Every word Enzo Maresca said on Chelsea vs Fluminense, Noni Madueke transfer, Joao Pedro position

Enzo Maresca has just conducted his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup semi-final clash with Fluminense.

The Blues go head-to-head with the Brazilian side at the MetLife Stadium on Tuesday as they bid for a place in the final at the weekend. Here is every word Maresca had to say from an extremely busy pre-match press conference:

Challenging missing Liam Delap and Levi Colwill? Is Joao Pedro ready to start?

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Yes, I think already in the last game we had Romeo out, Moises out, Reece out and we found a solution with Andrey. Now with Levi and Liam out, we're going to find a different solution. Joao is ready, also Nico. For sure we're going to find a solution.

How important is it to have Caicedo back?

Yes, we will try to prepare the game in the best way. As you just said, Moises comes back with us, we are delighted, we are very happy to have him. He has been very important in this season for us, with everything we have done. And on the part of the Brazilians, we know that we have already faced two teams from Brazil. We know the passion they have, and the importance of this game for them. But at the same time, it is for us, and we are here to try to reach the final.

As you may well know, over the years at Chelsea, there have been many, many players who have been assigned as No.9 to score goals. Joao Pedro feels like he is the latest guy now to have a go at continuing that tradition. Do the young players know about this history?

For sure, I think Joao, Liam, Nico, the ones that we have at the moment, they know exactly about No.9 at Chelsea. But I said already many times, in my mind, or in my idea, I prefer to have four or five players scoring 10-12 goals each, than just one striker scoring 40 goals. So, you can see last year, what we have done with Noni, what we have done with Enzo Fernandez. And we expect next season, more goals from all our attacking players. But for sure, as I said, the ones that they are playing as a No.9 with us, they know exactly Chelsea's style.

How is Nicolas Jackson, and what is the game plan for the match?

Nico is ok, and then in terms of game plan for tomorrow, I think every game, we try to adapt a little bit, ourselves, in terms of finding solutions. Tomorrow we are going to move on, we are not going to settle the same.

Did you watch the Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund game here on Saturday? The teams there seem quite uncomfortable with the conditions, it is very hot and humid here today. Do you think that this game should be kicked off at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, or do you expect this stadium to be later for the players?

I watched the game, but I watched the game from the television, it was fantastic temperature, I don't think it is just tomorrow's game, I think we already played, us, different teams, with different conditions, but at this stage, the game is tomorrow at 3 o'clock, we are going to try to adapt.

How important is the Club World Cup to a team like Chelsea?

For me personally, it is not that it is not important, it is that we come to this tournament with two different situations. How many games did PSG play officially this season? We have played 63 games, so the European teams come to this competition in a different way than the Brazilian teams or the South American teams, because of the number of games we have played. But the desire we have to win is the same as you have, but the conditions are different.

Do Fluminense have an advantage being much more experienced?

You can have advantage or disadvantage, it depends a little bit. We already had one entire season together, being the youngest squad in the Premier League, and we faced teams with more experience than us, and we were able to do a good game, to win a game, or not win a game. And tomorrow will be exactly the same, as you said, we are probably the first or the second youngest squad in this competition, and we're going to face probably the oldest one, and it's also a good test for this.

Is Noni Madueke 100% focused on Chelsea or has his head been swayed due to transfer speculation?

Personally I think the same noise where before Palmeiras came, you see we gave him half an hour and he was very good, so I don't have any doubt that if we need Noni he is going to help us, at the same moment I can understand that as a human being when there are many noise around you it's not easy to deal with that, but hopefully he can deal with that.

Will a tournament like this, where you play so many different teams from different countries, help you in Europe next season?

Oh yeah, for sure, for sure, because from any game you can learn things from different countries, different managers, you can always learn. As you said, we'll be the first Brazilian team that we're going to face. The first two, they were very good, with lots of energy, and tomorrow, we don't have a doubt that it's going to be exciting to see.

