How mercenary Lukaku was outplayed by Tuchel

James Shearman

• Updated: 5 Jan 2022 17:53 GMT
• 4 min read

Romelu Lukaku shocked the football world last week with comments on his struggles at Chelsea and his love for former club Inter Milan.

The Belgian sat down with Sky Italia almost a month ago, but the interview was only released prior to Sunday's fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool.

And the backlash was so severe that manager Thomas Tuchel decided to leave him out of the squad for one of the biggest games of the Premier League season.

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Now, Lukaku is back in contention for the Blues ahead of their EFL Cup semi-final tie with Tottenham.

However, getting from A to B was not that easy, and credit must be given to Tuchel for the way in which he handled the situation.

In fact, the German has come out of the predicament looking fantastic, remarkable given just how terribly it all could have gone.

So, here's how Tuchel has somehow managed to appear a winner in the Lukaku interview debacle.

Lukaku comes out the loser, Tuchel the winner

Lukaku, a talismanic figure who had just been signed for £97.5 million, criticising your methods and expressing a desire to return to his former club, is more than enough to derail any manager's stronghold over a group of players.

In modern football, coaches are often described to have lost the dressing room when a difficult situation such as this or run of poor results occurs, which ultimately sees them lose their job.

As a result, Lukaku's interview, at a club like Chelsea that have struggled with 'player power' for years, could have spelled the beginning of the end for Tuchel at Stamford Bridge.

Instead, the former PSG boss has, if anything, strengthened his position as manager of the west London club with an incredibly smart course of action.

First of all, he spoke to the 'big players', most likely captains Cesar Azpilicueta and Jorginho, as well as Antonio Rudiger and N'Golo Kante, about the next steps.

Then, the 48-year-old left the forward out of the squad for the Liverpool match, sending a message to staff and fans that his actions would not be tolerated, regardless of his ability.

''The thing got too big, the thing got too noisy so close to the match," Tuchel told Sky Sports ahead of the game. "So I decided to protect the preparation of the match, that's why he's out."

Yet, perhaps most significant of all, is that owner Roman Abramovich reportedly backed the Champions League winner's decisions, which have included a hefty fine for Lukaku.

The Russian may have a team, including director Marina Granovskaia, who deal with day-to-day issues, but he still has the ultimate say on important matters such as the regular sacking of managers.

So, for Abramovich to be in agreement with his leadership, Tuchel will have enjoyed a significant boost at Stamford Bridge in the wake of dealing with his expensive striker.