Every word Liam Rosenior said on Estevao injury, Fofana racist abuse and Arsenal vs Chelsea

The full transcript from Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior's pre-match press conference ahead of the Blues' trip to take on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday afternoon

Liam Rosenior has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Premier League trip to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues take on the title-chasing Gunners this weekend for the third time in less than two months. Both of Rosenior's defeats as Chelsea head coach have come against Mikel Arteta's men and he will be hoping it's third time lucky this weekend.

Here is every word Rosenior had to say ahead of Chelsea's trip to the Emirates Stadium:

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What's the latest team news?

Yeah, Reece [James] is absolutely fine. Romeo Lavia is getting stronger and stronger. We have a mini-practice match in a week where he looked really good, which is great for him. Unfortunately, Estevao [Willian] will be out for a little bit longer. And Jamie [Gittens] is progressing really, really well in terms of his rehab.

Anything else to update us on in terms of team news at the moment?

No, Cucu is progressing really, really well. He is not available for Sunday, but hopefully we get him back in as quickly as possible. Levi [Colwill] is doing really, really well with his long-term rehab. At the moment, Dario is back on the training pitch as well which is good. Hopefully, we can get all of these players back in fit for the run-in of the season.

How do you react to drawing PSG in the Champions League?

So excited. PSG are a fantastic team. Obviously, I have experience of playing against them in France. They are a team that I have always admired. I think Luis [Enrique] has done an incredible job there. These are the games you live for. These are the games that you come into football for. It is going to be a great tie between two fantastic teams. I am really, really looking forward to it. But we have got another three games before that that I need to focus on.

How is Wesley Fofana?

Yes, it was obviously a tough day for Wes. Firstly, obviously, what happened in the game. Secondly, the fallout and the racist abuse that he got online. Wes is a tough guy. He is a good guy. We spoke about racism last week in the press conference. It affects you in ways that shouldn't exist. It shouldn't exist, whether it is online, whether it is verbal, in person. It is just something that we have to try our very best to eradicate from life, let alone football. But Wes is absolutely fine. He is training well this week.

Chelsea recorded a pre-tax loss of £355 million for the financial year 2024-25. In terms of your job there, is it going to affect anything in terms of having to sell players? Have you spoken to the club above about how these losses potentially affect your job and what you do?

My job is to focus on the team. It is to try and make the team and the squad as strong as possible to eventually win things. That is why I am here. I will have those conversations with the ownership and the guys above me. That is something that is not really at the forefront of my mind. I just want to make sure that I am on the pitch as successful as possible.

There were some interesting comments from the heads of Maheta Molango [PFA chief executive] yesterday. He specifically mentioned Cole Palmer talking about player welfare. He said he had been there in the summer and saw how tired the players were from the schedule that they had to undertake. What do you make of those comments?

Obviously, you want, not just Cole, Cole is a magnificent player, you want every player in football to be at their very best, to be at the top of their health, to be able to give the fans what they want to see. They do pay a lot of money to follow us, to watch us. In terms of getting involved in that stuff, I think you speak about the Club World Cup. It has been a difficult schedule for the players, but I do not think any of them regret that experience. It was an incredible experience for them and for the club. You want to find a balance. Do I have the answer to that? 100% not. I understand it from both sides.

There was some criticism from your defeat to Arsenal earlier this month that you didn't attack the game as much as you could have. Will you take the same approach this time?

You are always disappointed to lose out to one of your London rivals in a semi-final of a Cup competition. I think there were availability issues. Not an excuse. In fact, in both games, the first leg I was here for four games. We have to look at it with the right context. There was a really good structure of ours without the ball. With the ball, maybe we could have been more front-footed. In terms of going out to win the game, there was a clear idea that the players carried out very well. We did not get the result that we wanted and we want that to change on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta has been at Arsenal for just over six years. They had highs, they had lows. But in general, how impressive has the support he has been receiving been?

I have been impressed with him. The support he has received is because, probably day in, day out, they see the great work that he does and they support the process with which he has worked. They are an incredibly well-coached team in every aspect of the game. Whether they compress really high, they have compact shape in the low blocks, they are fantastic defensively, obviously set plays, they are well-coached and they play very good football as well. They are a very good team and that is why they are in the situation they are in at the moment. It is my job and the players' job to try and find that weakness and try to enjoy what is going to be a really, really big game on Sunday.

Your upcoming league games, Arsenal, Villa, Newcastle, Everton, Man City, Man United, most likely the most challenging period you have had so far since you joined Chelsea in the league. What is the mindset of going into this very difficult period and trying to finish this?

