What's the latest team news?
Christian Pulisic is still out. For Mason Mount, it's too soon. He has a minor injury
from the Aston Villa game and while he made a big step, huge progress, it's not enough
to be ready for 12.30 tomorrow. Everyone else is in training and we'll see tomorrow.
Does that mean Edouard Mendy is ready to make his return?
Yes, he's available and will start tomorrow.
You've guided Chelsea to three consecutive wins over Pep Guardiola, who important is that record?
Not so long ago there were a lot of voices who told me I don't know how to beat Pep, so...anyway
it's not between me and him, we don't play a match of tennis or a match of chess tomorrow.
It's two teams and clubs that compete against each other on a very high level.
If I look at it [the last three games] honestly, I see three 50/50 matches
and I'm not only talking about the situation before the match, but during the matches too.
It could have been any outcome. Once you have 50/50 matches
little details decide them, small situations can give you the advantage and you need a bit of luck.
So it felt totally 50/50, even in the review. I expect nothing other than a 50/50 match
tomorrow and we want to fight hard to be the guys with the better outcome.
We've done it several times now with this club, but we know what the input was,
we know how much we suffered in these matches. And that's what we expect tomorrow."
Right now, are you a better coach than Pep Guardiola?
This question does not even exist for me and it doesn't exist for me because I can't answer
it. These are questions for you guys that you can maybe endlessly debate.
I have the highest respect for Pep because
I'm a huge admirer of the impact he had from his first day of professional coaching.
The impact he had at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now at Manchester City. This is something
I hugely respect and this will never change. Look at the trophies, look at the influence,
there is absolutely no reason why I should start to ask myself whether I'm a better coach or not.
I do the best I can, I'm in a place right now where I'm very happy. I'm a better coach today
than I was yesterday and that's all that matters. I need experience, I'm grateful to have this
amount of support at this club to cover my back and push me to my limits, and from there on we go.
"I'm very happy I have the possibility to fight to that level, for both my team and my club,
and this is what matters."
Romelu Lukaku spoke this week about Premier League captains and high-profile players speaking to
social media companies about online racial abuse. Is this something you think needs to happen?
"I'm happy for every discussion that leads to the right direction. I'm happy for every discussion
that we have, because it can only be positive, and speaking about things I believe will always
be the start for something positive.
"In general, I'm maybe absolutely the worst person to talk about social media,
because I don't have it. Social media doesn't exist for me. I just focus on football."
How big a miss will Mason Mount be does that change your approach to the game?
Yes and no [on whether it changes the approach to the game]. He is very disappointed
and I didn’t see it during the match. It happened during the second half,
he played through the injury, finished the game and he was confident enough
to take an important penalty in the shootout. It was a bit of a surprise.
The steps that he is doing to recover are huge. There may even have been a possibility
that he could have played if the game was a day later. It is a very small and minor injury.
It is a disappointment for him and us because he is a player that we count on.
It’s always the same; no matter the importance that Mason has, no matter how much we rely on him,
the task is to find solutions without him and bring him back as soon as possible.
Do you have a psychological edge over Man City given recent results?
We have the positive experiences. We know how tough it feels at half-time
in the dressing room, how much work we put in and how much input was needed.
When I say it’s 50/50, I mean 50/50. When we look back at situations on how to defend
or attack. It still feels dangerous and we hope they will not score again!
Luckily it does not happen even though I looked several times.
You really have to work for it and earn it. Don’t forget,
you also need momentum and a bit of luck. Yes, genuine belief that you can do it is
the most important thing in sports. On this kind of level, we have the belief
that we can do it. We have the belief and we know well what it takes to have the possibility to win.
I have the feeling that it does not take a miracle to win against Manchester City but it
is absolutely necessary that we bring our best performance.
This is tough enough and this is maybe the confidence it gives us. This is one of the
biggest tests in European football. It’s on tomorrow, in our stadium and we feel ready.
