Lukaku’s problem is self-confidence-Tuchel
Tuchel said the Belgium striker would remain part of his plans but suggested that he was at a loss about how to increase his influence
Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he is unsure how to arrest Romelu Lukaku’s slump in form and likened Chelsea’s record signing to the previous high-profile strikers who failed at Stamford Bridge.
Lukaku, the £97.5 million summer signing from Inter Milan, completed a record-low seven touches in Saturday’s win away to Crystal Palace and has not scored a Premier League goal since his controversial Sky Sports Italia interview in December.
Tuchel said the Belgium striker would remain part of his plans but suggested that he was at a loss about how to increase his influence after the performance at Selhurst Park.
“What can I do? I don’t know,” the Chelsea head coach said in advance of today’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg against Lille. “We have to deal with it. The data is out there and speaks the language that he wasn’t in our game.
“Sometimes it’s like this with strikers if they struggle a little bit with self- confidence and [to] find the space to get involved with a good defensive side.
“Of course it’s not what we want and [not] what Romelu wants but it’s also not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him. He’s in the spotlight and we’ll protect him.”
Tuchel admitted last week that Chelsea were growing impatient with Lukaku, the club’s highest-paid player, who scored 64 goals in 95 appearances for Inter, over his failure to fulfil expectations.
The former Manchester United striker is Chelsea’s leading scorer this season with ten goals, but only half have come in the league, where Lukaku has been unable to score since revealing he was “not happy” with the situation at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel pointed to the club’s history of expensive strikers who failed to meet expectations, including Andriy Shevchenko (£30 million), Fernando Torres (£50 million) and Álvaro Morata (£60 million) — all record signings. Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuaín and Hernán Crespo are also on the list of underwhelming forwards to pass through Chelsea.
“There is a history of strikers struggling a bit at Chelsea so it is not the easiest place in the world for strikers,” Tuchel said. “Obviously I don’t know exactly why it is like this but it is. In my opinion Chelsea is considered a strong defensive team that is physical and has a certain attitude and grip in playing competitive football.
“We demand a lot from our strikers in terms of defending. We want to be a physical, hardworking group that is not shy to make it a physical and not only a skilful game. That plays maybe a part. We have many games throughout our year together where we create many chances and struggle to convert them.
“Now, in the moment, there’s a time when we struggle to create too many big chances for our strikers. This is normal in a period of the season. We are aware of the subject and, like always in football, it is not always just one reason to solve the problem.”
