Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel slams Premier League after being forced to play against Wolves on Sunday
Speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by football.london, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel slammed the Premier League after they rejected their appeal to postpone the game against Wolves on Sunday.
The Blues had four positive cases going into the match against Everton in midweek. Yet, the fixture went ahead as planned. However, the cases rose to seven by the time we were set to play Wolves, and the club requested to postpone the tie only for the Premier League to reject it.
Understandably, Tuchel had to field a similar starting XI to the one that faced the Toffees on Thursday night. In doing so, he also had to churn 90 minutes out of an injury-riddled N’Golo Kante before also bringing on Mateo Kovacic off the bench, who recently came out of isolation.
Tuchel blasted the Premier League for their decision on the postponement of the game post the 0-0 draw against the Molineux outfit.
“We talk a lot about the safety and about protecting the players. I’m not so sure if we did this today. It [the COVID-19 outbreak] will hopefully stop, but that’s more or less hoping. If we have tomorrow the next tests and there is more positive, I would like to speak to the people from the Premier League about what they expect, so let’s hope that it stops.”
The German manager also indicated that they might have to start boycotting fixtures if they are forced into similar situations in the coming weeks.
“There’s nothing else to do.”
Bias against Chelsea?
There is no exact criterion for postponing a Premier League game as each match is looked at individually before making the final decision. Thus, even three positive tests for one team could mean cancelling that tie in a particular situation. But five Covid-19 cases for another team could still see the game go ahead.
However, the Blues had seven first-team stars out with the disease. The buck has to stop somewhere because this is also about the fitness levels of the players. No team can be expected to play the same XI after every three days. Moreover, these players have also been in contact with the ones that tested positive.
The continued run of fixtures could partially be the reason for the rise in cases, as there has been little containment. There was no basis to reject the appeal to postpone the game against Wolves, especially after 10 games were called off in the past week.
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The draw has now cost us vital points, and we are now six points off the top of the table. Our next clash is against Brentford on Wednesday night, but it would be a surprise if that match goes ahead. The 20 Premier League clubs are set to meet on Monday to discuss the situation, and hopefully, there will be a positive conclusion to it.
Tuchel is right to bring the matter to the attention of those concerned with making decisions. And while we did feel the absence of some of our star players, it’s not completely fair to excuse our performance on the night.