cCome to the king, you better not miss. But Romelu Lukaku did twice. First before the end of the first half, when he was on charge and the ball on his powerful left foot, he awkwardly chose to try to shoot Hakim Ziyech, who was offside even if the pass was accurate; Then in the second half when Mateo Kovacic opened his body to try to fend off an effort around Ederson, only to find that the goalkeeper had barely read his disguised intentions and was diving to save this was much more comfortable than it should have been.
And that’s the problem when I recently gave a TV interview to question the squad, especially when the team you joined is European champions: it puts scrutiny on your performance which is very unhelpful. No wonder Thomas Tuchel was unwilling to keep his £97.5m striker then. Was Lukaku the only reason why Chelsea lost to Manchester City on Saturday? Obviously not, but although City looked dominant, that match wasn’t far from following the pattern of last season’s Champions League final or the FA Cup semi-final between the two sides: City with plenty of ball but unable to break The ball is fine – Chelsea organized and backed off on the counter-attack.
Had Kepa Arrizabalaga not given that little skip to his right before Kevin De Bruyne’s shot, had Lukaku made more use of either of his two big chances, this could easily have been taken as another lesson for Tuchel.
To some extent, this only highlights how much of the analysis is result-driven: As City assistant coach Juanma Lillo once noted, what is praised is not what is done well but what ends well. But this was nothing like the match between the two teams at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season. City weren’t as superior on Saturday as they were back then. They are a very talented team and there are limits to what an opposing manager can do against them, even with a team like Chelsea.
On Saturday, Chelsea largely contained City and they caused occasional problems in the break; For all the understandable frustration that Chelsea weren’t more proactive given their need to win in order to survive even as they sniffed the title, there wasn’t much they could have done. Perhaps they could have gone a little more direct more often, perhaps they could have dangled in a few more crosses for Lukaku to compete with the John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, but retaining possession and with it the control that distinguished Tuchel’s Chelsea for the best was key to the plan.
No wonder then that Tuchel was frustrated with Lukaku, something evident in his gestures on the touchline as well as his words after the match. “He lost a lot of the ball without pressure and in very promising conditions,” the coach said. “Of course we want to serve him but he is part of the team and sometimes he needs to serve as well. He had a great opportunity so he was included in this.
“He’s part of the team and the performance up front, especially in the first half, we can do much better and we need to do better. We had eight or nine attacking transfers in the first half and there weren’t any touches in the penalty area. That’s a big problem. There was. Lack of timing and composure. We could have had more chances if we played with better accuracy.”
Lukaku’s shape is a more general concern. He’s not the only Chelsea striker who’s underperformed. It’s fair to acknowledge the impact of injuries and illness, but none of Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner or Ziek, at a combined cost of £210m, is convinced. But his case is the most confusing.
Lukaku had shown glimpses of talent in the Premier League before; The sensation was as much a victim of Manchester United’s malaise as it was a cause. With Belgium he showed his tactical acumen, his ability to drift wide to create space for advanced midfielders – which seemed to be exactly what Chelsea needed in a striker – allied with a formidable physical presence. Then there were his goals: 47 of them in the league are more than two goals
Seasons at Inter depend on pressure, albeit a more enthusiastic system than that favored by Tuchel. But it may not have been a tournament in which 40-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 35-year-old Edin Dzeko are still prominent.
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It’s early. No one should be written off after six months of moving. Lukaku scored five goals in nine Premier League matches. But the truth is, this is very similar to his time at United. There are flashes of what could be. The way he turned the Stones before his poor pass to Ziyech was a testament to how intimidating he was for the defenders. But five of his 12 pass attempts failed to find a teammate. His attempt to dodge one squandered possession. On 42 occasions his teammates tried to find him with a pass, only 12 times he claimed possession. He has lost all eight of his aerial duels (which may explain Chelsea’s reluctance to cross). Register with just one touch to the city chest. Playing against City is difficult, but this was not the performance of a player who could demand structural changes to suit him.
Lukaku is 28 years old now. His talents are obvious and seem plentiful, and perhaps this generates unreasonable expectations. But if she is going to really succeed with him in the Premier League, it will be soon.