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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Graeme Souness rubbishes Thomas Tuchel ‘nonsense’ claim over Chelsea bus journey to Leeds defeat

Chelsea were not negatively affected by their transport issues in the build-up to their defeat to Leeds, Graeme Souness has claimed after comments from Thomas Tuchel.

While the Blues boss did not blame having to take a bus to Yorkshire for the 3-0 defeat on Sunday, he raised it as an example of how Chelsea’s weekend was a nightmare from start to finish.

“Everything that can go wrong, did go wrong,” Tuchel had told BBC Sport. “It started yesterday. 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.”

But former manager Souness has asserted that the bus drama will have had no impact on Chelsea’s performance, adding that he was confused as to why Tuchel brought it up in the first place.

“It’s not a reason, it’s not a factor,” he told talkSPORT.

“So what if they were to go up on a bus? I’m sure it’s a five-star bus with a drinks machine, a microwave and everything else you’d want. And Leeds to London, what is it, three hours?

“It’s nonsense, I’ve no idea [why he said it]. Because the only people that really matter on matchday are the players. It’s not the managers, it’s not the coaching staff.

“It’s the players making sure they’ve rested properly, they’ve travelled properly, they get there on time so nothing is rushed actually in the stadium.”

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