“Listen, listen, listen – you have to stop. I am not a politician. You have to stop, honestly. I can only repeat it [it’s horrible]. And I even feel bad to repeat it because I never experienced war. So even to talk about it, I feel bad because I am very privileged. I sit here in peace, and I do the best I can, but you have to stop asking me these questions. I have no answers for you.”
These are words few of us expected to hear when tuning into the latest Thomas Tuchel press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Chelsea fans have been accustomed to hearing him give extensive insight into tactical details, references to Benjamin Button and self-deprecating jokes.
But on Tuesday, we got a different Tuchel. He was clearly frustrated in being asked to comment on things he had no expertise in.
Tuchel as head coach of Chelsea, should not have been in this situation.
As Bundesliga writer Stefan Bienkowski pointed out on Twitter yesterday, these situations are precisely why German clubs have very public-facing sporting directors and CEOs.
Whilst the culture in the Premier League is entirely different and instead, coaches like Tuchel become the highest-profile face for media to question.
As speculation looms that Roman Abramovich has put the club up for sale after his announcement on Saturday that he would be "giving trustees of Chelsea's charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC", Tuchel has again been put in a challenging place.
He will likely be asked again to comment about off-field matters out of his control when Chelsea face Luton in the FA Cup on Wednesday night.
Almost 11 months ago, when Chelsea joined a host of Premier League and European clubs in an attempt to form a breakaway European Super League, Tuchel again became the club's only public voice in a pre-match press conference.
"I want to play these club competitions, I trust the club to make the right decisions, and it's too early to judge everything, and it's not my part," Tuchel said reservedly.
A bizarre 0-0 against Brighton was overshadowed by a large protest of supporters outside Stamford Bridge. By the time the game was over, it was clear the Super League was collapsing, with Chelsea and Manchester City both withdrawing their support.
"I was affected, so I think the players were affected," Tuchel said after.
"We talk of nothing else but Super League before the match. Nobody asked about the match before. It is like this. You have to accept the distraction. We tried to create an atmosphere to win the game but could not."
In both situations, the focus on Tuchel and his team has been diverted elsewhere.
Undeniably Sunday's League Cup final was impacted given Abramovich's statement the night before and the potential of serious sanctions against Abramovich by the UK Government following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Tuchel has handled the situation as well as he could, and like the aftermath of 2021's Super League, he and his players responded with professionalism and a brilliant performance against Liverpool.
The lack of clarity is quickly casting a shadow over Chelsea's season, and a potential new owner in the coming months would radically alter things.
Tuchel, the players, staff and supporters are struggling to find answers right now – but is that really any one of those groups' responsibility?
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