Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel 'struggling' to accept referee Mike Dean's apology

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel stated that he was struggling to understand VAR official Mike Dean's apology statement, after his error that led to Tottenham Hotspur's late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in the previous gameweek. On-field referee Anthony Taylor didn't see Cristian Romero's hail tug on Marc Cucurella and Dean also agreed that he should have asked the referee to come to the review area for a possible red card check.

"I am not frustrated, I told you. So it cannot add to my frustration. Hopefully, I am not too honest but if a mistake is that big and obvious, what’s the point in not admitting it for the whole season? I struggle a little bit to be fully impressed by the statement I have to say. It’s so clear and obvious, I cannot understand how a referee cannot make the decision that was the right decision", said Tuchel.

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Further speaking on the incident ahead of Chelsea's fixture vs Leeds United, Tuchel said, "I mean, in the decision and it’s maybe not the referee to blame in this decision. He was not called to the monitor, so we have to by all the passion and emotions and by all the consequences it had for us, need to admit that it was not the referee to take this decision."

"It was the VAR who got it totally wrong in this case. Apologising or admitting, at least, I think it could be more transparent to make it easier. Maybe they could explain the decisions on the field to everybody why they take this decision."

"Maybe, to make it more transparent and clear what’s going on. Why a goal is not allowed, why it’s disallowed, why he is overruling his own decision. It is not the end of the process yet, it’s still necessary to have regular goals and irregular decisions overruled. There’s obviously still work to do", he further added.

Tuchel and Antonio Conte were involved in a fiery handshake touchline bust-up and were sent off at the end of the 2-2 draw. Both had to be separated twice during the match and at full-time, Tuchel seemed annoyed after Conte didn't look him in the eye during their handshake, which led to another tussle and they were both shown red cards.

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