Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso spoke to the media ahead of his side's trip to Everton on Saturday lunchtime, giving news regarding players' injuries, new contracts and whether players looking in from the outside might be given a chance in his squad.
The Blues head to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, trying to end a four-year wait for a win against the Toffees away from Stamford Bridge, off the back of a 5-1 thrashing against Bournemouth last weekend, with Jordan Henderson and Joao Pedro each bagging a brace, with Morgan Rogers grabbing the other goal.
Club captain Reece James hasn't been seen on the pitch since Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Hull on September 12, missing the games against Brentford and Bournemouth. Alonso revealed that James will miss an extended period due to knee surgery.
"We are all disappointed, especially for him. In the last training session. He picked up an injury. He will be close to the team, and he is a great influence.
We wish him a good recovery. We don't give timelines. It won't be short; it will be a few weeks. We will see before Christmas; after Christmas, we will see."
With Chelsea actively looking in the transfer market for a new midfielder, predominantly Bournemouth's Alex Scott, with his club announcing earlier this week that they would be willing to let the 23-year-old leave the club in the January transfer window, but when Alonso James' new injury wouldn't change the club's transfer strategy.
"No, I don’t think so because we expect for that time that he’s back - some weeks before, some weeks- so let’s see, it’s not exact the timeline with him, so it doesn’t affect."
Alonso was asked if there were any new injury updates, with the Spaniard simply saying "no", meaning players like Emmanuel Emegha, who hasn't been seen competitively in a Chelsea shirt yet, after suffering from a hamstring injury, but has been pictured in training photos, could make his debut against Everton tomorrow.
Whereas for Jamie Gittens, the winger was injured whilst on international duty with the England U21's against Kazakhstan U21's, with Alonso confirming that he would be missing for " a period of weeks."
Xabi Alonso has tried and tested multiple formations in his short stint at Chelsea so far, playing predominalty a three at the back formation, but hasn't shied away from playing with four defenders, the Chelsea boss was asked about the reasoning behind his side defending in a 4-4-2 against Bournemouth and whether that might be something he chooses to do against Everton.
"We want to be flexible but be solid when we are pressing high and a bit lower, but we think the distances are right and the balance is the right one.
We chose that way against Bournemouth, but Everton is going to be different. They do many good things with many good players that have experience, so those principles are important. They can be in a 4-4-2 or a 5-2-3, but the distances, how you help, and your balance is what you need to do to defend."
With James now out for what looks to be an extended period of time, Alonso has to appoint a captain for tomorrow. Levi Colwill has deputised in the games that James hasn't started this season, but the Spaniard hinted that maybe some other players will get a chance to wear the armband.
"We have Moi, Levi; we have players that take that responsibility and they fill the role in a perfect way. You can be captain without an armband. Once you wear it, you have to be proud and take responsibility. "
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