What is the latest team news?
“Everybody was on the training pitch today except for Ben Chilwell and Reece James, who has a muscular problem after his three matches – not his injured leg, the other leg. We need examination. We thought he could be on the pitch today but he couldn't. We need further examination to see what is going on.
Do you have to be very careful on Reece?
"Yes, and he felt it during the match [against Burnley] so that's why we took him out and it didn't get better. So we are worried. But still, we need some more details and some more information. It was obvious what he gives to our team and can give to our team. So it's not good news at the moment."
Do you fear a big setback?
"A setback for sure, I hope not a big one."
Ben Chilwell was photographed back out on the grass, how is he doing?
"I think they did the photo during the one minute he was outside. It's why it feels like this. Nobody saw him, so we were all pretty excited.
"But it was just that the weather made it possible that he can do the exercise he normally does inside outside. They made him smell the grass, get a bit excited. But he's not even close to football, team training, whatever."
Not changing your prognosis that we won't see him again this season?
"No, no chance."
Is Kai Havertz undroppable at the moment?
"Nobody is undroppable, but if he plays like this after he stepped up in his mentality in his game, he is very good and has a huge influence physically and from his quality in our game. That's why he is very important. He is in a good shape, he turned things around for himself again.
"He was strong at the beginning of the season then a few weeks ago he had a spell where we did not feel him as involved as we feel he is now. He fought his way out, full credit to him. It is the right mentality, he shows how important he can be. It is very important to us."
Do you take personal pride in his form?
“I don’t take pride, no. It's on him. He stepped up. The players take care of whether they are on the pitch and then they need to take care that they stay on the pitch. He absolutely did this. He was down and had a few struggles to fight for it, to know how to fight for it and step up.
"We spoke, and it was more or less this is a daily thing. He changed his attitude, used his physique, used his body, and went day by day. He was more and more impressive and has been in a good shape for a long time. Nothing has changed in the relationship, we always trusted him. He showed his potential. He is very young and very good.”
Have you had any updates on the sale of Chelsea?
“To have clarity is always better than uncertainty. But I have to say, we produced performances and results in times of global uncertainty and also club-wise. That makes us proud and maybe more important, it shows that we can trust in ourselves.
"It gives us a lot of trust in the culture of the club, the culture at Cobham. This gives us a good feeling. We have the culture and attitude right, we can focus even if things are uncertain. At the moment I have absolutely no more information than you for sure, no updates.”
Has it been difficult to prepare for matches amid the sale?
“It's not been so difficult I have to say, and a big credit to the club, what the people who work at the club – everybody here at Cobham. The culture is also created from top to bottom then bounces back from the bottom to the top.
"I've had the feeling, since day one, it is clear why you work here, how you work here, how you behave, what it takes to be a member of this Chelsea staff and the Chelsea team. This helps. Things are so clear and people are very devoted and committed to what they are doing.
"I said very often that it is an incredible amount of support but the quality of support is outstanding. That creates a certain atmosphere and once you have this, it can protect you in uncertain times or if things get awkward or distracting.
"It always has an effect but it calms you down. So huge credit to the club in general and the organisation. We have to take care about it, myself foremost. We have to take care about this.”
Updates regularly about a possible takeover?
“Not so much. I am in regular exchanges, as always, with Petr [Cech] and Marina [Granovskaia] as always but not so much.”
Given Kai Havertz's form, that means less football for Romelu Lukaku. What is his state of mind and do you have to manage him carefully?
“Yes, of course, it is not easy at the moment for him but he is a member of the team – an important member of the team. There are other players at certain times who are not happy because the biggest problem is we can only start 11 players and lot of players think – and have a reason – to feel they are regular starters for us.
"There’s always a chance [for Lukaku] because Kai can also play more positions, we can play with double strikers like in the second half against Burnley and Luton. There’s always a chance, it is not only Romelu. It is also Timo (Werner) and sometimes one of the midfielders. It is the quality that makes the difference.
"Romelu fights for it like everybody else. This is what we need. He is as positive as can be. He does not like the situation, nobody does. He handles it very professionally. I try to do my best to be respectful and supportive like for everybody else.”
This week there have been reports that Andreas Christensen is going to leave, but do you expect him to stay at the club?
"Well, it's in doubt, no? We hear the rumours and the situation with Andreas, for many weeks, is clear and we are not happy about it.
"Me personally and club representatives, we think that it's best for him to stay and we rely heavily on him. He did not sign yet, so this is how you cannot communicate This is also a signal to us.
"The communication from his side is that he did not sign until now. So we have to consider the possibility that he leaves us. Will we like it? No. Will we live with it? Yes. Things are not personal, never, never should be personal.
