Conte on Luiz, Terry, Costa, Alonso, Klopp and facing Liverpool
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte spoke about a number of issues at his pre-match press conference ahead of Friday’s game at home to Liverpool. Here’s some of what he had to say…
On John Terry
“John has strained ligaments in his ankle and the doctor has told me that after 10 days he can be available to come back. He is working very hard and today (Thursday) had a training session to recover.”
On David Luiz
“David Luiz will play for the first time with us and we are confident about this. We expect him to play well. We know David is a good player and we are working to put him in the best condition to give us the best of him.”
On Marcos Alonso
“Alonso is ready to play (now) and if there is a necessity then he can play, I am sure. After the Liverpool game we have another tough game against Leicester and it can be a good opportunity to see Marcos Alonso.”
On Diego Costa
“Two more yellow cards and it is is a ban but I am not worried about it. Diego is growing in these situations – in the last game he showed great attitude.
“He is passionate but I want him to put his passion into the football in the right way. It is difficult to tell your player to be patient because I think he knows he is close to a ban.
“He is an important player but in our squad there are other players should he get a ban, such as Michy Batshuayi.”
On facing Liverpool
“It will be a strong match – very tough against a strong team. I think Liverpool are a really good team. They play with high intensity, they bring many players in offensive situations, they are very good. We must pay great attention because we know they are very strong.”
On Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp
“I have great difficulty describing other managers but Jurgen is one of the best managers in the world. I don’t know him too much, I have only faced him once before in a pre-season match but he is a fantastic manager and I will be glad to see him.”
