What are you expecting from Southampton on Tuesday?
"I had the chance to watch the game of Southampton [against Manchester United] live and saw a very strong side. They had a huge turnaround at Leicester to win the game, and you could see they gained a lot of confidence from it. They conceded, but they had a lot of touches in the box, a lot of shots against Manchester United and were very mobile upfront.
"What you can always expect in Southampton is a physical game, a running game, a high-intensity game. This is what it is. We need to recover well and be well prepared to repeat what we did last season."
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With games now every three days, are you satisfied with the strength of your squad?
"Right now, I think we could need some more players in some positions, but it's very close to the end of the transfer window, and when September 1 comes, I will be a happy coach no matter what happens. I will try to find solutions and not think about what might have happened or what could be.
"Everything that matters is reality, and at the moment [against Leicester], what mattered was finding a way to win. What will matter at Southampton is the same, find a way to win, step up individually and push the team from my side. This is what we will do no matter if players will come or not."
Given the impact Cesar Azpilicueta made against Leicester, how difficult is it at the moment not to pick him?
"At the moment, it is one of the toughest decisions because he trains so well and is in such good shape and status mentally. He is pushing everybody and is fully committed – it's what you want on the field.
"But if we play 4-4-2, it's between him or Reece James. It's a luxury problem we have, but when we changed to a back five [against Leicester], we had the chance to have both of them on the pitch. Without tough decisions, we will get nowhere. We are used to competing for every title at Chelsea, competing at the highest level. If we don't have tough decisions, it will simply not happen.
"We hope to have 60 matches, but to have 60 matches, we have to have a squad where everybody is ready to place and have a lot of difficult decisions. On Saturday, we ended up, more or less, in a situation where we had almost no more central defenders on the bench. Now we had N'Golo injured and Conor Gallagher with a yellow-red card. So there are not enough tough decisions at the moment. I would like to have more of these. That would mean we are in full competition mode."
There are quite a few players whose futures are uncertain in the final days of the window, how will you handle that? Will you be speaking to the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech, and others about their situations?
"We do, but it's maybe human when there is a transfer window. They are not only with us at Cobham. When they leave the building, they have their phone on, and they will get calls, think about their future, their next step, and there is a World Cup coming that everyone talks and thinks about.
"At the moment, I accept it's like this. But from September 1, there are no more excuses and no more distractions. I am very, very happy when the transfer window is over because then we have different leverage to push players, and then the commitment has to be 100%, we will not accept 99%. The reality is that sometimes, in the last days of the window, you have to simply accept it no matter what you wish for. It's the reality."
With N'Golo Kante injured and Conor Gallagher suspended, has midfield become a headache for you now?
"It is, and it's normally the area I would love to have a headache about who plays and who is on the bench. This is normally the area where I thought we would have five players that could all play for us and have Carney [Chukwuemeka] on top as an option as a young player.
"The headache before the season was whether we had too many players there, but it comes to the fifth game, and maybe we only have two left with experience in this position and Kova from the bench because he is not ready to play full matches at Premier League level as he only had a week after training after his injury.
"It's a strange situation and a situation we don't like. I don't know why we are in this situation, actually. It's like this, and we will have something to think about [over the team selection], or maybe not because it's so obvious who we have left."
Kalidou Koulibaly has taken the No.26 shirt this season. Can you see him emerging as a leader in this team?
"Yes, he is already. He's a fantastic player and has a fantastic personality. I am so happy with what I see, not only that we convinced him to come to the club but how he behaves and trains. I see a lot of quality and everything that is needed to be a leading figure at Chelsea. He will be on the pitch at Southampton, he is a massive player for us, and there's no doubt about it."
After your experience against Leicester, how much are you looking forward to being back on the touchline and coming up against a friendly face in Ralph Hasenhuttl?
"It's better. But listen, I played many times against Antonio Conte, and normally we have zero issues with each other, so things can happen in a football match. I have a lot of respect for Ralph, and we have played against each other a lot of times, and he is a very nice person and a very good coach, and his fingerprints are all over this Southampton team every year.
"He will be very friendly before the match, but during the match, he will not only be friendly with us. Don't make the mistake; he is a competitor as we are. We will fight it out but always with fair play. It will be better to be on the sideline than in the stands."
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