The Football Association is investigating Thomas Tuchel remarks regarding Anthony Taylor after Chelsea’s head coach suggested the referee should no longer officiate his team’s games.
Tuchel, who is already at risk of being hit with a one-match ban following his extraordinary sideline clash following a handshake with Antonio Conte after 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham Sunday faces the prospect of further disciplinary action after appearing to question Taylor’s impartiality.
The German was furious after Spurs’ two goals were allowed to stand in controversial circumstances, denying his side a vital win, and he was quick to criticize the refereeing. Tuchel said ‘the whole locker room’ has a problem with Taylor, who has an infuriating history chelsea with his decisions, and he then asked whether the 43-year-old should no longer be allowed to take charge of the club’s games at Stamford Bridge.
The comments from Tuchel, who is also waiting to hear whether 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 fixtures. Statistics show that Taylor has shown more yellow cards to Chelsea players than any other team in his career. He also showed controversial red cards to Reece James and Mateo Kovačić, as he was criticized for failing to punish Manchester United’s Harry Maguire for an apparent cachet on Michy Batshuayi in February 2020.
That story bled in Chelsea’s draw with Spurs. Tuchel’s first blowout came when Taylor decided not to penalize a Rodrigo Bentancur challenge on Kai Havertz during Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s build-up, making it 1-1 midway through the second half. He also argued the goal should have been ruled out for offside against Richarlison.
However, video assistant referee Mike Dean decided the Spurs striker was not interfering with play and his positioning did not affect Edouard Mendy’s ability to save Hojbjerg’s shot. The officials were guided by Mendy who hit the Chelsea defenders instead of calling for offside.
But Tuchel was furious. He complained about not giving Havertz a free-kick, then ran into Conte on the touchline. The two managers had to be separated and both received reservations.
Tuchel was then contacted by the fourth official after charging down the touchline to celebrate Reece James putting Chelsea 2-1 up. The atmosphere on the touchline was intense and Chelsea were hurt when a VAR before the corner which led to Harry Kane’s 96th-minute equalizer failed to lead Dean to ask Taylor to dismiss the Spurs centre-back Cristian Romero for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair.
Taylor hadn’t seen the incident in real time and Dean was of the opinion that Romero hadn’t shown a red card. The Argentine won’t face retrospective action from the FA.
However, Tuchel has a case to answer after his comments on Taylor. He was told that Chelsea fans had historic grievances with Taylor. “I don’t think only some fans think that,” he said. “I can assure you that the whole dressing room, every person thinks that. I do not understand that the first goal is not offside. And I can’t understand since when players can pull each other’s hair and stay on the field and attack in the last corner.
Tuchel, who said his players are worried about Taylor, was asked if Taylor should be kept out of Chelsea. “Maybe that would be better,” he replied. “Maybe it would be better, but we also have VAR to help make the right decisions.”
Tuchel has shed light on his clash with Conte but is set to miss Chelsea’s trip to Leeds this weekend following his red card. “I can’t coach but the referee can whistle the next game,” he said. “Good.”
Conte, who also played against Tuchel, is also at risk of being banned for Spurs’ home game against Wolves. The Italian then took to social media to aim for another shot at Tuchel for driving past the Spurs bench and onto the touchline to celebrate Reece James putting Chelsea 2-1 up.
“Lucky I didn’t see you…tripping you would have been well deserved…” Conte wrote on Instagram.