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‘I hate it’: Lukaku sends a clear message to Thomas Tuchel about his role amid goalless streak at Chelsea
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has stated that he dislikes playing as a mere target man for the team because he believes the role does not play to his strengths.
The 28-year-old has hit a wall after such a promising start to his second Chelsea career, scoring four goals in his first four games.
He has failed to score in the Blues’ last five games in all competitions.
What’s more concerning is that he only had two shots on goal despite playing the full 90 minutes in four of those five games.
Former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte recently claimed that Thomas Tuchel has not figured out how to properly use the striker, which the German strongly denied, but he may have had a point.
Lukaku has now spoken out about his playing style.
“The way I’m built – I’m quite big – everybody thinks I’m a sort of target man; just holding up the ball and being a goal poacher,” the Belgium international told UEFA’s official website.
“But I’ve never played that way and I hate it.
“My biggest strength is that I’m dangerous when I’m facing towards the goal because that’s when I rarely make wrong choices.
“After I pass the ball, I know where I have to position myself in the box.
“I can do a bit of everything and in some games when I know there is a lot of space behind the defence, I play differently.
“The reason I’m so productive [in front of goal] is because I can do a bit of everything.”
Despite his muscular build, Lukaku is one of Chelsea’s fastest players, as teammate Antonio Rudiger previously stated.
Chelsea, of course, still requires a focal point in the final third, and no one else could fill that role other than Lukaku, so Tuchel is not exactly spoiled for choice in this regard.
This role, however, forces Lukaku to stay high on the pitch, leaving him with very little space to run into, especially with Chelsea’s patient build-up plays.
One possible solution is to instruct his teammates to play long balls from deep more frequently and to release the ball faster, allowing Lukaku to compete with defenders using his pace rather than just his strength.
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‘I hate it’: Lukaku sends a clear message to Thomas Tuchel about his role amid goalless streak at Chelsea
