Every word Enzo Maresca said on Enzo Fernandez injury, Chelsea fines, Ajax and Marc Guiu

Enzo Maresca has just concluded his pre-Ajax press conference ahead of Chelsea's Champions League clash on Wednesday evening.

The Blues head coach has previewed his side's third European fixture of the season, as they look to get up to six points in the league phase. As always, there was plenty to talk about for Maresca, and you can read every word he had to say below:

How is Jorrel Hato doing at Chelsea?

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Yes, we are very happy with Jorrel since he arrived. He is trying to adapt a little bit to different competitions, English football, but we are very happy with him. The first two, three weeks he struggled a little bit in terms of physicality, in terms of intensity, but he is getting better and better.

Do you think Hato is a full-back or central defender?

I think he can play both. He is a very good player. He can be a central defender or full-back, but also he can join a midfielder, attacking phases, so I think he can play different positions.

What stands out about Ajax?

It is a team that they try to play always, like DNA from the club. So for sure it will be a tough game.

Chance for Marc Guiu to start?

Yes, we have him, we have also Tyrique [George]. He played as a No.9 in the past, he did well. He played against Benfica in the past, but we have different options. We see if we have one more session this afternoon and then we decide.

Decision to recall Guiu vindicated?

We trust Marc, we trust him already last year, he was always playing in the Conference [League], we also gave him some Premier League games, so we are sure in the past that we trust Marc, now he is again with us and he is going to play the games for sure.

How is Enzo Fernandez?

Enzo took part in the session yesterday, we have one more session this afternoon, we see if we decide with him tomorrow. But as I said before and again, it was not something that we have to be worried about, it's just to try to protect Enzo.

Just quickly, is there any update on Liam Delap's return?

Liam is very close, he is not working with us yet, he is still out, but hopefully he can start in the next days, take part in the session with us.

With all the red cards, how is it difficult to find the right balance with the team, both from your side and from the players' side?

It's very difficult, especially because many of the injuries we had, has been the day before the game or two days before the game, when we already had an idea about the game. But it's something that we are trying to adapt and try to learn. For the players also it's complicated, because sometimes you plan for some players, OK, you want to play in one week, and then suddenly you need other players because you end up thinking to start the injury. So it's something that we are trying to do our best since we started.

Have you got a discipline problem in the team at the moment? Because every game there's somebody suspended.

For sure it's something that we can do better. I think some of the red cards, we will avoid that. For instance, the last one, I think that one is completely avoidable, because it's 0-3, the game is finished. Also the other part, the other side, that they don't want to concede, they want to continue to be aggressive. For sure when you concede five or six red cards, I don't know exactly how many, for sure there is something that we have to improve. It's something that for sure we are going to improve.

Do you think it's a consequence of having a young squad with some naivety, and do you have to make the punishments harder to try and stop it?

Personally, I'm not that kind of manager to punish players. In my view, I don't think it's the right way to do things. I prefer to help them to understand, and then from that do the right things. I think Joao Pedro's red card against Benfica was the last minutes of the game, Malo was the last minutes of the game, so it depends, they are all different kinds of red cards, but again, if you concede a four or five, it's something that we have to improve.

Why do you not like, as a manager, to punish your players? During your career, were you punished as a player at any point by your managers?

No, because I have four kids, and when they do something wrong, I don't punish them. I try to teach them to do the right things. And I try to treat the players in the same way. I try to help them to understand, not to punish them. So this is the way I see things, it can be right or wrong, I don't know, but it's the way I see things and I like to do things.

What are you as a coaching staff doing to try and find that improvement in terms of the red cards?

Again, Malo's red card, we can avoid that. Joao's red card, probably we can avoid that. You can all avoid, but at the same time, if you see Trevoh's red card against Brighton, you can say, OK, allow him to shoot, and then we'll see. Man United is exactly the same. It's a decision that you have to take in one second, in two seconds, so it's not easy for the players. Then there are things like the last one, I think that was a huge mistake, because the game is finished, it's 0-3. But again, they were shouting between them, they don't want to concede, these kind of things also show the desire that they don't want to concede, they want to be intense, aggressive.

It's around about a year since you spoke in Athens about wanting to see more in terms of leadership and captaincy from Reece James. I just wondered, a year on, how you think he's developed as a leader?

Absolutely, yes. It's much better compared to one year ago, but I hope that also me, I'm better than one year ago. I think after one month, two months, we try all to be better, but I think Reece has improved a lot, we have more players that are doing well in that sense, so we are very happy with Reece.

What do you expect to be the key element in this specific game against Ajax, technically?

As I said before, it's a club that in the past, in the present, they always try to play their kind of football, so for sure it will be a difficult game. They are also a team and a club that they won this competition in the past, so they want to prove everyone, the players, the manager, the club, but they're going to come here and try to do their best to beat us, and we're going to try to do exactly the same.

Is there a fine system for the red cards?

I think the players have a system between the changing room, inside the changing room, so a fine is something that they manage.

Do you think that Josh Acheampong still needs to develop a bit more in his game to become a starting regular all the time?

We are very happy with Josh, but not now. We are very happy with Josh since last season, but like every player, there is room to improve, especially when you are 18, 19. There are many things that you can look at.

Does it make you feel more confident about not signing a centre-back this summer?

Josh has been always there. We feel better when Josh is there, and we were very happy with Josh.

Do you need guys like Tosin Adarabioyo, your most experienced player, in the changing room so that he can get on with the players, so that you're not constantly badgering him about discipline issues?

Even if Tosin is still very young, probably compared to his teammates, no. But in general, he's still 28, he's still young. He's been like a leader since he arrived here. The good thing is that now we have more players like him in terms of leadership. And there are things, as we said before, in terms of finding other players to take control inside the changing room. And we are happy with that.

How has the step up to the Champions League been?

It's a nice competition because you play against a fantastic club. I think the first game against Bayern Munich, we lost, we were not happy with the result. But I think the performance we played for, we tried to play for 95 minutes face-to-face against a club that in the last six or seven years they always reached the semi-final, final, quarter-final. We knew that was the end of the game. Benfica, again, we tried to win the game in the best way.

But when you face this kind of club, like Bayern Munich, Benfica, Ajax tomorrow, there are always things that you can learn after the game. It's going to be exactly the same tomorrow after the final whistle.