Chelsea striker, Romelu Lukaku, in training.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference via Football Italia (h/t Football.London), Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri took a swipe at Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku by saying he “slows” down the team ahead of their clash in the Champions League.
The 28-year-old could be in contention to feature against Juve but, Thomas Tuchel revealed that he could be involved only in the latter stages. He had played the reverse fixture where the opponents won the match by 1-0 as Federico Chiesa scored the winner.
Max Allegri believes that the Blues are better without the star forward and explained his stance. He mentioned how Lukaku is a reference point, and thus he slows down the play. Without him, Tuchel’s side are faster and depend on counter-attacks due to the lack of a reference.
“Without Lukaku, they have different characteristics differently. They’ll have fewer reference points and do more counter-attacks. Lukaku is a reference point. They gain speed without him and defend differently.”
Allegri added how the English club plays differently without the Belgian in attack and defence. A lot is at play here as it could be a psychological tactic to disrupt the attacker should he get involved. But the forward could use that to his advantage to get motivated for the match.
Tactically, it could be an honest analysis as the Bianconeri boss may feel that his side can cope with a slower style of play. But what he must know is that a game can be won in many ways, and that is how a difference in identity is created between clubs.
In his national team, Lukaku is often involved in a counter-attacking style and have done well. So it would be a bit shallow to think that the West London club are better without him, and hence the comments feel like a ploy to get in the head rather than a tactical insight.
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