Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel said that the team is looking for the trophy rather than the country’s sympathy.
Branding Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp “the master of being the underdog”, Tuchel praised his compatriot for fostering a countrywide “sympathy” for Liverpool.
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“We don’t want to have the sympathy of the country today. We want to have the trophy,” Tuchel said ahead of the team’s FA Cup final against Liverpool on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.
Earlier, Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has voiced similar sentiments about Klopp’s Liverpool, saying that it seems “everyone in this country” wants the Reds to pull off an unprecedented quadruple this season.
While not passing comment on whether he thinks it is something that should or should not have been saying, Thomas Tuchel has admitted he understands why Pep Guardiola said earlier in the week that everyone in the country supports Liverpool.
“Jurgen Klopp is the master of being the underdog,” declared Tuchel as he considered Guardiola’s viewpoint.
“There are huge sympathies for Liverpool, I feel that as well, in the whole country and I can understand it. Of course, it is also because of Jurgen, but in general what this club stands for and how they run the business, and how the fans push their team,” Tuchel was quoted as saying by Chelsea’s official website.
Asked where those sympathies come from, Tuchel said, “You know Klopp is the master of being the underdog.”
“There’s nothing to be jealous of from my side. Klopp is a fantastic guy and a funny guy, one of the very, very best coaches in the world. And that’s what he does. When he trained Dortmund, the whole country [of Germany] loved Dortmund so now he trains Liverpool, the whole country loves Liverpool and it’s a big, big credit to him,” he said.
On the pitch, Chelsea have matched Liverpool this season with three draws before that one penalty shoot-out, and Tuchel has been asked whether the Merseysiders’ high-line defensively provides a means to do them damage.
“They allow chances, and we proved it. We had big chances in the Carabao Cup final but it’s their approach. Liverpool is the team that by far puts the strikers of the other team offside, so it’s not easy,” Tuchel said.
(Inputs from IANS)
