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Thomas Tuchel says it's not his place to tell Chelsea squad to get vaccinated

Thomas Tuchel revealed he has been vaccinated, but it is unknown whether or not N’Golo Kante has been - Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel revealed he has been vaccinated, but it is unknown whether or not N’Golo Kante has been - Getty Images

Thomas Tuchel believes it is not his place to tell his Chelsea squad to get vaccinated against coronavirus, despite N’Golo Kante becoming the latest of his players to be ruled out by the virus.

Kante will miss Wednesday night’s Champions League trip to Juventus, along with injured trio Mason Mount, Reece James and Christian Pulisic, after the midfielder tested positive for Covid.

Despite government pleas to get vaccinated, many footballers are yet to protect themselves against Covid but head coach Tuchel does not believe he is in a position to intervene.

Tuchel revealed he has been vaccinated, but it is unknown whether or not Kante has and Jorginho, who spoke ahead of the Juventus game, refused to discuss the subject.

Asked if he would recommend his players to get the vaccine, Tuchel said: “It would be easy to say yes now and get applause from a lot of people. But at the same time do I have the right to say that? I’m not so sure.

Kante will miss Chelsea's trip to Juventus - Getty Images
Kante will miss Chelsea's trip to Juventus - Getty Images

“I can make the decision for myself and everyone else has to reflect and take the risk or not. It’s a serious question. Vaccination seems to be a proper protection. I am vaccinated. I took the decision for myself. But I don’t really see myself in a position to speak out on proper recommendations. That would go too far. I’m a football coach, not a 100 per cent expert on this. I would leave it to them.

“Everyone is an adult, living in a free country and society, and people can take their own choices. We take our actions and are responsible for it. We don’t want to lose players, but we are not angry with N’Golo. I am concerned about him like I am with my injured players.”

Pulisic was ruled out with coronavirus earlier in the season, despite getting the vaccine, and Tuchel, who will also be without Kante for the Premier League game against Southampton, admitted that he does not know what percentage of his squad have tried to protect themselves.

“I don’t know the percentage, actually,” said Tuchel. “I simply don’t know it. We are also only a reflection of society. The players are adults and have free choice whether they want to get vaccinated or not. We should accept it. This is more or less everything I can say. I know the situation is far from over and all the time somebody gets it here from us and our crew, that makes it all the more aware it’s not over. I hope that it gets as less as possible, but I clearly don’t have a solution.”

England manager Gareth Southgate revealed he had received abuse for appearing in a government campaign that urged people to get the vaccine and Tuchel added: “You know, I’m absolutely not afraid of having a bad reaction.

“If I’m convinced about something I would fight for it and speak out publicly. But I’m a football coach with a lot to do. I am a father in my family. I am not fully aware of what vaccination is deeply about. I’m enough informed to take the decision myself, but not to give recommendations publicly.

“If someone is convinced, maybe you have to accept other opinions and harsh reactions. I would not be shy to argue with them and try to convince them, but I don’t feel I’m the right person to go public on this. Everybody needs to take the decision. There are recommendations from politicians and doctors. That’s where the subject belongs.”

Juventus are also missing players for Wednesday night’s group game, with former Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala out, and Tuchel played down his team’s tag as one of the favourites to successfully defend their Champions League title.

“The expectation - it’s hard to be seen as underdogs when you’ve just won the title,” said Tuchel. “But we came from a role not as favourites last season and we got better with every match and grew in confidence with every match. Maybe we were seen as contenders very late in the competition. That can sometimes help.

“Now it is easy to make us favourites. We have the experience that it gets a higher value to play against us. There’s a higher motivation to play against us. We have to accept this. It’s our fault. We have won this competition, after all. We like this role, to come a bit from outsiders.

“I don’t think we are favourites, but we’ve shown people what we are capable of. We have to make ourselves free from these expectations, and these expectations do not become our expectations. We demand high standards in any match.”