ROM NEEDS THE HUMAN TUCH
I’ll stop Lukaku joining the long list of striking failures at Chelsea says manager
HAVING asked Roman Abramovich to splash out a club-record £97.5million on a striker, it is perhaps no surprise that Thomas Tuchel has vowed to stick with him.
The alternative just does not bear thinking about.
Could Romelu Lukaku be about to join the ranks of Andriy Shevchenko, Fernando Torres and Alvaro Morata in failing to live up to expectations leading the Chelsea line?
Head coach Tuchel said: “It’s on me to adapt and to find solutions and Romelu will always be part of the solution. There’s even a history of strikers struggling a little bit at Chelsea, so it is not the easiest place for strikers obviously.
“I don’t know exactly why the strikers do that, but it is like this. In my opinion, it is also considered that Chelsea is a strong defensive team, that it is a physical team with a certain attitude and a grip on playing competitive football.
“We demand a lot from our strikers in terms of defending. We want to be a physical, hardworking group that’s not shy to make it a physical game and not only a skilful game. That plays a part, maybe.
“We have many games throughout our year together where we created many chances, many deliveries and struggled a bit in the conversion. Now, in the moment, we struggle to create too many big chances for our strikers – this is a normal period in a long season.
“We are aware of the subject and, like always in football, it is not always just one reason to solve the problem. It is a very complex sport, we try to keep playing with faith in what we do and in belief. It’s a team effort. From there we go.
“But still, we can also play and win games without any player. This is our job, what we want to do, what we try when we have injuries and coronavirus cases.”
The more mobile Timo Werner could get the nod against Lille tonight ahead of Lukaku, but Tuchel’s ‘mea culpa’ does at least show something of a change in heart from his initial response to the Belgian’s no-show against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“No, no, it’s not about the system,” Tuchel told BeIN
Sports immediately after the game. But on reflection he admitted that the long-term absences of
Ben Chilwell and Reece James – two players expected to provide Lukaku with much of his ammunition – have not helped. “Two of the key wing-backs are Reece and Chilly, who got injured at their peak level,” said Tuchel. “They had a huge impact on our game offensively and defensively, especially regarding Romelu, with their speed, penetration and deliveries.
“But it’s about keeping on going and finding our rhythm where we struggle a little bit.” Lukaku did score in both games in the Club World Cup and now the business end of the season in the Champions League has arrived with Chelsea red-hot favourites to progress into the quarter-finals.
Tuchel admits he was in favour of scrapping the away goals rule in Europe and says it will not change his approach in either game.
He added: “For us it changes nothing in the approach for the game tomorrow. It’s easier to adapt – let’s get the two games and get them played, do the mathematics and if it’s level we go to extra-time.”
CHELSEA (probable): Mendy; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Ziyech, Werner, Havertz. LILLE (probable): Jardim; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Gudmundsson; Weah, Andre, Sanches, Bamba; David, Yilmaz.