The Football Association is investigating Thomas Tuchel’s comments about Anthony Taylor after Chelsea’s head coach suggested the referee would no longer direct his side’s games.
Tuchel, who is likely to receive a one-game suspension after his extraordinary collision on the sidelines following a handshake with Antonio Conte after Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham on Sunday, faces the prospect of further disciplinary action after he was charged. Taylor seemed to be asking. impartiality.
The German was furious after both Spurs goals held out in controversial circumstances, denying his side a crucial win, and he did not hold back in his criticism of the referees. Tuchel said the “entire dressing room” has a problem with Taylor, who has a history of infuriating Chelsea with his decisions, and he went on to ask whether the 43-year-old should be barred from taking charge of the Stamford Bridge club. games more.
The comments from Tuchel, who is also waiting to find out if he and Conte will be charged by the FA after the rival managers were both shown red cards, come less than a year after more than 80,000 Chelsea fans signed a petition calling on Taylor. to be removed from their club’s schedule. Statistics show that Taylor has shown more yellow cards to Chelsea players during his career than to other teams. He has also shown controversial red cards to Reece James and Mateo Kovačić, while he has been criticized for failing to punish Manchester United’s Harry Maguire for making an apparent mark on Michy Batshuayi in February 2020.
That history bled into Chelsea’s draw with Spurs. Tuchel’s first outburst came when Taylor decided not to penalize a Rodrigo Bentancur challenge on Kai Havertz during the build-up to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, making it 1-1 midway through the second half. He also argued that the goal should have been disallowed for offside against Richarlison.
However, Mike Dean, the Video Assistant Referee, decided that the Spurs striker was not interfering with play and that his positioning did not affect Edouard Mendy’s ability to save Hojbjerg’s shot. The officials took Mendy’s lead and slammed the Chelsea defenders instead of appealing for offside.
But Tuchel was furious. He complained about the lack of a free kick for Havertz and then collided with Conte on the sidelines. The two managers had to be separated and both got bookings.
Tuchel was later accosted by the fourth official after driving down the sidelines to celebrate Reece James giving Chelsea a 2-1 lead. The atmosphere on the sidelines was intense and Chelsea were saddened when a VAR to the corner leading to Harry Kane equalizing in the 96th minute failed to lead Dean Taylor to order Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero, fired for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair.
Taylor had not seen the incident in real time and Dean believed that Romero had not committed a red card violation. The Argentine will not face retroactive effect from the FA.
However, Tuchel does have a case to answer after his comments about Taylor. He was told that Chelsea fans have historical grievances with Taylor. “I don’t think only a few fans think that,” he said. “I can assure you that the whole dressing room, everyone thinks that. I cannot understand that the first goal is not an offside. And I can’t understand since when players can pull other people’s hair and stay on the pitch and attack in the last corner.”
Tuchel, who said his players are concerned about Taylor, was asked if Taylor should be kept away from Chelsea. “Maybe that’s better,” he replied. “Maybe it would be better, but we also have the VAR to make the right decisions.”
Tuchel was light-hearted about his clash with Conte, but is expected to miss Chelsea’s trip to Leeds this weekend after his red card. “I can’t coach, but the referee can whistle the next game,” he said. “Good.”
Conte, who also played his row with Tuchel, also faces the prospect of being suspended for Spurs’ home game against Wolves. The Italian later took to social media to aim for another swipe at Tuchel as he passed the Spurs bench and down the sidelines to celebrate Reece James giving Chelsea a 2-1 lead.
“Luckily I didn’t see you… tripping you would have been well deserved…,” Conte wrote on Instagram.
