Chelsea press conference LIVE: Chelsea faces Brentford at Stamford Bridge tomorrow in Premier League play, and a protest against the Ricketts family’s ambition to buy the club from Roman Abramovich is planned prior to the game.
The international break didn’t come at a good time for the Blues, who had won six games in a row and were building momentum heading into the final months of the season. Tuchel will be hoping for a repeat performance when the Bees go to Stamford Bridge tomorrow afternoon.
Reece James, Andreas Christensen, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, on the other hand, were allowed to return to first-team training following their separate injuries over the break. We’ll hear the latest from Tuchel on whether the trio is still in contention to face Brentford, as well as any other team news.
Chelsea press conference LIVE:
Tuchel will, of course, face questions regarding Chelsea’s takeover. Four bids were nominated during the international break, and one of them, the Ricketts family, has received fierce criticism from supporters. Supporters are planning a protest against their intended takeover before tomorrow’s game.
Our Chelsea correspondent Adam Newson will keep you up to date on Tuchel’s news conference. Throughout the afternoon, live updates will be available below, and a complete transcript will be available on the wilsontrendit.com website shortly as the Blues’ head coach has addressed the media.
Thoughts on Lukaku going back to Italy?
We can’t talk to players. We can’t sell or buy. So at the moment, we don’t think about it.
I feel him motivated and very strong in training. Very involved when we do the games. He is a winner and will stay a winner. He will stay important to us. He had a good match against Middlesbrough that was a big boost for us and important for him.
Five substitutes next season, a good thing?
Brilliant decision. We were the only league that didn’t do it. It is an excellent decision and I dare to say it is an excellent decision for everybody.
Christensen to Barcelona, that true?
We heard the same rumors. I have no confirmation for you because I’ve not spoken to Andreas about it at the moment. But we’ve heard the same rumors.
Eriksen’s journey back?
I wasn’t following every little step. I was following the story and it’s brilliant he is back in the Premier League and can enjoy this.
Thoughts on Brentford?
It’s maybe also normal. As a newcomer in the toughest league in the world, they may be expected not to fly through the season. When we played them in the first match, it was one of the worst moments because they were flying and had lots of belief. We struggled in the last minutes like crazy and we needed a lot of luck to escape with three points.
They played for a long period of the season with a back five, but now they play with a 4-3-3. So let’s see what they do tomorrow.
Pleased to have Azpi staying?
I knew the number of games. We needed to make him stay and make his contract extension. So that makes me happy. You know how much I rely on him.
Pulisic and Silva fit?
Thiago is a bit different than Christian because he didn’t play the third match against Brazil. He came back one day earlier and didn’t have the same jet lag.
For Christian, we have to decide. He didn’t train today. We gave him a recovery session. He was here but very tired with the jet lag and time difference. So we have to figure out of it makes sense to play him tomorrow and for how many minutes.
Reece James, Ready?
Yeah, he’s ready to go and in the squad tomorrow.
How is Jorginho?
Good as always. I’ll be honest, I didn’t speak a lot about that [Italy’s elimination] because what could I say to get his pain away? Nothing.
Like always, it’s our job to create an environment and atmosphere. To make it a safe place. He came in one day earlier than he needed to be and that’s why I had the feeling he loved to come back and be in a positive environment.
Injury update
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell will miss the game. Callum still feels his Achilles a little bit and has lower back problems. Everyone else was in training.
No home tickets allowed to be sold for home PL games?
We are happy things changed and we can have fans at the FA Cup semi-final and Champions League. So everybody has to step up and have a responsibility to create a good atmosphere. So if we are a little bit less, they have to compensate for those missing.
Should you have won manager of the month?
It’s ok. We can leave it like this. We can win all the matches and I don’t have to get involved.
