Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said that neither of Tottenham Hotspur’s goals should have stood in yesterday’s 2-2 London derby draw. Both he and his Spurs counterpart, Antonio Conte, were red-carded at the conclusion of what was an emotionally charged, Battle of the Bridge Part II.
While Tuchel will obviously now face sanctioning over having seen red, the German could be dealing with further punitive measures, due to his stating that “maybe it would be better” if Referee Anthony Taylor no longer officiate any of Chelsea’s matches.
Thousands sign petition calling for Anthony Taylor to be banned from refereeing Chelsea as Tuchel speaks out ????
[THREAD] ? pic.twitter.com/k7y3n5u9RU
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) August 15, 2022
It wasn’t long after the match that a fan petition, with that very ask, was posted on Change.org. It’s already drawn well over 110,000 signatures. And when asked about it, Tuchel did not distance himself from the idea at all.
“I don’t think just some of the fans think that,” Tuchel said.
“I can assure you the whole dressing room of us, every single person, thinks that. I can’t understand how the first goal is not offside and I can’t understand when a player is pulled by their hair, the other player stays on the pitch.
“Pull someone else’s hair, stay on the pitch and attack the last corner. This is for me without any explanation and I don’t want to accept it. Both goals should not stand and it’s a fair result because we were brilliant, deserved to win. This is my point of view.”
A reporter then asked whether the players were worried about what might happen when Taylor is calling their future matches and the Blues boss said “yeah, of course.”
“Maybe it would be better,” he said, before then turning his ire towards Mike Dean, who ran VAR for the game.
“But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decision. Since when can players be pulled by hair? Since when is that [not a foul]? If he does not see it, I do not blame him. I didn’t see it. But we have people at VAR who check this. Then you see it and how can this not be a free-kick and a red card? This doesn’t even had to do with the referee in this case. If he does not see something, that’s why we have people to check if there is a decisive error going on.”
You can see why Tuchel is being investigated by the Football Association for these remarks, and one can safely infer that he won’t be on the sidelines against Leeds United next week.
As for that petition, it reads: “Anthony Taylor has continued to make big decisions against Chelsea over the years in big matches. Taylor has an agenda against Chelsea and should not be allowed to referee a game involving the club again.”
It then lists out a dozen calls or non-calls made by Anthony Taylor that they take umbrage with.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.