The manager of the Chelsea football club, Thomas Tuchel was not happy with the performance of the club’s striker, Romelu Lukaku in the club’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City on Saturday, January 15, 2022.
Thomas Tuchel believes that Lukaku was not involved in the game as much as expected and was easily dispossessed of the ball during the Premier League encounter.
Recall that after Chelsea had a fantastic 2020-2021 season in which they defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League final, they decided to improve their squad by bringing in Lukaku. The club spent a whopping €115 million on the 28-year-old Belgian striker who was the talisman at Inter Milan between 2019 and 2021.
Initially, when Lukaku arrived at Chelsea on August 12, 2021, he was looking like a perfect inclusion into coach Thomas Tuchel’s squad. Afterward, the Belgium international began to struggle in front of goal and had to be sidelined for weeks due to injuries, fitness issues, and loss of form.
When Thomas Tuchel thought the Belgian record goalscorer has picked up form, Sky in Italy published an interview granted the outlet in which he said he was not happy at Chelsea.
His criticism against coach Tuchel’s formation and his love for Inter Milan forced him out of Chelsea’s squad ahead of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool. Afterward, coach Thomas Tuchel forgave him and returned him to the club’s squad.
Amid his controversial comments against the coach and Chelsea, Lukaku has not scored a goal for the club in his last 11 appearances. In the 22 games he has played for the club, he has managed to score just 8 goals and provided two assists.
In the Premier League game against Manchester City on Saturday, Lukaku had a golden opportunity to score for Chelsea in the second half but missed the chance. Minutes later, his countryman, Kevin De Bruyne scored a brilliant goal to give Manchester City the lead.
World class from @DeBruyneKev#mcfc #mancity pic.twitter.com/8pAhM0zmtE
— The Manchester is BLUE show (@manchesterisB) January 15, 2022
The 1-0 victory over Chelsea has given Manchester City a 13 point lead over the London-based club which is currently sitting on the second spot on the league table.
After the loss, coach Tuchel whose team has managed to win one out of the team’s last 6 Premier League games, criticized his offensive players led by Lukaku for not doing enough.
“Our offensive players need to show up more. We need consistency. Chelsea is not a place to hide,” said Tuchel.
During the post-match press conference, Tuchel was asked if Lukaku was starved of service, the German tactician responded by saying that the striker needs to sometime deliver the service.
“We had eight or nine offensive transitions, but had zero touches in the box,” coach Thomas Tuchel added. “That was a big problem today, the performance of our front players. A lack of position, timing, and composure. We lost too many balls too easily.
“Romelu Lukaku sometimes needs to [deliver] the service. He is included in this, he had many ball losses in very promising circumstances. He had a huge chance.
“Of course, we want to serve him, but he is part of the team, and the performance up front, we can do much better. “
Thomas Tuchel was NOT happy with Romelu Lukaku's performance for Chelsea against Manchester City 😡 👀 pic.twitter.com/7qG9mnwmcl
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) January 15, 2022
