Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel on Monday said that Romelu Lukaku should not be made fun of after the ￡98 million (US$133.08 million) striker had just seven touches in the weekend’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.
Last Saturday’s figure is the fewest number of touches registered by any player who completed the 90 minutes since such data was first recorded in 2003.
Tuchel was grilled on how to get the best from the Belgian, who the Blues signed for a club record fee in August last year, ahead of his side’s return to UEFA Champions League action against Lille OSC in the last 16.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Chelsea won the Champions League without Lukaku last season, but his signing was made with the intention of challenging for the English Premier League title.
The 28-year-old has just five Premier League goals so far in his second spell at Stamford Bridge, three of which came in his first three appearances.
The seeming incompatibility between Lukaku and the rest of his teammates was summed up by the scarcity of his involvement at Selhurst Park as Chelsea escaped with a late win thanks to Hakim Ziyech’s strike.
“It’s not what we want, and not what Romelu wants, but it’s not the time to laugh about him and make jokes,” Tuchel said. “He is in the spotlight and we will protect him because he’s our player.”
Tuchel defended accusations that it is his preferred 3-4-3 system that Lukaku is failing to adapt to.
Lukaku was dropped for a vital clash against Liverpool on Jan. 2 after voicing his frustrations at Tuchel’s style of play in a December interview with Sky Italia.
However, the German coach pointed to the struggles of other strikers at Chelsea in recent seasons prior to his arrival, such as Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata and Timo Werner, to prove his point that Lukaku is not an isolated case.
“There’s even a history of strikers struggling a little bit at Chelsea, so it’s not the easiest place in the world for strikers, but I don’t know exactly why it’s like this,” Tuchel said.
“We had many games throughout the year together where we created many chances but struggled a bit in the conversion. Now at the moment it’s a time where we struggle to create too many big chances for our strikers, and I think this is a normal period in a long season,” he said.
“We are well aware of it, but like most of the time in football, there’s not one way to solve a problem. It’s a very complex sport and we try to keep on playing with belief in the team effort,” Tuchel added.
Despite Lukaku’s struggles, Chelsea are strong favorites to reach the last eight of the Champions League against the French champions.
Lille sit 11th in Ligue 1, having failed to hit the heights of last season when they shocked Paris Saint-Germain to claim the title.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS