Only five goals in the league
Of which Lukaku is currently shooting very few. Only in the summer was he back from Inter Milan Stamford Bridge changed. And with the beefy, dangerous and lightning fast Lukaku seemed Chelsea to have found exactly the striker he was still missing.
But in 17 league games he only scored five goals – far too little for a man who cost a whopping 115 million euros and is the most expensive transfer in the club’s history.
Tuchel cannot explain the performance of his highly paid star striker at Crystal Palace. “I don’t know what to say”he said and was at a loss: “It says he didn’t appear to have been involved and couldn’t excel today.”
Now and then completely out of place
When a game so completely passes a man like Lukaku, the coach and teammates are not always entirely to blame. The Belgium international loves it when the game is tailored to him and he is the central passing station, which is only fed with crosses.
That’s how it was at Inter Milan. There, Lukaku scored a whopping 24 goals in 36 Serie A games in the 2020/21 season. The rate was similar the year before.
However, the game of the Londoners is much less designed for crosses and switching actions, where Lukaku’s speed, his physical power or his header play come into play. This is how he works in the offensive game of the FC Chelsea sometimes completely out of place.
Tuchel: “No change in the system”
However, Tuchel does not see it at all in changing his style and tactics in favor of his million-man man. “There is no change in the system for him”explained the coach and also took the rest of the team out of duty. “I’m not sure it says that much about us in general”said Tuchel, looking at Lukaku, with seven ball contacts Crystal Palace.