Nicolas Jackson, last season we asked you a lot about having competition, he's gone from no striking competition in his position to some serious competition now from the Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, I was wondering how he's responding to that and what do you want to see from him?

Nicolas is training well, unfortunately, almost the last two games he played he was sent off, he was red card, unfortunately for him, unfortunately for us, but he's working well, he played after the Newcastle red card, he played the Conference League final, he scored, we won, and then for the new season, also for the future, we decide to bring another No.9, and at this moment, it's okay.

How has Bernardo Cueva (set-piece coach) helped you in this tournament?

Since we started this tournament, we've been using it in a different way, not an effective way, we have one more alternative, which is the attacking play, and it's working quite well, but that's all, always try to improve, try to improve, and Bernardo is doing a good job.

I just wanted to ask about the fitness of Romeo Lavia. Is he fit for tomorrow?

Romeo is training already, unfortunately he's not training with us, so he's not ready for tomorrow.

In your opinion, what are the strengths of the Fluminense team, and do you think that the heat is an advantage of the Brazilian team, since it's hotter in Brazil than in England?

I don't know, the heat, you have to try to adapt in the best way possible, I know that in Brazil it's hotter, lucky for you, but we're going to try to adapt. The strengths, I think they have a very good coach, with experience, they have quality players, Arias, Cano, there are a lot of players who are good players, and at this point in the tournament, I think that any game is going to be very difficult, because the competition is coming to an end.

To win this Club World Cup for you, is it the same weight as winning the Champions League, for example?

I can't tell you, because it's the first time that this competition exists, so I don't know if it's equivalent to winning the Champions League, but it's clear that we would like to reach the final first, because to reach the final, we have to do what we have to do tomorrow, and then try to win.

Would you like your players to be more like Thiago Silva?

No. I'm happy with my players.

How do you prepare to come up against someone like Thiago Silva?

I said in the last press conference, before the Palmeiras game, that we don't use to prepare the game against a player. We used to prepare the game against a team, so tomorrow is exactly the same. We are not... We respect Thiago, absolutely, but we are not preparing the game. We are preparing the game against Fluminense. They are, as I said, many good players, many experienced players, players with quality, so we need to be... we need to pay attention, we need to be careful about many, many different things.

Do you think Chelsea are favourites?

No, I don't think that Chelsea is the favourite. You said it. I don't think that Chelsea is the favourite. I think that at this point, there is no favourite. At this point, the teams that have come here, it's because they deserve it, because they have something good, and they have to do everything to try to win and get to the final.

That's the first thing. And then the issue of the possession, since the first day that we worked together, we tried to get the possession. I think that the possession is even more important in this competition when you play every other day, not only to attack, but also to recover with the ball, with the ball, and we will try to do the same tomorrow.

How important was Moises Caicedo for your team tomorrow to reach the final?

He's very important. Moises has been one of the best players of the season, and he is very important. He is a very important player for us, for his teammates. Fortunately, we have also in that position, Romeo. We used the other day Andrey Santos in that position, so we are quite happy, but we are more happy with Moises in the team.

Where do you see Joao Pedro's position in the long term?

I think Joao can play in all the attacking positions for us. He can play wide, he can play side to pitch, he can play as a line. The difference with Nico is just that I see Nico just as a No.9, while I see Joao in different positiosn.

What are the good things you have seen about this tournament, if there are any?

For me, everything is fine. It's a top level competition. I've said many times that we are very happy to be here. But at the same time, there are things that, I think, because it's the first time, can be done better in the future. There are many things that are well done.

What can you take from these two games to prepare your team for tomorrow's match?

Yes, there are two things that for me are very clear. In the two games that we face the Brazilian team, is that the quality from Brazilian players is probably the best quality. At the same time, the other thing that for me is very clear is the energy that you have in this moment compared to other teams that for different reasons we don't have. So for me, it's the quality and the energy from the team.