Romelu Lukaku not to blame, as pundit recalls Neville and Lampard laughing
Axed by Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel against Lille and desperately low on confidence, Romelu Lukaku has been defended by pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor.
The media have jumped all over the striker’s failings at the weekend. The striker managed just seven touches as Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 1-0 on Saturday – a new Premier League low.
Lukaku played for the full 90 minutes and his touches were the lowest in a Premier League appearance since at least 2003, when records began.
“He’s in the spotlight and we’ll protect him. Romelu will always be part of the solution,” Tuchel said earlier this week.
“Sometimes it’s like this with strikers if they struggle a little bit with self-confidence and to find the space to get involved with a good defensive side.
“Of course it’s not what we want and what Romelu wants but it’s also not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him.”
It’s a situation which Agbonlahor suggests may well have split the Chelsea dressing room.
“I’m on Lukaku’s side,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider.
“I get laughed at because I had nine touches in the first half against Spurs in 2015. Gary Neville and Frank Lampard were laughing about it at half-time.
“If you look between now and then there will be a lot of players who had fewer touches than me in a half.
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‘Chelsea don’t play to their strengths’
“Sometimes it happens, when your teams have not got the ball you don’t get the touches because you’re the furthest one up the pitch.”
Agbonlahor, 35, who made over 400 career appearances, mainly for Aston Villa, believes Chelsea’s system is at fault.
“Chelsea play like they get a goal every 15 passes. It’s very boring,” he added.
“They don’t play to their strengths. At Inter they played on the counter-attack, got the ball to him.
“Seven touches in a game. That’s alarming. That’s a team meeting after the game, why are you not passing to me? I’m getting laughed at, why are you not involving me?
“The players will have been arguing about it. I feel sorry for Lukaku.
“What can he do? If he comes out and drops into midfield like Kane people will have a go at him. He’s been told to stay up the pitch.
“If it’s a failure of system and tactics. If I’m Tuchel, stop all the nonsense tika-take keep-ball, let’s get forward. Keeping the ball doesn’t win games.”
READ MORE: Havertz sends message to Lukaku amid battle for Chelsea role, handing Tuchel Liverpool dilemma
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