Tuchel: Respecting Alonso's decision not to kneel before the game, playing Manchester City May come back

Chelsea will face Aston Villa in the third round of the League Cup, with manager Tuchel attending the press conference before the game.

Will Mendy play? Will you consider this week's match against Manchester City when choosing a squad?

Mendy can't play, he's not in training now. We will try to prepare for Saturday and hope to get him to work with the team through tomorrow's individual training and team training afterwards, and he has the hope of joining the team in training on Thursday, but it has not yet been finalized.

But the burden we put on the players depends on the number of games and of course we will have some changes because we are going to use this opportunity to give those players who are currently short of game time get a chance in important games.

What makes you a real contender is the overall balance and the depth of the lineup?

We take things seriously. We go to the race to win it, that's what we're here and what we're trying to do, it's not changed, we're in good shape at the moment because we're very diligent and value the opportunities we have.

At the moment this team is strong, we have to maintain it every day, it is not given and it will not last forever, we need to progress, everyone's progress, can not be stopped.

Werner has been a substitute in the last five games, what do you think of his role in the team?

He can partner with Lukaku and he did a good job against Tottenham, a match that showed the power of a two-man duo. I think he's also not happy with his initial performance, he can be more threatening and more intimidating than he was before on the offensive end. But in his most recent training session, he played more relaxed, moved more fluidly and showed more confidence.

That's why we played him early against Tottenham, because we saw that progress and we saw signals that we were in a good way. I hope he can show his progress tomorrow.

Is it your favorite that Alonso no longer gets down on one knee before the game and has discussions about these issues in the team?

It's not one of the topics within the team, but if one person makes such a decision, obviously we can't ignore it, and there will be discussions one after another. The most important thing for me is that I know Marcos Alonso as a person, and I trust him a thousand percent. He is absolutely opposed to any form of discrimination.

There is no doubt about that. All of us fight racism to the greatest extent possible, but we can do it in different ways. Marcos made the decision that he was an adult and responsible for his actions, that we respected his position, and that he gave his reasons for doing so, so either to discuss it in a productive way or to put an end to the topic.

So do you understand his position, even though there may be a lack of strength now?

It's always been that way, right? Once you make a gesture, and then everyone is doing it, doing it often, it becomes unremarkable, which may reduce its effectiveness. Marcos thinks it can't end this way or become mediocre, and I understand that he thinks there will always be more to be done when it comes to opposing discrimination. Of course, the most important thing is to use our platform to play a demonstration role.

Will Cheek have a chance to appear tomorrow?

We gave him a few minutes in the game against Zenit, it was a match-up match and for us it was the opening match of the Champions League, not a gift for him. I believe in him because I see his efforts, he adapts to his situation and gets something out of it. He's been very good in training and tomorrow, he'll probably show that on the pitch.

Will Mendy return on the weekend?

It's possible, but it also takes time to race and I hope he can come back to the team on Thursday and if all goes well, hopefully he can be ready for Saturday, but I'm not sure at the moment.

(Editor: Yao Fan)