Thomas Tuchel pulled no punches as he tore into the refereeing performances of Anthony Taylor and the video assistant Mike Dean following Chelsea's draw with Tottenham.
The Blues were held to a 2-2 stalemate by their London rivals having led twice at a sun-drenched Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening. The temperature in the air was matched by the fiery action on the pitch and just to the side of it, where managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte clashed on multiple occasions prior to receiving red cards.
Tuchel was deeply unhappy with the nature of Spurs' two goals, the first of which came after Kai Havertz was challenged and the visitors broke. Later in the Premier League encounter, deep into added time, Cristian Romero avoided being sent off for violent conduct after replays showed him pulling Marc Cucurella's hair during a Spurs corner.
Adding to Chelsea's fury, Tottenham equalised through Harry Kane through another corner just seconds later. Tuchel did not attempt to hide his anger with the match officials during his post-match press conference and admitted he "absolutely" shares the problem Blues fans have with Taylor.
"I can assure you that it's not just the fans, the whole dressing room thinks that," the German said when asked if he was aghast with the refereeing decisions. "I cannot understand how the first goal is not a foul or how a player can be pulled by the hair during a corner. I am curious what the explanation is. Both [Tottenham] goals should not stand."
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Tuchel added: "This happens in life and football, that you get caught in the last minute. Hopefully this season, we can snatch a few points. But this should not happen with VAR, this is unacceptable.
"The players know what they did and what effort they put into this game. Mentally, physically, we were so sharp and played a brilliant match. What a step up from the first day with Everton [a 1-0 win]. I'm very disappointed for the players that they don't get the reward they should have. It's down to incredible decisions."
Tuchel reiterated "it is not just the fans" who are deeply upset by referee Taylor and VAR Dean. Referring to Cucurella's hair being pulled, he exclaimed: "How can he see this and not give a foul and not give a red card. How?"
This season, referees have been instructed to let games flow as much as possible, but when this was put to Tuchel, he replied: "So some fouls won't be given?! I'm very surprised that there's a 50-50 challenge with Harry Kane in the build-up and there's a whistle. No one was expecting that.
"Yet when Reece James commits a tactical foul it was a yellow card. Rodrigo Bentancur with three, four, five, six tactical fouls. It's a huge misinterpretation. I'm happy to let the game go but not like this. It will not go away. I will get punished for my sentences now."
