After the defeat of his Chelsea against Manchester City (0-1), Thomas Tuchel did not mince his words about Romelu Lukaku and the other attackers. The German technician was rather upset.
Since December 30 and Romelu Lukaku’s controversial interview, the relationship between the Belgian striker and Thomas Tuchel has often been at the heart of the news in England. The day after the shock statements of the Red Devil, the German coach then responded firmly before dismissing him for the match against Liverpool a few days later. Finally, the story ended well with the excuses of the former offensive element of Inter and his return to the lawns in the semi-final first leg of the Carabao Cup on January 5.
Yes, but now, sometimes certain statements can awaken old demons. And this Saturday, the former Paris Saint-Germain technician decided not to let anything pass. On the lawn of Manchester City, Chelsea lost 1-0 in a game oh so important for the title. Aligned at the forefront of Thomas Tuchel’s 3-4-3 attack, Romelu Lukaku did not deliver a great performance and clearly missed out on the last gesture. Enough to drive his coach crazy.
“Sometimes he has to do the work too”
“Sometimes he has to do the work too. He had a lot of ball losses and huge chances. Of course we want to serve him, but he is part of the team. The performance ahead in the first half… We can do much, much better.”, first sent TT about Romelu Lukaku, before discussing more generally the offensive animation: “We had eight or nine transition chances and on those occasions we didn’t have a touch in the box.”
Romelu Lukaku and the Chelsea attackers therefore took it for their rank, but the German did not stop there: “I have no problem with the fact that we miss chances and, of course, we don’t have many in top-level matches. We could have had a lot more. The bullet losses were too early and too low. Decision-making was not at the level we need.” Strong words for the Blues who are now thirteen points behind the Citizens at the top of the standings.
