Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel expressed his displeasure at the Premier League for going ahead with the Wolves fixture despite the Covid breakout in the squad.
Speaking after the goalless draw against Wolves on Sunday (h/t Birmingham Live), Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has hit out at the Premier League for going ahead with the fixture despite having to deal with Covid cases and illness among his players.
Chelsea were missing a host of their first-choice starters like Jorginho, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, among others, for the trip to Molineux. As a result, the Blues made a late request with the Premier League to postpone their fixture against Wolves, after as many as six matches from the current matchday had already been called off.
However, the Premier League denied Chelsea’s request, and the game went ahead as scheduled initially, and the Blues were held to a goalless draw by a resilient Wolves side. The result, combined with Manchester City’s impressive win over Newcastle United, meant that the west London giants slipped further in the title race after failing to beat Everton earlier in the week.
Addressing the media after the contest, Tuchel claimed that he hoped that there would be no more positive cases in the coming days, while he also expressed his displeasure with the Premier League.
“It will hopefully stop, but we’re hoping. If tomorrow we have another positive test, I’d like to speak to the people from the Premier League and ask them what they expect us to be. There is nothing else to do. Shall we stop and not arrive at the next game? Will we be made to play? Will they make us play against Brentford? Shall we not arrive, or train anymore?”, Tuchel said.
“It’s clear what we want, and I don’t want to talk about it because I’ve given my opinion. The Premier League has an opinion, the club has an opinion and we must agree to disagree,” he added.
The result means Chelsea remain third in the Premier League table and have now fallen six points behind Manchester City. Luckily for the Blues, second-placed Liverpool also ended up dropping points after being held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Up next for Tuchel & co. is the Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Brentford, post which they will face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Boxing Day.
