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Every word Liam Rosenior just said on Chelsea's Premier League fixture with Manchester United on Saturday evening, the latest injury news and Enzo Fernandez's return to action
Liam Rosenior has just wrapped up his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Premier League showdown with Manchester United on Saturday evening.
The Blues welcome the Red Devils to Stamford Bridge this weekend in a huge match for the west Londoners' Champions League qualification hopes. It is set to be a strange atmosphere inside the stadium, with Chelsea supporters planning a pre-match protest against the club's ownership.
We just heard from Rosenior on the protest, the match against Man United, Enzo Fernandez's return, the latest team news and much more. You can read every word he had to say in our full transcript below:
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How has Enzo Fernandez been in training and can we expect to see him in the starting XI on Saturday?
Yeah, I don't ever tell you the starting XI. It's crazy to say what the starting XI will be two days before a very big game. Enzo has been training with the group, he's been training very, very well and it's just business as usual in terms of the selection for the game.
Are you hopeful Levi Colwill will return before the end of the season?
I'm hoping so. Obviously, Levi is an outstanding player and a leader in the dressing room. I think Levi will play some minutes for the under-21s tomorrow, which is fantastic for him. When you have a long-term injury, such as the extent of Levi's injury, you need a long rehab period. I want to make sure that he's 100% right in terms of his match fitness before we consider him for selection for our first team.
How are Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah?
Trevoh trained today, not quite fully, modified and we'll make a decision on him but he's very, very close. Reece is a little bit further away.
Is Saturday a must-win game?
I think as the season goes on, the less games you have left, the more important the games become. We have to take advantage of this moment. We're running out of time. We need to show that initiative on Saturday evening and we need to play on the front foot and we need to make up those points, which is still definitely possible.
Can you understand the fans feeling disheartened? There's a protest planned on Saturday...
To be honest, every supporter has their viewpoint. Every supporter wants their club to do well and to win games of football. Our job, my job with the team, is to produce those results in the long term. I respect any fan's points of view, but that's not my focus. My focus is on winning the game on Saturday.
How do you think Michael Carrick is doing?
Well, Michael, firstly as a player, I greatly admire him. Secondly, as a coach, I know he's an amazing coach because he did a fantastic job with Middlesbrough for a period of time where they were pushing consistently at the top end of the Championship. I'm not surprised in terms of the points return that he's got there because he's a very, very good coach and a good guy. But we know we have to play our best to win a difficult game on Saturday.
How important is discipline going to be in your squad between now and the end of the season?
I've had this question many times. We need to be perfect in every area or near perfect in every area to get to where we want to be, but it's possible. What we have to do, yes, our discipline needs to be good, but also moments at the game when we're on top, we have to take advantage. Moments when we're under pressure, we need to not give up goals. So it's an all-round thing that we need to improve and I need to help that process. So it's not just discipline. That's one of the many areas that we all need to improve in.
Your Chelsea side have struggled to score recently. With Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez suspended, does it give you a better chance?
No, I don't talk about individuals of other teams. We have a way that we play. In terms of chance creation, we're actually still very good. We're still very good in terms of chance creation. We just haven't taken those moments, like I've just said in the previous question. We need to be more clinical. We need to be more ruthless in both boxes and not give up chances from our own doing. And if you do that, you give yourself a chance to win a game of football.
You say you don't want to talk about individuals, but would you accept that United, perhaps that's an area where they might be weaker this week?
No, that's not for me to speak. I don't speak about other teams. I have respect for other teams. We all work in exactly the same way and the same process that we do for every team we play.
United have had lots of free weeks. You do now as well, is that an advantage?
No, I think you try to build your squad the best you can to challenge for the competitions you're in. Obviously, having clear weeks to work with your team as a coach, it makes things easier to get your point of view across, to get your process across, to get your rest period. But no, I don't want to talk about any excuses or anything that could be seen as the upper hand. We need to win this game and we need to play on the front foot with energy. And if we do that, we'll give ourselves a really good chance to win the game.
Is this your hardest moment as a manager?
Yeah, I think obviously we're not in a good place in terms of the results. It's a brilliant challenge in terms of myself, in terms of my energy, what I give the team, and more about what we do together. We've had a lot of really strong conversations as a group. We've had some very, very good training sessions. I think in this moment, you find out about yourself, you find out about your group, and you actually just have to stay focused on the process, which is here, the day in, day out.
How difficult is it to keep the group together and keep the group united during a run like this, and the noise that surrounds it as well?
The noise is not anything that you can control. What you can control are your group in terms of our spirit, which I don't think has ever been in question. I don't think there's been a lack of effort, especially the game against Manchester City. We're playing against probably the most in-form team definitely in this country right now, and for 50 minutes, 55 minutes, we're well in the game, if not the better team. Then a moment happens, then you lose confidence. The team are together, we're united, we know we all want to be successful together. That's not a question for the moment.
Did the situation with Enzo Fernandez affect the group at all? Did it divide certain pockets of the group?
Not that I'm aware of, no. No, Enzo's come back to the group this week. The group's been fantastic in terms of his training, Enzo has as well, and his application to training, and our group's application to training, so no.
How do you go about, with these last six games, seven games, trying to turn this round?
You focus on what you can control, which is our performance, which is analysing ourselves, analysing the opposition, and making sure your process is right, making sure the attitude and the energy and the application to the game is right, and what hasn't changed is we have got some very, very good players who can make the difference, and I expect a good performance on Saturday.
In terms of Levi, is it a behind-closed-doors friendly? Is that something that's been set up especially for him?
No, it's not been set up especially for him, but it's something that we think is right for him in this moment, that's come about in this moment for him.
What do you want to see from Chelsea's side now? What are they not doing now, but perhaps they were doing when you first took over and went on that great run?
When I look at the run we're on now, in a very short space of time, I think we have four games in eight days or a nine-day period, it was a lot for the group in terms of the standard of the games, the intensity of the games, and if I look at each game, I think it's just come down to a loss of concentration or focus in a moment, that then has snowballed into the rest of the performances. The mistake against Newcastle, or the mistake against Paris Saint-Germain, and then it snowballs into a lack of confidence. What I want to see the team do is go and push for the first goal, and not give the first goal up and give themselves the confidence to go on and win the game. And you can see against Manchester City, Cucurella is probably an inch away from scoring the first goal, and then that changes the momentum and the flow of the team. We're not as far away as probably what it feels like, but what we have to do is manage the margins of the game a little bit better.
Do you get the sense that the players still believe they can qualify for the Champions League this season?
Of course they still believe, of course we still believe. I don't know why you would ask that question, I don't understand why you would.
The mentality of the team has been questioned lots...
No, I haven't seen that.
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