Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel clueless about Romelu Lukaku crisis after disastrous Crystal Palace display
Thomas Tuchel has conveyed that he is clueless about the crisis Romelu Lukaku is experiencing following the terrible performance he had against Crystal Palace. The striker dropped arguably his worst display of the season and looks a shadow of the player he was at Inter Milan.
The Belgian touched the ball just six times in open play during the entire ninety minutes against Palace. He broke the unwanted record of becoming the player with the fewest touches in a Premier League match having played the full game. He also failed to register a shot and could only complete four passes throughout the match.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Football.London), Tuchel gave an alarming response to the struggles Lukaku has been facing at Stamford Bridge. The manager expressed how he does not know what to do and hinted that it was just a bad day at the office.
“What can I do? I don’t know. We have to deal with it. The data is out there and the data speaks a certain language. He was not involved in our game, it’s sometimes like this. It’s, of course, not what we want or Romelu wants but it’s not the time to laugh about him and makes jokes about him.”
Shocking words!
The German boss’ sentiment is completely different to what it has been in the past regarding this subject. Previously, he used to support the 28-year-old during his struggles while backing the attacker to showcase his quality. While he did the same this time around, the nature of the response does not inspire confidence.
Moreover, declaring the Palace performance as “it’s sometimes like this” is simply not a solution. The Blues star has been like this for quite a while, and this display depicts his overall time with us. It’s concerning to see that our £97.5million signing has failed to showcase the quality he was brought for in the first place.
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The Belgian international did not even put in the effort to turn the tide during the game. Despite the unwanted stats, one would have thought that the centre-forward would try to give everything on the pitch to make an impact. That was not even the case which makes it all the more damning, to say the least.
With the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 matchup against Lille set to take place tomorrow, the club-record signing must give a strong response to his horrendous display. But if he continues the same trajectory, the Blues coach may have some stern decisions to make in the future relating to the forward’s involvement.
