There is no escaping the fact that, initially, it was funny and no wonder various montages of their handbags have gone viral in the world of social media.
But the Football Association should throw the book at Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel and Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte. They won’t, because the authorities remain in thrall to the celebrity managers at the top of our game.
For all their undoubted brilliance, for all the spellbinding football they have brought to the English game, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola have been getting away with technical area misbehaviour since they both walked into the Premier League.
And it will be no surprise if Conte and Tuchel also get off lightly. It was easy to laugh at the childishness of their spats on Sunday at Stamford Bridge – and we did. But what sort of example did the foul-mouthed touchline melees set to everyone involved in grassroots football? High-running passion is no excuse. Passions run high at EVERY level of football but that should not be a green light to behave like hooligans.
Tuchel and Conte raging at each other was bad enough, suggesting that getting in the face of your opposing manager is how the elite bosses do things on the touchline. But much, much worse than two professionals losing the plot was the familiar sight and sound of officials being harangued and demeaned. Tuchel, in particular, was relentless in his dissent towards fourth official Peter Bankes. And not just Tuchel but his assistants as well.
With 18 subs and ridiculously large casts of backroom staff nowadays, the technical areas have become unmanageable and the fourth official can merely stand there and take the verbal flak. Not content with giving officials pelters during the match, Tuchel then laid into Anthony Taylor post-match, encouraging a mass pile-on from Chelsea supporters. Taylor might have made the mistake – not seeing the hair-pull on Marc Cucurella, for example – but he was not to blame for Chelsea failing to win a match they dominated.
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Kai Havertz was to blame for not taking chances, Raheem Sterling was to blame for not taking chances. Instead, Tuchel vilifies the referee like some sort of hyped-up fan calling a radio phone-in show. Meanwhile, referees are being assaulted on Sunday League fields. Like it or not, professional managers and players set an example – to the fans in the stands (where behaviour appears to be taking a turn for the worse) and to the men, women, boys and girls playing the sport on the amateur and school pitches.
With that passion we spoke about, there has to be professionalism. There will probably be an extra punishment for Tuchel but it will probably not be enough. Yes, it was hard not to find elements of the goings-on at the Bridge funny at the time. But for the sport’s governing bodies, they should be no laughing matter.
