An interview of Romelu Lukaku has been published in which he has made some serious comments about his situation at Chelsea. Thomas Tuchel has also reacted to that interview and it doesn’t seems like everything is ok between the striker and the coach. The interview of Chelsea striker was recorded in the beginning of December but it was published recently just days before the match between Chelsea and Liverpool. The two teams are trying keep themselves up against Manchester City in the Premier League title race. See why Thomas Tuchel is angry with Romelu Lukaku.
Romelu Lukaku was at his best form in his two seasons at Inter Milan. He came to Italy after leaving Manchester United in August 2019. In his stint with Inter, he scored 64 goals in 95 appearances and also helped Inter in winning their first Serie A title since 2010 last season.
Lukaku made the following controversial statements in his interview:
“Physically I’m fine, even better than before. After two years in Italy, in which I worked a lot at Inter with trainers and nutritionists, I am physically fine.
“But I’m not happy with the situation, this is normal. I think the coach has chosen to play with another system, I just have to not give up and continue to work and be a professional. I am not happy with the situation, but I am a worker and I must not give up.”
After the controversial interview of Romelu Lukaku, Thomas Tuchel was also asked about his reaction to the comments made by Belgian striker. Tuchel said the following:
“We don’t like it of course. It brings noise that we don’t need and it’s not helpful. We don’t want to make more out of it than it actually is. It is easy to take lines out of context, shorten lines, make headlines and then realise later that it is not so bad.”
“If you are such a big player like Romelu, it is always in the public. He should know what kind of value he has when he speaks out with messages like this. Everything is easier when we win.”
The Belgian striker has been struggling with form and fitness over the last 3 months but now it seems like he is getting back to his best for Chelsea. Lukaku has now scored in each of his last 2 Premier League games which is a good news for Chelsea’s fans.
Why Lukaku is not happy at Chelsea?
Lukaku said that he is not happy with the situation. The fact it that the Belgian striker is most comfortable with a “different formation”. Tuchel has been playing with the 3-4-2-1 system that helped Chelsea coming back into the top four and to Champions League glory. After the confirmation of Lukaku to Chelsea, Tuchel was asked about the change in formation. At that time he said:
“We now have the chance also to play with two strikers, like they did at Inter with [Lukaku], or to continue with three strikers. We will see now how this works out.”
Therefore Lukaku was hoping for a consistent strike partner in Timo Werner who will drop deep and do the dirty work as a forward while he himself challenge in the penalty area and try to find the net. But that partnership role is unclear. At Inter, Lukaku had Lautaro Martinez or Alexis Sanchez beside him for practically the entire season. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner have started only five times together this season, and only twice as a traditional front two.
Lukaku returned from injury in the end of November, but since then he has been given only a handful of minutes – eight against Man Utd, 21 against Watford, 45 against West Ham and three against Leeds. In those minutes, the coach played him as a false nine on several occasions.
However, the issue is not that big because it is clear to all that the interview was conducted several weeks ago and since then Lukaku has talked about it with the manager. Chelsea will play against Liverpool in a Premier League fixture this weekend. Thomas Tuchel will be expecting a good performance from Romelu Lukaku against Liverpool.
