Afternoon, Thomas. Can we get the team news first, please?
“Kova (Mateo Kovacic) is out for the game, a ligament injury. Hopefully, [he will] not be longer than two weeks out. This is a long time for us in terms of games. Hopefully, as short as possible. Callum Hudson-Odoi out for the game [against Arsenal] and Ben Chilwell is out for the game. There are some players in doubt – which we need to examine – but hopefully, the rest is okay."
Could we see Ben Chilwell or Callum Hudson-Odoi in the weeks ahead?
“On the pitch? Premier League match? No [for Ben Chilwell], I don’t think we will rush this. Ben will now be in the transition to join academy training and to have team training – but not on the physicality level like with us. These will be his next steps in the next weeks. Hopefully, he can join our training at the end of the season but no matches on that level. For Callum, it’s day by day, still not possible to join team training.”
READ MORE: Lukaku start, Kovacic replaced - Four changes Thomas Tuchel will consider for Chelsea vs Arsenal
You said that the FA Cup final against Liverpool is not about revenge, but Mason Mount said differently...
“Good. Of course, we feel it [the sense of revenge]. The Carabao Cup final was so close; wasn’t last season or two years ago. It was a few weeks ago we lost in the same stadium on a pretty similar occasion. Now it is an even bigger cup. Of course, it’s a traditional cup, it has these similarities and of course, it seems like you can come back.
"That’s what it’s about in sports: if you lost against a team on such short notice it feels a bit like ‘come on let's turn things around quickly’. Call it revenge, it doesn’t matter. We all have this competitive feeling. It’s clear.”
You are unlikely to finish second nor fall down to fourth in the Premier League, will it be difficult to motivate the players?
“I am a bit afraid that I don’t share your opinion about what is sure and what is not. We don't know if we can finish second or not sure we don’t finish fourth – I’m not sure about it until the season is finished. We will fight hard. We have a crucial four matches coming in another short period of time within like two weeks: Arsenal, West Ham, Man United, Everton. Two home, two away.
"These are crucial matches given the task of where we want to be and what we want to achieve. I agree with you that it is a big challenge in terms of the physical challenge, but also mentally to now dive into the next competition and in the main competition: the Premier League.
"It seems like things are pretty safe, but they can turn so, so quickly with the schedule. We want to play a physical game again tomorrow, want to demand again from the team. I accept it is very demanding and challenging for everybody but at the same time it’s what you sign up for when you sign up for Chelsea.
"We demand special things, we want to be a special group. We have to trust the players can overcome again and compete with teams who maybe have more days to prepare, fewer games in their legs, and still on us to push the standards and level.”
Given Timo Werner's turnaround, can he be an inspiration for Romelu Lukaku?
“I don’t think he needs inspiration. What he needs is maybe that one moment, one spark. I told you he would normally be a natural starter against Crystal Palace because of the amount Kai Havertz played recently and the amount of physicality Kai gives to the matches.
"After a period of injury, he (Lukaku) doesn't have the stiffness and fitness for matches. I don’t point the finger at him. It’s just a fact. It's not even his fault. It is just like this in the crucial time of the season that you need a certain rhythm. If you compare our matches and see the difference of Brentford, Real Madrid and then Southampton, Real Madrid – in a short period of time you see the huge amount of effort we put in to become again a winning team.
"This is what we need. It goes from there and then Romelu should have maybe had a goal against Real Madrid, missing the luck. It’s an option that he starts. If he starts we need him physically. Maybe he cannot play 90 minutes, maybe to put it all out there for 60 minutes.”
What is the latest with the takeover situation, is there anything new?
“From me, absolutely not. I am sorry.”
There will be a reduced crowd tomorrow with only season-ticket holders allowed inside Stamford Bridge, do they have to make up for those not there?
“It's not an advantage. We want to play home matches in front of a full stadium. The game is for the spectators and supporters so that’s bad news actually. I was not aware of it. Maybe someone told me and I forgot it, this is possible. But let's turn things around on it.
"Maybe everybody (the supporters) are aware of this and push a little bit more because we lack quantity but should not lack quality of support. I can only remind everybody of the match against Leicester last season of the Covid situation – it was first occasion spectators were allowed at the Bridge. There was like 15,000 and all the players said it felt like a full stadium. Hopefully, we can be the spark to bring everybody into that kind of mood to give a little bit more than normal.”
Trevoh Chalobah has been left out of two of the last three match-day squads, is there a reason why?
“They are hard decisions at the moment. Maybe he feels these decisions are against him but they are for other players. We recently had Reece James playing in his position in the back three because of his physicality and speed against key players on the left side from opponents.
"Trevoh played a lot and has had a very, very good season so far. He had a little dip in form some weeks ago but for many weeks he is back in full shape in training. We had a talk recently but I cannot prove [what was said] with minutes and game minutes at the moment. But he is exactly at the level where he was at the beginning of the season.
"It’s impressive because he overcame this kind of period where things felt a bit more difficult for him during the winter period. He had some mistakes, was not so comfortable on the pitch or reliable like used to be. Now he is back to full strength. He just needs to be patient.
"Thiago [Silva] is in full shape, Andreas Christensen is back from injury, Reece played in his position. These are the reasons. Pretty normal. For me, he is taking it very well, trains excellently. This is what we demand from him. I think he will see it with minutes in the next matches."
Reece has played excellently at right centre-back in the past two games, do you think this can be his position?
“I think the back three is less demanding physically in comparison to the wing-back position. Given he comes back from a long injury, a muscle injury, with the risk of a re-injury over so many weeks, it is a bit of an advantage to have him in a back three because it is less demanding physically.
"This is the next step: how many games can he play at wing-back if he plays wing-back during a season, and at a level where he is reliable and decisive? It [right centre-back] is less demanding physically in terms of accelerations, long acceleration, and high speed on a back three.
"That helps us have him on the pitch for more minutes. That’s why he plays in there. He can play both positions brilliantly. We only have him once so we need to decide but that’s the reason at the moment. I love him in both positions. I’m not sure (what his best position is).”
You were seen yelling at Jorginho during the FA Cup semi-final, what have you ade of his form recently?
“He played injured, sacrificed himself for the team [earlier this season] and I think you see it now. You can never underestimate how much pressure was on him playing for the national team, the country, for Italy. The demand is high after big success like winning the European Championships. I think he really felt the pressure there, everybody in Italy felt it. This is normal.
"Sometimes after big successes, very difficult to keep going. He put a lot of responsibility naturally on his shoulders because he is never shy to do so. He is never shy to do it here, this is why I love him. It’s true, I was very hard on him during the match. He had some situations he could do better and normally does. It is never personal. I love Jorgi. I know that he knows it.
"We see now we overused him. I have the feeling we see the consequences of these huge amount of matches. If he plays he is always fully involved, gives everything, and plays with a lot of effort. He has to be absolutely fresh to have the influence he normally has.
"He is not mentally, physically in the freshest moment at the minute. He is not to blame for. It affects how I analyse it, he had two or three situations where he could do better [against Crystal Palace]. Nothing personal. Nothing that stands between us.”
