“We talk a lot about safety and protecting the players. I’m not so sure we did this today.”
Thomas Tuchel has questioned whether the Premier League is protecting the safety of players after they declined Chelsea’s request to postpone their game against Wolves on Sunday.
The game at Molineux was one of only four Premier League fixtures to go ahead this weekend with a sharp spike in Covid cases in the UK wreaking havoc on the fixture list.
Having been hit with an outbreak of their own, Chelsea asked for the game to be called off. Hours before kickoff, however, they were informed the game would go ahead as planned, forcing Tuchel to name a weakened side.
Chelsea drew the game 0-0 but Tuchel made his feelings known about the decision to allow it to go ahead when speaking to Sky Sports after full-time.
“We talk a lot about safety and protecting the players,” he said. “I’m not so sure we did this today.”
Reports earlier in the week claimed several clubs from the Premier League were pushing for a “firebreak”, which would see fixtures paused until the middle of January.
“It will hopefully stop, but it’s more or less hoping,” Tuchel continued. “If we have tomorrow the next positive test, I would like to speak to the people from the Premier League… [and ask] what they expect.
“Let’s hope that it stops. There’s nothing else to do. Shall we stop and not arrive at the next game when they make us play against Brentford? Shall we not arrive? Shall we not train anymore? What shall we do?”
🗣️ "We talk a lot about safety and protecting the players, not so sure we did this today."
Thomas Tuchel pulls no punches when talking about the decision to go ahead with the #WOLCHE game. pic.twitter.com/z8HInFW0nd
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 19, 2021
Related links:
- John Terry hits out at Piers Morgan for tweet on unvaccinated players
- Premier League reject Chelsea postponement request for Wolves game
- Emma Hayes says Covid strain played its part in Chelsea’s Champions League exit
