Petr Cech : We need to clean the mess up

‘It’s one of the biggest ever surprises in the FA Cup,’
‘It’s one of those where it can always happen. Obviously we are not proud of the result but I wouldn’t want to take anything away from the Bradford team because they came here, they fought hard for their luck, they got chances and they scored four goals. Credit to them.‘

‘I’ve been here for more than 10 years and every year you can see these kinds of results in the FA Cup. That’s why I have always said it’s special. This can always happen and unfortunately for the first time I was on the wrong side of that. That’s the way it goes.‘

‘Sometimes it’s hard to explain why things happen. We came out for the second half perfectly aware the game was far from over and it was going to be difficult. They came out, had a number of set-plays and corners and gained some confidence. We let them feel they might have some chances. When we conceded the second goal we lost control of our game. We forced everything and it was not working for us.’

‘We need to take it on the chin and pick ourselves up. It’s up to us. We have put ourselves in this position and we only have ourselves to blame for what happened.

‘We play at home on Tuesday and we would like to use that as an advantage. We need to clean the mess up.’

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Petr Cech : About Match againts Newcastle United

"Obviously the clean sheet makes it even better but the most important is the three points because after the defeat at Tottenham, we wanted to bounce back in the league,’ said Cech after the game."

"We won the FA Cup game playing well but this one was very important and you can see that Newcastle came out with no pressure, they had nothing to lose and in the first half they were a threat. So we had to really dig deep and in the second half we improved."

"Obviously the first goal helped us get over a difficult moment,’ he added, Oscar’s strike well-timed as it came shortly before the half-time team talks."

"In the second half we improved and then we had the chances to score more goals."

"In the first half we made some mistakes in possession and it gave Newcastle confidence and they were winning second balls and got more to the ball. That is why we had to chase the game a little bit and didn’t get our rhythm, but in the second half we improved in that and it made a difference.’"

"We need to concentrate on ourselves and we need to win our games,’ was Cech’s reaction."

"If we win all our remaining games then we don’t have to worry about that but you know in this league you can’t win every game, so you need to try every game to be ready and be competitive and to be sure at the end of the season you have the most points possible."

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Steve Holland (Chelsea's first team coach assistant) : About Match againts Newcastle United

‘The second half was better than the first half,’ acknowledged Holland. ‘Our performance level has been very good and consistent this year. In the first half we dropped below that, Jose was very clear to the players at half-time with what they needed to do, and the performance in the second half was more like the Chelsea we’re used to seeing week in, week out. In the end it was a fairly comfortable win, which didn’t look like it would be the case at half-time.
‘The second goal in particular was very typical of our play around the penalty area. Oscar deserves credit for scoring the first goal and assisting the second, two big impacts on the game.
‘It’s very difficult to hit the levels people expect every week, particularly in this country because we play so many matches, especially at this time of year. The players have had a real battering over Christmas and to reach the level everybody wants to see week in, week out is almost impossible.’

About Mourinho said to the players at the break :
‘He’s a highly experienced manager who knows what to say and when to say it. He wanted the team to play further up the pitch, press further up the pitch, to be mentally more aggressive and assertive with and without the ball. He wanted us to play at a quicker tempo and sustain attacks in their half.’

About Kurt Zouma, who made his first Premier League start :
‘The club gets a lot of stick for not giving young players a go, Kurt Zouma is 20 and that wasn’t his first performance of the season but he was immaculate today. We all have belief in him but ultimately Jose, as the leader and manager, has to make the decisions, and he showed great faith in him today by starting him. That faith was repaid, I thought he was immaculate and I can’t think of one thing he did wrong.’

About Cech, Courtois & Cahill :
‘Thibaut had an injury to his finger which he sustained in the Tottenham game; he could have played but he had some pain. We’re so fortunate to have two goalkeepers at the highest level and it was an easy decision to make in the end, why take the risk?
‘We play for nine months, we look like we might play 60 matches, we’ve just come out of a Christmas period where Gary played in every game and we have faith in all of the players in our squad. That faith was repaid today."

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