Thomas Tuchel is a very good coach and one who sometimes gets things off the pitch. In the 2: 2 in the London derby against Tottenham, a handshake between the ex-Mainzer and his Spurs opponent escalated. The press is enthusiastic and the Chelsea coach is having fun too.
Thomas Tuchel has downplayed his wild argument with Tottenham coach Antonio Conte. The English press applauds the scuffle. And Thomas Tuchel again against referee Anthony Taylor. With the self-confidence of Uli Hoeneß, he demands that the 43-year-old should no longer referee Chelsea games in the future.
When the two coaches met for a handshake on Sunday after the 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham, it was almost too late anyway. In a heated game, the prominent coaches already escalated in the final phase, clashed as Contes celebrated the 1-1 equalizer, played their ego game in front of the benches and thus contributed to a heated atmosphere at Stamford Bridge.
Emotions exploded during the obligatory handshake after the final whistle of the game. Not wanting to let go at all, they stood in front of each other, yelled at each other and ultimately had to be separated. Referee Taylor rewarded the performance on the sidelines with red cards for Conte and Tuchel.
"No one was insulted, we didn't have a fistfight. It's not a big deal for me, it was part of this game. I enjoyed it, I think he did too. It wasn't bad," explained Thomas Tuchel after the game after he had previously expressed his incomprehension about Conte. He didn't look at him when he shook his hand.
"They have sparked a rivalry here that is as fierce as that of the Premier League greats," said sports broadcaster ESPN. "Captivating spectacle ends with handshake war between Tuchel and Conte" headlined the "Guardian" and the "Daily Mirror" was also happy about a duel on the sidelines that could go down in history.
One that may have to do without a handshake in the future. "He stays on his bench, I stay on my bench - with my colleagues on one side and there is no problem," suggested Tottenham coach Conte, who later responded to Tuchel's long run of celebration after the 2-1 win in the meantime on Instagram . "Lucky I didn't see you... tripping you would have been well deserved..." he wrote, captioning it with three smiling smileys.
Chelsea were clearly the better team throughout the game - and yet England international Kane equalized in the sixth minute of added time for Spurs. The anger between Tuchel and Conte started when the Italian cheered loudly in the direction of the Chelsea bench at the first equalizer and thus visibly caused trouble for the "Blues".
Even then, both coaches clashed violently and had to be separated from each other. According to Tuchel, the goal was preceded by a foul on German international Kai Havertz. When Reece James scored what was supposed to be the winning goal for Chelsea in the 77th minute, Tuchel sprinted and hopped along the sidelines to celebrate.
However, Tuchel did not have the greatest trouble with Conte, but with referee Taylor, whom he suggested never to whistle at Stamford Bridge again. In the course of his career, he was already a rather unpopular guest in west London due to several controversial decisions. Just last season, an online petition launched against him by Chelsea supporters had over 80,000 signatures.
When asked whether he shared the same opinion as the fans, Tuchel replied emphatically, but did not let the VAR shirk responsibility. He said: "Maybe that would be better. Maybe it would be better but we also have the VAR to help us make the right decisions."
