Tuchel rebuffed Conte’s claim that Chelsea has yet to figure out how to properly use the 28-year-old Romelu Lukaku, although the Blues boss admitted that his predecessor was right on some counts.
A little about the topic
After a tumultuous start to their second stint at Stamford Bridge, the Belgian International found itself in a barren patch, with its side slipping into defeats at Man City and Juve at the time. Former Chelsea coach Antonio Conte, who led Romelu to the Serie A crown with Inter last term, suggested that Thomas Tuchel hadn’t come up with a better approach for the player yet, but now the German has responded.
Ahead of his side’s clash with Southampton this weekend, Chelsea’s official website quoted Thomas Tuchel that Antonio Conte had clearly not been on TV after Tottenham’s game. Of course, if you’re watching this game against Juve in isolation, he’s right on this point, and he’s obviously in the TV studio to analyze this one game – so he’s right, no discussion about it.
But this is not a common thing. If you watch other games, he may be wrong. Thomas doesn’t feel offended. Tuchel even saw him on TV as he crumbled before the match at the hotel.
Romelu Lukaku all the time in the box
Thomas further pointed to the praise of Romelu Lukaku and his squats were commanding the pundits after play as a sign of their efforts, but acknowledged that his side’s play in the flight had suffered in recent weeks. The absence of Mount, excluded from Man City and Juve’s losses through injury, has proven costly, already proving its worth to the club and country as an integral link in the attacking chain.
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss added that Juve had isolated Romelu. It felt like seven players around Romelu Lukaku were in the box all the time. They did it well and did it in their own way. They have to accept it. This is not a common problem. You have to look at the games very individually. Any striker in the world would be isolated if they played as poorly in the transition as they did against Manchester City.