"This can happen. But I have no further information. Not even information that I don't want to share, just no information at all."
Could he be going to Barcelona and would that impact how you use him?
"I don't think so, because these things happen, and I try and normally is the best thing not to take them personally when things like this happen.
"He's still our player and we will do what's best for us until his contract expires. He's a Chelsea player, that's the point, and he knows we appreciate him a lot.
"I think it's a crucial point in his Chelsea career at the moment. I think it's a crucial point where he has the chance, at the perfect age and the perfect moment, regarding the situation, the system we play, the guys who play at his side.
"Considering all these circumstances it's for me the decisive moment for him to step up and be a huge Chelsea player for the next years.
If he decides otherwise I will not take it personally and it's in the end not important if I understand it or not. But I will treat him as my player until the very last day – if he behaves how he has behaved."
Do you think you've found the best position now for Kai Havertz?
“At the moment he plays [as a nine] because he deserves to play and gives so much to the team. I think he can play all three positions up front. He can also play as a double striker. There is not so much difference. At the moment, he digs in in the central position and he does a lot.”
Jurgen Klopp highlighted that Liverpool and Man City are pushing themselves to new levels, do you have what you need to reach those levels?
“Yes. We have everything. This is clear. There is no hiding, no excuses. We have everything. This club provides everything: culture, the infrastructure, the squad, the mentality. We have everything it needs. It’s on us to push and not lose contact.
" There are some reasons why the gap opened but I think there are always numerous reasons. It is not the moment to complain, to be too negative. We have what it takes and we will join the race.”
How important is it to maintain your form and secure that top-four spot early?
“We want to stay where we are at least and take what we can get from the guys above us. As we talked about, Man City and Liverpool show that they produce this kind of results consistently throughout every month.
"They don’t drop in performance and results-wise. They don’t drop in certain months or certain periods. I think the Covid situation in certain moments and the injury situation caught us and had a huge influence on our points but it’s not isolated. I agree with you that we get better and better at the moment, we get our form back and play a bit more fluent, active, more lively.
"Again, more and more attractive and nicer to watch. We can feel the group stronger and stronger. This is how we got the results. This is the good news. We managed before to get results, which was good to overcome a period - what other teams also do.”
“This is pretty much it, of course, we try to win the game tomorrow. We have respect, it’s an away game in Premier League. If you look at our schedule, the next four matches come within the shortest time - we need to be spot on.”
Will Norwich put up more of a fight than the 7-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge?
“For sure. This is exceptional, it happens once a season (winning 7-0). Would be a big mistake to draw any conclusions from this game. We did not use it in preparation, we will not use it.
"We analyse the last matches from Norwich. They have a new coach. They have a new style in defending and approaching the game. A lot has changed. This should not affect our minds. This is absolutely clear.
"It's very important to consistently forget too much praise and stay humble, keep on going again, again and again in this kind of league. This is what the two top club, two top teams show since years. This is where we want to join. If we want to join, of course, they are the underdogs.
"They have nothing to lose, these are these kinds of situations. We handle these very well, we know what it takes. It is on us to deliver.”
Christian Pulisic has found some form, what's the next step for him now?
“He’s in a good moment, in good form. There is a good link-up between him, Mason (Mount), and Kai. They have assists together, are decisive, have goals. For me, Christian needs and what he can bring to the team is physicality and ability to hit high intensity repetitively, on a high frequency.
"This is the focus and from there the other thing is that he has the ambition and natural hunger, ambition to arrive in the six-yard box. This is good, this is what we need. He needs to focus on these things and start from there.
"If he does and feels the physical fitness, the physical ability to do so, he can have a huge influence in our game.”
Important to keep Marina and Petr Cech at the club after Roman Abramovich's sale?
“This will not be my choice. This is part of it. I can only tell you until now it was an excellent relationship that worked so well for me and also hopefully the two others to take these decisions and have updates in a small circle of communication and responsibility. Hopefully, it will stay like this but I have no influence in it, no information if it will.”
Does the sale influence out-of-contract players?
“Actually I cannot answer. I don’t know. Does it have an effect on the players? Maybe. You'd have to ask the players. On the club, I don’t know.
"I think we are capable, I hope we are capable. Right now, it is still March… We have some time. Of course, there are some situations we want to have solved. We couldn’t solve them. What reasons, whatever, it is not an ideal situation. On top of it, the players who are concerned do very, very well.
"Credit to the players. It shows the mentality here in the club and in the building that this is also normal for them to deliver despite their personal contractual situation. This is what we rely on. Of course, hopefully, we will have the chance to stay in talks and solve the things how we want them to solve for us.”
