Thomas Tuchel has insisted that there are "no hard feelings" between himself and Antonio Conte, despite the two managers clashing during Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday. However, Tuchel was not so forgiving to referee Anthony Taylor, whom he hinted should be barred from officiating his side's games.
This weekend's London derby was one of the fiercest in recent memory with Tuchel and Conte both being sent off at full time.
Chelsea went ahead early on through home debutant Kalidou Koulibaly, before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg netted a controversial second-half equaliser. Reece James then thought he had won it for the hosts, only for Harry Kane to pop up with a 96th minute header to earn Spurs a point.
What did Tuchel say about his bust up with Conte?
After nibbling at each other all game, the two managers then went nose to nose after a heated post-match handshake, which earned them both a red card.
"It's emotional, football. We don't need to heat it up. You have emotional coaches on the touchline and that's it. If we meet [later], we meet. If not, then not. Come on guys, it's between two competitors and nothing bad happened," Tuchel told Sky Sports.
He later added to the BBC: "It was hot from the temperature and hot between the benches and hot on the field and hot between the spectators - everything that you want and what you hope in a match like this early in the season.
"It was a brilliant match and unfortunately we didn't get the win that we deserved.
"There's no hard feelings [with Conte] - I feel like it was a fair tackle from him and a fair tackle from me. We did not insult each other, we did not hit each other, we were fighting for our teams and from my side there's absolutely no hard feelings. I'm surprised that we both got a red card for that."
What did Tuchel say about referee Anthony Taylor?
Once again, Taylor was at the centre of several controversial decisions that cost Chelsea. In the lead up to Spurs' first goal, Kai Havertz appeared to be fouled by Rodrigo Bentancur, while Marc Cucurella had his hair pulled just before Kane netted his late equaliser.
Chelsea fans have been vocal in their criticism of Taylor in recent years, and Tuchel hinted that his players had begun to notice a trend of disappointing decisions too.
"I don’t think just some of the fans think that. I can assure you the whole dressing room of us, every single person, thinks that," he said.
"I can’t understand how the first goal is not offside and I can’t understand when a player is pulled by their hair, the other player stays on the pitch.
"Pull someone else’s hair, stay on the pitch and attack the last corner. This is for me without any explanation and I don’t want to accept it. Both goals should not stand and it’s a fair result because we were brilliant, deserved to win. This is my point of view."
