Lukaku defended for “SEVEN TOUCHES” in 90 minutes game against Crystal Palace
Lukaku has been defended for the poor performance against the Palace, for which he managed just seven touches in 90 mins.
Romelu Lukaku’s performance against Crystal Palace was defended by Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, who argued his troubles were due to Chelsea’s tactical approach.
During the Blues’ 1-0 triumph at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon, the Belgian was isolated and only touched the ball seven times in 90 minutes, one of which was a kick-off.
Lineker and Shearer, speaking on Match of the Day, expressed sympathy for Lukaku and claimed Chelsea were not playing to his abilities.
‘It’s clear that they [Chelsea] aren’t working on things on the training ground as they are not doing it during the game for him [Lukaku] or for the team,’ the former Newcastle center-forward said.
Lineker was even more scathing, adding: ‘When I played if I wasn’t getting much of the ball if I wasn’t getting service, I would be hammering people.’
Lukaku only completed four of his six attempted passes on Saturday, according to Opta, and his completion rate of 66.7 percent was the lowest of any player in Chelsea’s starting XI.
He played just three forward passes, which was only one more than Blues goalkeeper Edouard Mendy did.
The Belgian failed to register a single shot throughout the game, and his total touches of seven were the fewest in a single Premier League game since the 2003-04 season, when this statistic was first made available.
Speaking after the game, however, Thomas Tuchel dismissed the suggestion his tactical system was to blame for Lukaku’s struggles.
‘No, no, it’s not about the system,’ he said.
‘Well, it is what it is. But for him, there is no change of system because it’s the same attacking structure.’
Also read,
What Romelu Lukaku demanded from Rudiger as Tuchel responds to Lukaku’s 7 touches in 90 mins
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