Chelsea vs Crystal Palace: Why I apologized to Conor Gallagher – Tuchel

 

Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, has explained why he apologized to midfielder, Conor Gallagher, ahead of his side’s FA Cup semi-final tie with Crystal Palace on Sunday because he knows how competitive the 22-year-old is.

Gallagher is enjoying an outstanding season on loan at Crystal Palace from Chelsea.

Chelsea and Crystal Palace will clash in the FA Cup semi-final tie at Wembley on Sunday evening and Gallagher will not feature in the tie due to an agreement in his loan deal.

Palace had asked Chelsea for permission to feature Gallagher in the FA Cup tie, but according to the loan deal rules, a player cannot play against his parent club while on loan.

“I had the chance to speak to Conor and I could also see his frustration,” Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“We met some weeks ago, after the international break. We ran into each other by coincidence in a restaurant and we had a chat. The subject came up and I apologized because I know how competitive he is and I like him a lot. I know his character very well. It was a pleasure to have him here in the pre-season.

“That is the way it is. We played to win the game and the rules were clear when we made the loan. I can totally understand Patrick Vieira and also the disappointment of Conor of course, but these were the rules when we did the loan and we don’t want to suffer from our rules.”