Firstly, it is to take it game by game. I have had this conversation with you guys before. The Premier League is so difficult every week. Every week, the challenges that you face, the different tactical problems that you have, the physicality of the league. I don't judge one game as harder than the other. What happens against the higher teams in the league is that they are more open because they want to attack more. There are different tactical things that you can work on. For me, I am very happy with this group. I am happy with the start that we have made. We won eight out of 12. We should be 10 out of 12. That is not bad. It is not a bad foundation to start from. We just need to stay confident and focused. We have to just take each game as it comes.

Can I ask you specifically about two Arsenal players in Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze, who both scored against Tottenham?

I worked with Viktor. I worked with him with Brighton's under-23s. I saw him come through to the first team there. Viktor adds a degree of physicality and pace to stretch the game and behind. I think he has started to build his confidence. He has shown he can score goals, which is what every striker wants to do. I have come across Eze many times. I remember watching him in the Championship and thinking what an outstanding talent he is. They have got talented players throughout the pitch. They have got physicality throughout their team. We know it is going to be a difficult game. What I would say is that they also know it is going to be a very difficult game for them.

The Opta supercomputer said you have the most difficult one of any Premier League team in the last 11 games...

I would love to see what this supercomputer looks like. I don't think about it in that way. It is the next game. It is making sure the players are physically and mentally as fresh as possible. Giving them the time off was not just about one game. It was about the rest of the season. Hopefully, that will pay off. They have looked very good in training this week. We have got players coming back from injury as well, which is really, really helpful. We just need to stay really calm, really focused and consistent in our process, and tick each game off as it comes.

I was wondering how you see finishing in the Champions League places and how important is that in terms of all your goals in the season?

Yes, this club should be in the Champions League. This club is a Champions League club. We just have to take it game by game. You just said, to any manager coming in, I think when I took over we were eighth. We are now in the race. We have won four and we have drawn two. In the two games we have drawn, we are in complete dominance of both games. That is the reality and that is the facts. I like to look at that. It gives me confidence in the group that we can be successful in the short and long term.

Going back to Wesley, what kind of support has the club provided both him and perhaps any other players who are affected by it? And secondly, are you encouraging players perhaps to come off social media?

To your first question, the players have incredible support, both on and off the pitch. I had a meeting with Dr Michael Bennett today about his involvement in the club in terms of helping them with anything off the pitch. In terms of social media, it's part of the younger generation now. It is a part of their life. My children are on it. It is the way that they communicate. It is the way that they live. I am a little bit older, so I have missed out on that. In a perfect world, players don't take notice of what is on social media. The reality is that they do because they are human beings. It is very easy to write whatever you want with no consequence when you are on social media. I hope that the players who are on it and do take those things in, take in the fact as well that it is just noise. There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions. Some are valid, some come from a place where it is probably not a good place.

Getting back to football, in terms of your left wing options, of course Jamie is out at the moment. Alejandro [Garnacho] has not started a league game since West Ham. How do you think the two of them have been getting on?

I know Jamie has not had much chance to work. Unfortunately for Jamie, he showed really promising signs. Unfortunately, he got injured against West Ham. Garna showed some really good things in my time. I thought his performance as a whole was very good. He scored two goals vs Arsenal really, really early in my start here. He is a very, very good player. There are a lot of tactical things as well. It is not just on those players. It is about finding the right function for the team. I have many different solutions I can use because I have such a good squad.

You talked on Saturday about learning about which players you feel you can and can't rely on. Which players do you have in mind? How have the squad responded to that assessment that you made on Saturday?

I don't know how they have responded to that direct statement. I don't know. What I will say is I really have enjoyed this week. We have spoken about all of us, me first, being more accountable to consequence. The importance of when we are on top of games is getting that second goal and making the right decision in the final third. Again, making sure that on set plays and on manageable moments we do better. In my time so far, I include the Arsenal games in this, we have been in every game. Mainly, we have been in dominance and control of games. It is not that teams have had real dominance over us. We have just given goals away. That is something that we need to really focus on if we want to be successful this year.

Not being able to rely on a player feels like a fundamental thing. Is that something that can easily be worked on?

Yes, for sure. I have been here for six weeks. Every manager will say you are making consistent assessments as you go. I am learning about my group as I go. I am learning about each individual, their strengths, what they need to improve. This is a good time for me. I have learnt a lot. Where we want to get to, we want to be successful this year. There are going to be real pressure moments. There are going to be tough games. I just spoke about PSG or Arsenal on Sunday. There are going to be moments in games where we are going to be under pressure. I need to know which players can stay calm, can stay focused, can stay consistent when those pressure moments come up.

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