Maresca: Palmer couldn t catch up to play for Arsenal; he coached because of Pep Guardiola s Barcelona

Hupu reported on November 24 that Chelsea head coach Maresca attended the pre-match press conference against Barcelona in the Champions League.

I want to ask a few questions about Palmer, we heard he has been wearing special shoes, so will he be back in training soon?

Yes, we don’t know the specific time, but it will definitely come back soon. He is now back training on the grass and feels good on the ball.

Can he play Arsenal games wearing those special sneakers?

What we focus on today is tomorrow’s game, the Champions League game, and we will discuss the Arsenal game later.

So you haven't ruled out this possibility?

I don’t think so. (He can't play for Arsenal)

It has been a few days since Palmer was accidentally injured. Have the club or you talked to him? Is it in the toilet or something?

After the previous post-game press conference, the last time I talked to Cole was after yesterday's training, asking him how he was feeling, but I didn't ask him about the details of the injury at all.

Barcelona, ​​Arsenal, this is an important week, and it is also a week of Chelsea's declaration of performance, right?

As you said, this week is crucial, but after this weekend we have away games against Leeds United, Bournemouth and Atalanta - so the following week is also crucial.

Every game is crucial, every game is for three points. No matter what, tomorrow's game against Barcelona and Sunday's game against Arsenal each have their own importance, but for us, facing them one by one is the most important thing.

Pedri will miss this game. What do you think his importance to Barcelona is? And how he compares to Enzo.

I always thought Enzo was a great player. At the beginning, he was still struggling to adapt to his role, but now he is crucial for us on the pitch.

Hi Enzo, you scored a goal in the European Super Cup against Barcelona (Sevilla 3-0). How do you think your experience will help Chelsea?

As a player, that was a big moment. That was the easiest goal of my career. We were 2-0 up at the time and the penalty was awarded in the 90th minute with six minutes of added time.

It felt great, but now things are completely different. They are a very strong team but we will do our best to win the game.

Have you ever dreamed of coaching Barcelona? And your Spanish is very good...

You have known me for a long time because you always come to my press conferences. Whenever you ask me about my future plans, I always say I'm happy to be coaching Chelsea and staying at this club, and that's what I want to say now.

Tomorrow night is very important for many young Chelsea players. Is it possible for Esteban to start against Barcelona?

Esteban has shown a high level of competition. At the age of 18, he is already a starting player for the Brazilian national team. He is very young and of course there is still a lot of room for improvement, but we are very happy with him.

I say it again, as I said when I mentioned Pedri, I think for people who love football, it is really a pleasure to see players like Esteban, Lamine Yamar or Pedri compete together.

This is the charm of football. We are delighted that Esteban is a Chelsea player and wish him well.

Lewandowski has scored 4 goals in 2 games against Chelsea in his career. The most recent game was for Bayern. Do you think he is a dangerous weapon for Barcelona? How do Chelsea defend him?

He is definitely an outstanding player. He has spent his life proving that he can do the most important thing in football - score goals.

Chelsea... will, as usual, the whole team work together to defend and remain proactive. But there are many good players in their team: Yamal, Fermin, De Jong. However, we will try our best to win the game.

Barcelona has a strong offense, but they have conceded a lot of goals this season. What is your plan for their offside system?

Their high defensive line is certainly a factor, but we also need to pay attention to running without the ball. They create a lot of chances and always score. We need to find the right balance between attack and defense.

Do you think Chelsea has improved in your first year coaching the Champions League?

I think our team’s overall state and system have improved since the away game against Bayern, but every game is different. For me personally, the team is improving every day.

Talking about the relationship between Cucurella and Yamal in the national team, and if Cucurella joked about Yamal, how to guard against him?

Cucurella has always been a very important system fulcrum for Chelsea, not just tomorrow. His level has been outstanding since I arrived at the club, not only defensively but also playing an important role in the game.

He was crucial to our overall performance and we are very pleased with him. There are many players in their team, not just Kuku, Yamal and Barcelona's offensive line. We need the whole team to defend together.

Do you think Esteban can show the same influence as Yamal in Barcelona at Chelsea?

There is no doubt that Esteban will become an important player in the future.

For me, the most important thing is that he must enjoy football and stay happy. Don't think about being better than anyone else. What he needs to focus on is comparing himself with himself and improving. What is certain is that he will be the top player on this team.

What do you think is the difference between Flick’s Barcelona and Gua’s Barcelona, ​​and do you think Gua’s tikitaka is still a popular system now? In the Premier League, is the pass-and-switch style no longer the most popular thing?

I don’t know, but... To be honest, I decided to become a coach because of Barcelona coached by Guardiola many years ago.

If a club or team chooses a different style, I've said it many times: any team can decide how they want to play. I chose my style many years ago and I want my team to play this way in the future as well as my future coaching.

Do you think your coaching status still has a lot of influence from Barcelona?

I don’t think anyone can compare with Barcelona or Guardiola, because I think they changed Spanish football. At that time, every club tried to imitate their style. Then Guardiola went to Germany, and German clubs were also trying this style. Even the German national team also wanted to get some passing control.

I think that after Guardiola came to England, many clubs tried to imitate him, and the same is true for the England representative team. I think Guardiola has changed football in the last 20-25 years.

Is it possible for Jiwu to play tomorrow? What did you think of his performance in the last game?

Mark did a great job. He was here last season, had a lot of opportunities and then unfortunately got injured. He is always growing and improving.

It was a little difficult at the beginning due to injuries, but he worked very hard and we are very satisfied with his performance. He is very young and needs to continue to learn in order to be ready when the opportunity arises and take orders in times of crisis.

The last Spanish question about Barcelona.

The way they play is amazing; you can always learn something from Barcelona. The way they attack, the way they defend, the way they won the league last season is something we can all learn from.

So they are an excellent team that can always take the initiative, and we will work hard to do this.