Andre Villas-Boas has spoken for the first time ahead of this weekend's game against Norwich, also discussing the arrival of Juan Mata and one or two other transfer stories...
Squad news
The manager has Juan Mata available to face Norwich City but will be withoutDavid Luiz who only returned to full training this morning.
It is expected that new signing Mata, who arrived yesterday from Valencia, will be on the bench with Saturday coming a little too soon to ingratiate himself fully into the squad.
'It is too early. This league is very specific in terms of intensity and emotionally and culturally,' Villas-Boas said. 'It doesn't mean he is not threatening the starting 11 but two training sessions is short for playing and creating new relationships with the players, so we will assess tomorrow.
'Tomorrow is the decisive day for the strategic part of our game and we will decide tomorrow.
'David Luiz is coming back to full training, today he had a full intensity training. It will be too early for him but he is selected for Brazil and I am going to let him go to add a couple of minutes.
'On other fronts there is nothing special. Petr has made a tremendous recovery and is looking good for after the international break, and Essien is long-term.
'Everybody is up for selection. At the moment the funny thing is we are on full weeks running into a game, then when the transfer window finishes we have two games a week. It seems now we went into a pattern of the 18 and 11 but it doesn't mean changes won't happen after.'
Villas-Boas also went into more detail on Mata, 23, and what he expected the player would bring to his squad.
'He can play right, left and through the middle,' said the Portuguese. 'He has been tested as well in 4-4-2, not just 4-3-3 so it gives us flexibility in formation as well.
'He has an eye for goal and a magnificent record for assists throughout his career. Now comes one of the biggest challenges for his career now in the Premiership and he has made public his comments on that, it is a step up for his career and we hope he can add to the quality of our squad.
'We were looking for a player that would give us creativity in the final third, not that we don't have it, but we want always to add when you can find talent of this nature.
'We thought the price was reasonable for what Mata's qualities and his demonstrations in the Spanish league and Champions League so we decided to bring him in. It's a big addition everybody was looking for, speculation was coming from all fronts, and criticism for a lack of market activity, so we can feel laid off now!'
On facing Norwich City
New to England, Villas-Boas was modest in discussing his knowledge of Norwich, but is more than familiar with Canaries manager Paul Lambert, a European champion during his playing days.
'I cannot go in depth on Norwich last season but I know they had a fantastic season, an incredible amount of goals scored last season and the season before, coming up twice,' said the 33-year-old.
'Paul Lambert likes to organise his teams and play good attacking football, that's why they were the highest scoring team last year.
It is twice making promotion and this is a high value because you know how tight the Championship is.
'I can only assess what has been happening in pre-season and their first three games and there were some changes Paul made to his team. It leaves us a little bit trying to assess what he is going to do, it seems his principles are well established but to get the starting 11 right will be difficult for us because he changed dramatically his team in the last three games.
'In two difficult games coming out with a draw, almost a win against Stoke, means Norwich is here to play a part and I look forward to playing against him. I think Paul was influenced throughout his career on his influences in European football, and maybe why he uses a mixture of European flair with the attacking British game.'
Other news
With the closing of the transfer window now less than a week away, there was plenty of discussion on transfer targets, and while he did not want to discuss Tottenham's Luka Modric, he did confirm a bid has been placed for Porto's Uruguayan international, Alvaro Pereira.
'I can confirm that we have made a bid for him but we are very far apart in terms of numbers,' reported the manager. 'It's a big, big difference. I am not very confident.
'Not only in Porto, he has a tremendous influence in the Uruguayan national team and played an important part in the Copa America.
'He plays regularly, I think he beat the record for games played in Porto, and gives consistency. He has versatility as well, he can play in side in midfield, on the wing and left-back, so he can add to any squad in the world.'
With Pereira a possible addition to Mata's arrival, it was reported in today's newspapers that Florent Malouda could be leaving the club, but Villas-Boas was quick to dismiss these claims about a player with 43 goals from 189 games.
'Speaking about the number of goals and assists we can speak about the number of goals and assists Malouda has for Chelsea,' he said. 'This is the kind of importance this player has for us, he is an excellent professional, very driven and determined throughout his career, so we can't let ourselves sell talents of this quality.
'As you know I have no problems whatsoever with the average age of the squad because I believe in their competence and I believe in Malouda's competence.'