Belgian footballer Romelu Lukaku has struggled to justify his £98million price tag at Chelsea by asking questions about how he fits into the Blues system, but the head coach says he won’t change his ways for anyone.
A little about the topic
Thomas Tuchel admitted on the back of a 1-0 loss to PL leaders Man City last time that his No. 9 needs to start offering more to the collective cause. It was suggested that the head man at Stamford Bridge could help this effort by considering his tactical approach, but Romelu was warned that no one in west London would meet his demands.
What did Tuchel say about Romelu Lukaku?
Asked again before a trip to Brighton on Tuesday if changes were needed to get Romelu fired, Thomas told reporters no, he thinks they are doing everything to help him. Tuchel thinks this is the wrong question because it focuses on one player. Romelu Lukaku is a key player and they want him to be a key player, but for Thomas, he thinks this is not the right approach. According to Thomas Tuchel this is what they want for any player. It’s a team sport and it’s not about 10 players serving one player. This is not Chelsea and this is not football. Every player is there to serve the team. This is the highest principle and will not change.
There was a lot of excitement at Stamford Bridge as Romelu returned to familiar surroundings in the summer of 2021. After helping to sack Inter to a Serie A title last season, and having established himself as one of the most feared frontmen in world football, Romelu Lukaku is expected to lead the challenge to Premier League glory in 2022. The 28-year-old, however, caused controversy with an interview in which he suggested that he never wanted to leave Italy and registered only eight goals in 22 appearances.
Asked if Chelsea expected more from the club’s record signing, Thomas said they expected more from all their attacking play in the last match. The German said he thought they had enough offensive action, transitions, to hurt Manchester City more than they did. If that answers their question, maybe not 100 percent, but it’s included in their offensive component.
According to Tuchel, Romelu Lukaku is a key player, so there will always be pressure, but no more than he puts himself on. And they need to find a mixture between all the expectations, the pressure and being relaxed enough to play their best game, because it’s not just about pushing and demanding, but also about feeling calm and relaxing on the serve.