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Thomas Tuchel has been criticized for making excuses after Chelsea's 3-0 defeat at Leeds United by player-turned-pundit Jamie O'Hara.
According to The Mail, the Blues boss refused to credit Jesse Marsch's side after the thrashing at Elland Road, despite the hosts being dominant throughout the encounter.
Tuchel blamed disrupted travel on the way to west Yorkshire for the defeat and has been roundly slammed for being a perceived poor sport. Former Tottenham midfielder O'Hara clearly wasn't having the 48-year-old's comments, as the outspoken pundit told TalkSPORT:
“I was disappointed with Tuchel. He gave Leeds no credit whatsoever. Leeds were absolutely fantastic, they were brilliant all over the park.
“Every player on that pitch was a nine-out-of-ten. Some were a ten-out-of-ten. Tuchel was making excuses about getting a bus, saying they were the better team, it was Mendy’s mistake and Leeds weren’t better.
“Leeds were way better than Chelsea. Chelsea weren’t good enough. Give credit where it’s due. Leeds outrun them in every department.”
O’Hara further added:
“The coaching staff had to get a bus? Poor them! They’re not playing 90 minutes. What am I hearing?! Try listening to the fans who do these eight-hour journeys, or the non-league sides who travel all over the country on buses, or drive their own cars. Get in the real world Thomas and stop making excuses.”
Thomas Tuchel claims Chelsea 'were clearly the better team' against Leeds United
Chelsea have now won just one of their opening three Premier League games and were well beaten by their old rivals.
However, Tuchel claimed that his side were the better team in the contest and that getting the coach to Elland Road affected their game plan.
He told BBC Sport (as per TalkSPORT):
“Everything that can go wrong, did go wrong. It started [Saturday]. We had no plane to arrive so we came on the bus. The players could fly but for the coaching staff it was a long ride on the bus. It continued today.
“We lost the game in the first 20 minutes, where we were clearly better and had huge chances. A lot of touches in the box but we miss the target and do not take what we deserve.
“We then stopped doing what we were doing good and it was even for 15 minutes and in those we gave two presents.
“We were clearly the better team. They do what they do. I don’t see that a set-piece and own goal [Mendy’s mistake] are due to the style. They are mistakes."
