Thomas Tuchel: "There's no need to apologise to me, my job is to adapt to circumstances...I have had enough questions and now it does not even exist, so I am happy to move on"; watch West Ham vs Chelsea on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 5pm, kick-off 5:30pm
Friday 23 April 2021 15:05, UK
Thomas Tuchel has insisted there is "no need" for anyone at Chelsea to apologise to him after the club's withdrawal from the breakaway Super League.
The Chelsea boss admitted the fan protests in response to the competition affected Tuesday's performance in the goalless Premier League draw against Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
But the German is keen to put the affair behind him and the club as he prepares his players for a crucial game against West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday - live on Sky Sports - with the Blues only ahead of their London rivals in fourth place in the table courtesy of a superior goal difference.
"Yes it has been distracting, but it's the owner's club, it's not my club," said Tuchel.
"I'm part of the club, but it's the owner and the club's decision, and now they change that decision.
"There's no need to apologise to me directly, my job is to adapt to the circumstances. And were we distracted? Yeah clearly.
"Me personally I arrived in a state of mind on Tuesday at the stadium that was clearly not the mindset that I normally arrive in, for a match.
"But that's already in the past, and like I said, I don't think they need to apologise to me.
"I had so much information that until the day of the match and after the match, I gave myself the luxury of not reading or watching any news about anything.
"The thing [Super League] is off and the situation is now clear and that helps me as a coach to allow me to prepare for an important match.
"I have had enough pre-match and post-match questions about it and now it does not even exist, so I am happy to move on."
Tuchel is also convinced Chelsea supporters will not have lost trust in the club's hierarchy over the Super League affair, pointing instead to the positive changes owner Roman Abramovich has instigated in his time at the club.
Asked if bridge-building work between the six 'breakaway' clubs and fans will be difficult, Tuchel added: "No.
"Because I think that the people and the fans know very, very well that it's also the credit from the owners who improve their clubs, build strong clubs and make the most competitive league in the world.
"So I think they appreciate that very, very well. People can read very clearly also and can divide one thing from another, and they express their opinion on this decision.
"They were absolutely not happy, the fans obviously.
"But I don't think it affects, in general, the opinion of what, for example, our owner of this club does for the community, does for the academy, for the women's team and for the first team.
"I'm sure that everybody sees what our owner and the owners of the 'big six' clubs do.
"They are a big part of the competition [Premier League] and this is the competition everyone envies."
Watch our special programme 'Football's Civil War' at 5pm tonight on Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football - and on the Sky Sports News YouTube channel.
Managers, players, pundits and reporters will look back on how the breakaway Super League rocked football to its very core and what now for Britain's national game.
