The full transcript from Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior’s pre-match press conference ahead of Blues’ FA Cup fourth round clash with Hull City on Friday evening
Liam Rosenior has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup fourth round tie with Hull City on Friday evening.
Around 16 hours after Rosenior last faced the press, in the aftermath of the Blues’ frustrating 2-2 draw with Leeds United, the head coach was quizzed once again. Here is every word he had to say ahead of his return to Hull this week:
Team news… how are Marc Cucurella and Reece James?
Yeah, for Marc, it’s too early to know. Obviously, he’s definitely out for the game against Hull. We’re just doing our scans and assessments on him and hopefully he’s not too long. Reece trained modified, still under the weather, and we’ll make a decision on Reece tomorrow, but it’s good news that he’s back on the training pitch. In terms of injury, he’s absolutely fine, but he’s had a really bad bug and hopefully he’s recovered from that.
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In terms of a few more thoughts on the game last night, was it a good time to look back at Cole Palmer’s late effort now and kind of decipher how that happened?
It wasn’t just that. It wasn’t just that. Yeah, balanced view is 99% of the game was in what I see. In terms of with the ball, in terms of without the ball, in terms of our defending set plays, in terms of our threat on set plays, in terms of our energy, our courage, our habits, it was very, very good. Just those moments, those moments of switching off, they’re the bits where we need to improve. But saying that, there was a lot of good in what we did last night and there’s ways you can focus on that and make sure that’s even better.
The trip down memory lane for you on Friday evening, going back to Hull, how do you feel about that and also being back in the FA Cup?
Firstly, for me, Hull City is very special to me. My grandma was a season ticket holder. She passed away a year to the day pretty much when I took that job. I think she did the draw. I’ve got my family coming up. I probably need about 20 tickets. The club means a lot to me for many reasons. Hopefully we can put on a really, really good show. It will be amazing to go back.
We’ve seen a Premier League manager depart today, Thomas Frank. What are your thoughts on that?
Firstly, it’s never nice when you see a fellow manager lose their job. Thomas, I’ve met a few times. He’s a fantastic guy and a fantastic coach. It just goes to show how difficult this job can be. I wish him all the very best in the future.
That experience at Hull, how do you think it moulded you into the player but also the manager that you’ve become?
Without Hull, without the experience of being there as a player and as a manager, I wouldn’t be sat here. I’ve got a lot to thank the club for. I’ve had some amazing times there, both as a player and as a coach. It’s really good to see them doing so well in the league. It’s a great club, great people, great fans, a great city. It’s going to be an emotional one for me to go back.
Is this an opportunity to make wholesale changes and give a few players a rest?
No, it’s a tough game. This is going to be a difficult game. I want to do well in this competition. I don’t see it any different to a Premier League game or a Champions League game. We’re going there with a team that I think will be good enough to win the game. I want to take this game really, really seriously. We’re going to have to because they’re in good form. They’re used to winning games at the moment.
There has been a lot of rotation with your centre-back pairings, how difficult is it to form connections without any consistency? Can that explain maybe what happened for Leeds’ second goal last night?
I think you can over-analyse. It didn’t matter who was on the pitch in that moment. We should have dealt with that situation. You’re talking about isolated incidents that have cost us two points. I felt, like I said, that 99% of that performance was very, very good. In terms of Wes [Fofana], he’s had injury issues and I want to make sure he doesn’t break down again. He’s an outstanding player. They will always want consistency in your back line. I’m sure we’ll get there in the end.
How long do you think it will be before Wes can play back-to-back games?
For the first time in a long time, he played back-to-back from midweek to the weekend. That’s a really positive sign. The aim for every player is to build them to a point where they can play every game. That’s the aim and we’re not quite there yet. But with the medical team that I’m working with and the way we’re working, I’m confident we can get him there.
I wanted to ask about Mamadou Sarr. He’s a player that you know very well. Is there a chance that he could feature in this game?
Yes. Mamadou’s got a great chance to start the game. It’s very difficult for a player in January to move clubs. Obviously, the great thing for Mamadou is he’s been here before and also he knows me very well and my expectations and demands with the players. He’s only been here for a week, so he needs time to bed in. He needs time to acclimatise, but now I think he’s in a really good place and he’ll definitely see the pitch at some point on Friday.
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