Thomas Tuchel has admitted Chelsea need to find a way to get Romelu Lukaku more involved after the striker had just seven touches during his side’s recent victory over Crystal Palace.
Lukaku’s disappointing display against the Eagles has been the subject of much discussion on social media and it reflects a wider trend of the centre forward underwhelming since re-signing for the Blues this summer.
Asked what his plan was for getting Lukaku firing again ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League meeting with Lille, Tuchel confessed he was not sure what was going wrong.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Lukaku is not the first striker to struggle for Chelsea and Tuchel went on to reveal that the club’s culture may make it tough for forwards to flourish.
“Maybe, maybe. There is a history of strikers struggling at Chelsea so it may not be the easiest place in the world for strikers. In my opinion, Chelsea are a team considered a strong defensive team, a physical team, that has a certain attitude when in competitive football,” he explained.
“We demand a lot of our strikers in terms of defending. We want to be a physical, hard-working group that wants to play a physical game as well as a skilful game.
“We are on the subject and are well aware, but like always in football it’s not just one reason to sort. It’s a complex sport and we will continue to play with faith, with a team effort, and it’s what we do.”
Source: 90min.com
