After Chelsea's 2-1 win over Lille, Thomas Tuchel was asked about the PR disaster that Chelsea brought onto themselves by asking the FA Cup clash against Middlesborough to be played behind closed doors.
"That was our responsibility," Tuchel replied, as quoted by the Evening Standard.
"Not mine or from the team because, let me put it like this, we love to play in front of spectators and I don’t think spectators of our opponents should suffer from the consequences.
"I think the proposal was withdrawn and it was absolutely the right thing to do because that was from our side and hopefully was not meant like this.
"It was not the best idea, to put it like this. We love to play in front of spectators. Me and the team were not involved in this decision and I’m happy that it was withdrawn. Very happy."
Tuchel has had to be the most outspoken Chelsea representative during the past few days and while he tends to be protective of his players, he has also been quite candid.
Fortunately, Chelsea withdrew that request just a few hours after making it as they understood how poorly it was received by everyone - and even their head coach could not defend it.
