Chelsea on Saturday defeated Stoke City 5-0 to move up to second place on the log after Manchester United, the previous occupant were held to a goalless draw. Chelsea Manager who commended his player for a positive performance noted that the early goal scored by Rudiger also assisted in boosting the confidence of the team. His full press conference as culled from Chelsea season is presented below.
On the performance of the team, the manager said;
“I think our performance was very positive. We started the game very well with great desire to score early. As I said before, this type of game, if you can score early, the game can become easy as your opponent has to change their plan and that can give more space to your striker. We started very well and we wanted this. I’m very pleased with the performance of all my players. I’m pleased to finish the game with another clean sheet. If you compare this season with last season, we conceded less goals. We’ve scored less, but we’ve conceded less.
“We have to continue to work very hard. To finish this year in this way is great for me, the players, club and fans. This year was a fantastic year for me and my players. To win the title in England is not simple. To be able to do this at your first chance, I will remember this year in my mind forever.”
Next year could be good as well as you’re still in four competitions…
“If you compare last season, this season we are still involved in the Carabao Cup. We’ve got two games against Arsenal, but last season we were knocked out in the second round by West Ham. We’ve improved in this competition, but at the same time we reached the final of the FA Cup.
“It won’t be easy to repeat this. In February we start the Champions League against Barcelona. I think that we have a lot of great games to face. I’m very happy as today I had a good response from my players. I made rotations today and when you have this type of response from your players, you must be pleased.
“You must know we are working very well with the players playing with regularity and the players who don’t sometimes play.”
Have you worked on something specific with Alvaro Morata as he wasn’t taking chances as he did earlier in the season?
“It was a pity for the striker as it’s always important to score. Usually I’m more worried when our striker doesn’t have opportunities or chances to score.
“In this case, Alvaro was very good to stay in the right place. He didn’t score but in the last game against them he scored a hat-trick against Stoke City. He drew the situation between the game away and the game at home. It’s important for me to see the players have the chances to score.”
