Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte, two manager's embroiled in act two of the Battle of the Bridge on Sunday afternoon, both missed a crucial refereeing meeting during pre-season.
Match referee Anthony Taylor and VAR assistant for the Super Sunday fixture Mike Dean have come under severe scrutiny from Chelsea fans and Tuchel himself for controversial decisions made during the 90 minutes involving Kai Havertz, Richarlison and Marc Cucurella.
A number of ex-referees, including Dermot Gallagher, have already highlighted the mistakes from the pair but this hasn't been enough to satisfy Blues supporters, with 110,000-plus having signed a petition to get Taylor to stop refereeing future Chelsea fixtures.
Tuchel himself is in favour of seeing this happen, with his fiery post-match comments against the referee and VAR that could see further disciplinary action from the FA, who have now charged Tuchel and Conte with "alleged improper behaviour" relating to their conduct after the game.
READ MORE: Ex-Premier League referee blasts Anthony Taylor and Mike Dean decision in fiery Chelsea match
“I don’t think, just some of the fans think that," Tuchel said in his post-match press conference about the contentious decisions.
"I can assure you the whole dressing room of us, every single person, thinks that. 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.”
He then added on whether he wanted to see Taylor banned: "Maybe it would be better. Maybe it would be better. But honestly, we also have VAR to help make the right decision. Since when can players be pulled by hair? Since when is that [not a foul]? If he does not see it, I do not blame him. I didn’t see it. But we have people at VAR who check this. Then you see it and how can this not be a free-kick and a red card?
"This doesn’t even have to do with the referee in this case. If he does not see something, that’s why we have people to check if there is a decisive error going on.”
Interestingly enough, both managers had the chance to speak to Taylor after the match and both declined. Most likely because of the emotion but this isn't the first time the pair had missed meetings with the refereeing boards.
This is because as per The Telegraph, Conte missed the pre-season brief laid on for the 20 managers in pre-season, reportedly due to illness, whilst the reason for Tuchel's absence was unknown.
His decision not to speak to Taylor after Sunday's 2-2 draw was explained, however, as he told in-house club media: “We could, I think we could [speak with Taylor]. But honestly, I have no interest. Honestly. Things are so clear. So, so clear. What should happen? Will he take it back? I don’t see that.”
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