Chelsea owner Thomas Tuchel says he’s scared Romelu LukakuHis controversial interview could destabilize his season and he was surprised by the striker’s claims that he was unhappy at the club.
In a conversation with Sky Sport Italia recorded three weeks ago but released on Thursday, Lukaku thinks he’s ‘not happy’ because “the coach chose to play with a different system.”
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The 28-year-old player joined Chelsea from Internazionale in a deal worth 115 million euros (£97.5 million) last summer and went on to suggest that he wants to return to the Serie A side “not at the end of my career, but still at good to hope to win more.”
Although Lukaku has scored three goals in his last four games to show the sublimation of his individual form, Belgium The international’s comments represent another difficult situation for Tuchel as inconsistent form has left them eight points behind leaders City of Manchester before facing Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Speaking on Friday in a pre-match press conference, Tuchel said of Lukaku’s comments: “Of course we don’t like it because it brings in noise we don’t need and it’s not useful.
“But on the other hand, we didn’t want to do more than reality. You know it very well. It’s very easy to take a line out of context. It’s very easy to shorten a line, create a headline and then realized that it probably wasn’t so bad and wasn’t what he wanted it to be.
“Honestly, I don’t like it because it’s noise that we don’t need. We need a quiet and focused environment and this doesn’t help. If it’s an interview from one person have such important player preferences.I completely understand the process.
“That’s why it’s a lot of noise, not a little bit, a lot of noise. However, we’re not here to just read the headlines and maybe we could spend some time trying to figure it out. I’m trying to understand what’s going on because it doesn’t reflect day-to-day work, it doesn’t reflect everyday attitudes, it doesn’t reflect the day-to-day behavior that Romelu exhibits here at Cobham.
“You need to ask him, not me, I can’t help you further on this because I was surprised.”
Tuchel said he plans to speak with Lukaku to understand the full picture but went on to explain why some tension between players could be a positive.
“The dressing room doesn’t have to be harmonious all the time,” he said. “Necessary not success, not necessarily hugging, loving each other day by day.”
“Sometimes [it is] good to be around, sometimes good to be like a little bit in this harmony when it is between certain boundaries.
“With Romelu, I don’t think anyone in this building knows that he’s not happy and that’s what took us by surprise with these statements. First of all, we needed to check because we need to check because I can’t see why this is like this. This is all I can say about it and let’s wait for what Romelu has to say and then we’ll work it out.”
Tuchel confirms “it looks like the season is over” for Ben Chilwell next Knee surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament damage while Reece James There will be a CT scan later on Friday to determine the extent of his muscle problem.
Chelsea are also facing late fitness tests on a number of players including Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen, Timo Werner and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Tuchel used an unusual analogy to describe how his squad has been stretched by illness and COVID-19 over the course of four 10-match wins in all competitions.
“It’s like squeezing together a lemon and we always expect fresh water from it,” he said.
“It’s difficult because we’re too ambitious and it’s hard for the team to take these results and stay positive. We know we can play better, everyone is fully aware.”
