Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel criticises Romelu Lukaku display in Man City loss: ‘He can do much, much better’
Thomas Tuchel is demanding more from Romelu Lukaku after criticising the performance from Chelsea’s record signing in their defeat by Manchester City.
Lukaku cut an isolated and frustrated figure for much of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at the Etihad Stadium that surely extinguished Chelsea’s faint Premier League title hopes as reigning champions City increased their daunting advantage at the summit to 13 points with 16 matches remaining this term.
The Belgian did draw a strong save from goalkeeper Ederson during a positive start to the second half, but at other times he struggled notably to hold up the ball and crucially bring Chelsea up the pitch.
£97.5million summer signing Lukaku has managed only one goal so far in January, in the 5-1 FA Cup rout of non-league Chesterfield.
The 28-year-old was dropped for the recent 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge after his explosive comments in an unsanctioned interview with Italian media - for which he has since apologised - in which he admitted his frustration with life at Chelsea and his usage by Tuchel as he expressed a desire to return to Inter Milan in future.
Tuchel pulled no punches in his assessment of Lukaku’s performance at Manchester City, insisting the player can do “much, much better” as he lamented Chelsea’s costly lack of cutting edge in general.
“Sometimes he needs to do the service. I think he’s included," the German said.
"He had many ball losses without any pressure, many ball losses in very promising circumstances. He had a huge chance so he's included in this.
"Of course we want to serve him but he is part of the team, and the performance up front, he can do much, much better.
“We had eight or nine attacking transitions in the first half and zero touches in the box. That is a big problem. There was a lack of timing and composure.
“We could have had more chances if we played with better precision.”