If you win, you can damage Man City's title aspirations?
Before we talk about the result, we need to focus on the input and what we will deliver.
On this level in these kinds of matches, you need the momentum, a bit of luck,
decisions on your side, the post and in or out. These kinds of things decide and
tomorrow after the game, we can judge what kind of result it is.
Whether it is deserved or not and we can keep going, but let’s be honest, if we win
tomorrow we won’t be champions. If City wins, they won’t be champions and we won’t have depression.
It’s an important match and a big match, it’s a match which we like to be involved in.
The situation in which we face this match is a good one and we worked hard for it
so we feel ready for this kind of competition. We
are well aware of what it takes to have the opportunity to beat them once again.
Do you have to focus more on yourself rather than worry about what Guardiola might do?
Yes and no. We always try to focus on us but there are a lot of behaviours that we need to be
aware of. They also played a very different line-up in the league game in Manchester,
caused a lot of problems for us. They played with two strikers
upfront so you never know [what Guardiola will do].
They have a lot in the pocket. They are a top team, have a top manager, have a lot of solutions,
have many years of experience. They have played at such a high level over the years
that it is a tough one. But within every structure and line-up, there is a certain pattern.
They put huge intensity in your in your half and there are certain patterns to
defending and attacking which you need to be aware of. But at this level it is so
important that we play with confidence, accept difficulties, play through pain and fatigue,
and that we play a tough match and make a tough team performance. This is what we are up to.
And then you need to take advantage if you feel there is a moment to escape the pressure and if
find a technical solution you can o it. But you need to be very aware of all the solutions because
if space is open, it's only open for a blink of an eye. This is what I mean. Do we need a miracle
to compete? No, but we need our best, best performance."
Is it too early in the season to call this match a
six-pointer or is that what you feel it is tomorrow?
It's a six-pointer between two teams who are rivals for top four or the best outcome
possible. But it's too early for it. Any team can, of course, steal three points from a direct
competitor so you can call it this. Does it change anything? No, but there's no need to play it down.
There is a chance we play a draw, so things will be tough and this is what I mean. They are the
benchmark for many years now at the highest level and I am very happy we're able to produce these
kinds of performances and results consistently [against them]. We need to prove that can deliver
with the same consistency as City.
They are the benchmark so we have to stay hungry and close the gap. This is what we have to do
for 90 minutes, and the next 90 minutes. It's a challenge and we're up for it. It's a marathon,
not a sprint, and the race is no over tomorrow no matter the result.
Do you have extra motivation by the possibility of going six points clear?
I don't think so. We are aware of the situation but I don't think so. If it was
three games before the end of the season, maybe but it's so early that we do not need
extra motivation or have an extra edge by going six points clear. I didn't even know how many
points clear we were now I do but I don't think in these patterns and hopefully my team does not.
We need to be at our best, best level anyway. No matter if we're one point behind or three
points clear, that does not change. This is what I feel and this is what is very important. In the
last three matches against City, we isolated the situation; this is a match at the highest
level and if we wanted to compete with them in a 50/50 match, we need out top level.
It doesn't matter if it's a cup game, a league game,
how many points we have and they have, it does not matter. "Tomorrow against Manchester City
at Stamford Bridge, it's on. And we need to be fully on."
Could Thiago Silva potentially stay at
Chelsea beyond the end of the season given his performances?
It's on him. I can't answer that question right now. Hopefully, he can continue to perform at
this kind of level and that's all it needs to stay here. It's as easy and clear as that.
We want top performances when you play for Chelsea,
you need to deliver, that is what he is doing. He is a top professional, that is a given, otherwise,
it would not be possible that he plays at this kind of level for so, so many years.
Age does not play a role. The only question we have to ask at the end of the season is: Is he
at the level we need to compete for Chelsea in every competition? Yes or no?
It's as easy as that and we have time for that. He is in a good place and we're happy.