Thomas Tuchel has revealed he has not said a single word to his Chelsea players on whether they should take a knee before matches.
The German described himself as “colourblind” when it comes to race and declared that his squad was 100 percent behind those campaigning against discrimination and social injustice.
But he gave no indication that he would instigate any further discussion on the club’s Cobham training ground following the statement by Wilfried Zaha that he felt taking a knee was “degrading”.
“Growing up, my parents let me know that I should be proud to be black no matter what and I feel like we should just stand tall,” Crystal Palace‘s Ivory Coast international explained.
Tuchel said: “Maybe you may call me naive but I don’t speak with my players about that because actually I am ‘colourblind’. I don’t have the sense for that.
“I see clearly the issue but discussing whether we take a knee or not, I think it is a symbol and it is not enough to take a knee, you have to live it. You live it everyday and hopefully I do.
“I am absolutely ‘colourblind’ and I would love for everybody else to treat each other with respect. This is absolutely most important and the racist attacks that are going around are absolutely unacceptable, there is no doubt.
“We are not talking every day in Cobham about this, we live it. This is for me the most important thing. We live it. We live together, we don’t have these issues here, not one percent or half a percent – zero.”
Tuchel could recall Olivier Giroud for today’s trip to Southampton but is in no hurry to tie down the 34-year-old France striker, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.
“It’s too soon in the season to make these decisions,” he said. “I don’t have enough time to make them because I just started three weeks ago and we need more time to get to know the group better.
“Everybody deserves more time to show the value of what they do.
“What I can say is that I am super happy that he is here. He is one of the top strikers in the box and an incredible first touch.
“Right now he plays a key role in a squad with a lot of young offensive players. He is the key figure not because he plays 96 minutes every three days but because of his experience.”
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