Omelu Lukaku back to Chelsea with Super League Insist that he has nothing to prove. But in Sunday’s game against Arsenal, he immediately had the opportunity to answer one of the main criticisms of his last time in the top league of English football.
The £97.5 million striker is tied with Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski and Erlin Harland with outstanding value and statistics, becoming the best striker in his position.
But studying these numbers in depth, his record with elite clubs makes him doubt his ability at the highest level. Can he be the one who solves the most intense game? Is this even what Chelsea need?
Thomas TuchelThe record of beating Manchester City in three games in Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid proves that even without a prolific shooter, he has found a way to overcome the highest level of competition.
However, Crystal Palace is still the only Premier League club Chelsea that has scored more than two goals under the leadership of the German. This fact proves that they have worked hard to make their dominance compete with other teams.
Tuchel made Lukaku a club record for signing this summer because he wanted a forward to grab goals against all opponents-but perhaps especially against lower-level teams.
This may be enough to make Chelsea a champion.
Nevertheless, in order for Lukaku to get rid of the last question mark in his career, he needs to prove that he can be a changer on the most important occasions.
Today, it is controversial whether Arsenal can be regarded as a real elite competition, but the record of scoring two goals in 15 games against them has increased Lukaku’s return to England’s traditional “big six”.
He scored a goal in 10 games against Chelsea and 3 goals in 11 games against Manchester United-a hat-trick of West Brom’s 5-5 draw in the last game coached by Sir Alex Ferguson. The match against Manchester City was 4 of the 14 matches, and there were only 12 matches against Tottenham Hotspur. His best reward was in the game against Liverpool, 5 out of 11 points.
His important game record has been questioned during Manchester United’s two years. In the game against Chelsea, he scored the only goal against a traditional elite team. This ignored the strike against Madrid in the Super Cup and the two key goals in Manchester United’s Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League comeback against Tuchel, but at home, his return opened the door to criticism.
This is the latest memory of his time in England, even though he solved this problem at Inter Milan, he often scored against neighbor AC, and scored in last year’s Serie A championship season against Juventus, Roma , Lazio and Naples.
Lukaku believes that he returned to these coasts as a more complete player than when he left-Italy’s 64 goals in 95 games proved this.
Romelu Lukaku returns to Chelsea
“There is a problem,” he said. “I know I have this ability. When I think about my performance at Everton, missed penalties, Manchester United games, etc., or when I am here [at Chelsea] I will get a chance, but it will not go well-maybe because I have invested too much [pressure on myself].
“I think this move may have happened a few years ago, when I was 23 or 24 years old. But in retrospect, you have to be honest with yourself. I don’t know if I will be affected as I am now.
“I’m ready,” he added in an interview with Sky Sports. “If you look at my last three transfers, they are basically the same story.
“It’s the same here now, why should I put unnecessary pressure on myself? I know training, I have been in competitions for 12 years, and I know people’s expectations.”
In this week’s interview, Lukaku felt that he was different from the man who left Manchester United two years ago.
How Tuchel plans to deploy him will be fascinating. The Chelsea coach has made it clear that this will be a situation of fighting side by side with Lukaku, and the forward is expected to become the mainstay of the Blues offensive.
He is directly integrated into the current top three systems. Mason Mount, Kahaverts, Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyekh and Callum Hudson-Odoi are all vying for him. One of two positions on both sides.
Tuchel is also weighing the possibility of the top two, which may allow Werner to play directly next to Lukaku or Haverts and become a more introverted No. 10 player.
The arrival of the Belgian provides Tuchel with options he lacked last season, which may help break the stubborn opponents sitting deep.
Most importantly, he brings a guarantee of scoring. As for what to oppose, the rest is decided.
