points from the two games before and definitely at least a point from our performance, barring those moments.

We talked a lot post-match about discipline. We can guess what's happening, you can have an idea. What are the players saying to you about it?

It needs to improve. It needs to improve.

And who's going to take that responsibility? Does that almost have to come from them when you go back and look at some of them?

Yeah, my job is to create a culture of accountability. Where if you make a mistake, it's okay, you hold your hands up and you make sure it doesn't happen again. But you have to hold your hands up to the original mistake. If I make the wrong team selection or I get something wrong, my job is to be accountable. And it's the same for my players in that moment.

Pedro Neto gets his first booking for dissent. So in that moment, who has to have a word with him? Who has to say, why are you doing that?

Yeah, you need teammates to help you but it comes down to yourself as well. Pedro has apologised to the group. We miss him for Wednesday. I just need to see an improvement in the behaviour now. It's not just Pedro. We've had bookings, people speaking about dissent. We've had needless bookings in terms of fouls. If we are to improve and get to where we want to be, we have to make a conscious step now to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Since August 2023, Enzo Fernandez has got 12 yellows. He's your vice-captain. So if your vice-captain is getting booked for dissent all the time, what message does that send out to the rest of the side? And do you have to maybe think about him as a vice-captain?

Never. Enzo is a top leader.

Your top leaders keep getting booked though...

Yeah, there's something that needs to improve. Yes, we're a young team. It's not an excuse. We're an outstanding team. We are one of the youngest in the league, one of the youngest in Europe. The beautiful thing about having a young team is sometimes you need to go through experiences to improve. This is a massive learning experience for my group. I do not want it to be a learning experience where we fail in what we want to achieve. But these setbacks that we are having, we have to learn from. Because if we do learn from them, we've proven, even in my short time in that, we can be an elite team for a long time.

How is Robert Sanchez's confidence in him performing in the way that you want him to perform in the system that you're trying to impose on your team?

I think each player adds to the overall picture and functionality of your team. So yes, the first few minutes we had a few nervy spells. The fact that we played out from the back affected their press and gave us space in the areas that we wanted to have those spaces. I think that's just as clear. So I don't want to single out players and say what they can or can't improve. It's about the functionality of the team. I don't think anyone can say in the moment, other than the two set play goals, my team did not function well in the game. By the way, the league leaders, top of the Champions League. We functioned in a very good way for a lot of the game. The reason we lost the game was we didn't take care of the moments. Nothing to do with Rob's build, nothing to do with the way that we played. We have to manage those moments to win games of football.

Aston Villa have more goals from shots outside of the box than anyone else in the Premier League. Do you encourage your players to shoot from distance?

You would never tell Moises Caicedo or Enzo [Fernandez] or Reece [James] or Cole [Palmer] or Pedro [Neto], you would never tell them not to take a shot unless they didn't think it was the right decision in that moment. In terms of preparing for Aston Villa, the reason they score great goals is because they have great attacking players. We show individual clips to our players. Our players know the strengths and weaknesses of each individual we're up against. It's going to be a very difficult game. They're very clinical in terms of the xG that they create, in terms of the values of the goals that they score. They're a good team. It's going to be tough because they're going to have a reaction from their last result. We have to make sure we're prepared for a very difficult game.

More struggles in defending set plays. Are you involved in how your side sets up at corners?

I am now. It's not a laughing matter because it's a key thing that we have to improve. Every manager has a different idea about the way you attack and defend set plays. I will always be honest. I've taken more responsibility in the last week because I know it's something that needs to improve. Bernardo [Cueva] has proven what a fantastic set-piece coach he is in terms of our offensive output. He's amongst the best in the league. It's not just down to coaching. It's down to mentality. It's down to focus and concentration. By the manager taking control of that, hopefully, from a mentality point of view, the value of that goes up in terms of the way that we work with it.

Is this style of football the true identity to how you want to play or is it match-by-match?

I think you always adapt. No matter what your identity is, you adapt it for each game. I agree with you. I think if we're being rounded in our opinion of the games, I can't think of one game since I've taken over where you come away and say, we didn't deserve to win. Even West Ham when we're 2-0 down, we deserved to win the game. What we haven't done is taken advantage of moments. And for a coach, that can be really frustrating. But you also have to have an understanding. It's part of the process for me to learn about the players, which I've said before. What I have learned, the biggest thing, is that these players are more than capable to perform the identity that I want to play with. But that takes months. What we have to do is win in the short term, but also, [make sure] we're being consistently elite in the long term.

How exactly do you get through to your players about the red cards, do you beat them with a stick?

Sometimes our stick is showing what the value of not having a red card is. If you look at our stats, when we have 11 men on the pitch, before my job here and after my job here, our percentage chance of winning goes through the roof. That needs to be motivation in itself to make sure we stay disciplined in key moments. Reacting to setbacks, sometimes a setback is giving the ball away. Sometimes a setback is a referee making a decision you disagree with. In that moment, you have to react positively. Then you have to think of the next thing. That's the things that we have to go after in order for our discipline to improve.

You talk about results, but how do you get this to sink in with them? How do you get the pennies to drop?

I think the first thing, you pick players who are showing that improvement. I can't afford to go for a season every two or three games with a red card. It's just not possible. I need to see improvement in that. I need to adjust my team selection based on who is showing those capabilities.

With all the goals from set plays, are we losing something from the beautiful game?

I think that is the beauty of football. You can do it in so many different ways. There's no right or wrong way to play football for me. I'm sure when we scored from a corner yesterday, it was flicked on, our fans didn't care what the goal looked like. I'm sure Arsenal's fans didn't care what their goals looked like. The game is about winning. What I would say is about corners, I do think there needs to be a review at the end of the season in terms of the way teams are affecting the goalkeepers, the way teams are holding on defensive set plays. Because I think that is something that gives an unfair advantage to certain teams.

Paris Saint-Germain managed to get their match in between the Chelsea legs moved. What are your thoughts on that?

I think that's their prerogative. PSG are a club that I have huge respect for, as a league, it's a league I have huge respect for as well. It's not for me to speak on those things. It's got nothing to do with me. What we have to do is manage our schedule the best we can so that we're as fresh and as psychologically healthy and good as we can be in that game.

Yesterday, Cole Palmer went down injured. Was it another groin issue?

It wasn't. He took a knock. He was absolutely fine.

Are there any concerns about how you're using him for the busy period that you're coming up with?

He's looking really good, I think you can see. I think you can see in the way we've managed him over the last six weeks and he played 83 minutes [vs Arsenal]. That was tactical. When I took him and Enzo off, they were both on yellow cards and I wanted Garna and Liam [Delap] to come on and give us a freshness, which I felt they did. He's absolutely fine to start the game on Wednesday.

Any other team news?

Getting closer. Cucu is looking really good. Hopefully, we can get him back involved, if not for Wednesday, for Saturday, for sure, which is great for the schedule we've got coming up. Estevao [Willian] is back on the pitch running, which is great. Jamie Gittens is doing really well. It's been brilliant to have Romeo Lavia get his first minutes in a long time. I felt he looked really strong. So, yeah, the quicker we get all of our players healthy, the better.

And on Romeo, how close do you think he is to starting?

Close. I want to manage him in a different way in terms of his rehab and hopefully, once he's back fit, which he is now, he stays fit.

And is Reece James good to go again?

Yeah, absolutely fine.

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