2 years ago
Here's what the Blues' head coach had to say following his team's second league defeat of the season in his post-match press conference.
How concerned are you about the decline in performance?
"I didn't notice a drop in our performance against Manchester United or today. I believe the performance is good enough to win the game, but we clearly see that we give away easy goals, which is unusual.
We make big mistakes, which lead to big opportunities, which lead to easy goals. We've done it three times now, against Manchester United, Watford, and today. You can't expect to see a result if you do it at this level."
Does the Premier League's standard imply that you must get out of this slump as soon as possible?
"At the moment, the race is uninteresting. What is interesting is always the next 90 minutes, and what is interesting is to have the right focus, attitude, and attention to detail.
At the moment, we are not skilled enough in the details. We make too many big mistakes and must pay attention to the details. There's no need to start asking questions or doubting the big picture.
If you play at West Ham, this is a game about the details. I can only repeat myself: if we don't make any major mistakes, we have a good chance of winning this game."
Kai has severe pain, and Marcos Alonso has back pain, so there are two more substitutes due to injury. We must deal with it.
Edou is going through a difficult time. I'm not sure why, but he appears to have lost some confidence. OK, his decision making was not at its best today with the first goal, but we also put him in an awkward situation.
He had the opportunity to save the situation, but he did not. We are not blaming anyone, but we must admit that we are making too many crucial errors at the moment, which cost us a win against Manchester United and today as well.
Midfield concerns: When will N'Golo Kante return, and how much do you miss him?
No, I have no idea when he will return, and we have been missing not only N'Golo, but also Mateo Kovacic since about five or six weeks ago.
Jorgi has been playing with hip pain for many matchdays, and it is visible. That is the current situation.
How can you put it? How can you say it's before the New Year if I say I have no idea?
Do you think he'll play before the New Year? I'm asking, not saying.
What I think is uninteresting. When he returns, he plays. He has a long way to go; if I say he plays at Zenit now and he doesn't, it doesn't help.
I look after the injured players. N'Golo hasn't played since joining Juventus.

Have you considered the fact that the team lost four games in December last year?
No, not even for a second.
Is there overplaying at the moment, with the goal conceded against Watford, the ball given away, and the mistake vs. Manchester United that resulted in a goal?
Yes, we have some overburdened players. This is not an excuse, and I will say overload, and if you look at our schedule, there is no way out, and this is exactly where we are struggling right now.
We have crucial ball losses in situations where they are unavoidable if you want clean sheets and to dominate games.
It is impossible to make these kinds of mistakes three times in a row if you want to protect against counter-attacks; it is simply too much, and we cannot use tiredness as an excuse.
It is completely normal to be tired while watching the Premier League in the winter; it is a matter of precision, details, risk management, where you take it and where you don't.
You're in trouble if you invite a team like West Ham into your own box, into the final 20 metres, by giving big ball losses.
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