Romelu Lukaku isn’t a problem but Chelsea avoids making him a solution

Chelsea’s struggled to score while maintaining a solid defense. With Frank Lampard, it was all about outscoring the opposition but when that failed there was nothing to fall back on. For Thomas Tuchel, it’s about preventing the opponent from scoring and then scoring one more. Generally, it works, but there should be fears of how sustainable it is.

When faced with a problem like this, teams have one of two choices. Option one is to bring in a striker that can score with the chances the team is already making. Option two is to bring in players or change the build up to create more chances for the team already there. The Blues went with option one and brought in Lukaku.

But, Chelsea isn’t exactly playing through Lukaku so much as they are playing around him. Some fans have already started the usual song and dance of nitpicking everything in preparation for a full flop campaign. Lukaku hasn’t been a problem for Chelsea though. The problem is he hasn’t been made a solution.

It is perhaps best to start with a very weird inverse relationship Chelsea developed. When a player like Lukaku or Olivier Giroud previously plays, the team refuses to use width and cross. Not just the traditional, looping cross most people think of but also the low, cutting pass from the line back into the box. Instead, the Blues seem to look for ways to play the striker through. Now, Lukaku is more capable of a through ball than Giroud, but it leaves him very isolated.

Much of that isolation against Brentford came as a result of the formation. 3-5-2 is even better suited than 3-4-3 for creating overloads, but it is even more demanding. Often times, Timo Werner would drop deep or deep and wide in support. That wasn’t necessarily the wrong decision, but he did it so often when Brentford was fully set up that he left Lukaku alone on the back line. If a through ball were to come, it would be obvious who it was going to.

Ultimately, the goal came from Ben Chilwell inverting heavily to hit a near perfect volley. That’s great, but it’s becoming less than ideal. Strikers can help score chances in several ways by pinning and moving opposition but if goals are only coming from others in unusual circumstances, something isn’t right.

With or without Lukaku, Chelsea simply doesn’t create enough chances. Sometimes it’s the movement of players being too stagnant. Other times the passes just aren’t quick enough. Far too often they aren’t risky enough to truly force the opponent off. Lukaku is not a reason for any of this as some are starting to insinuate. He’s a victim of it.

Chelsea isn’t playing to Lukaku’s strengths. Or Timo Werner’s for that matter. Or any of the forwards given how their form has dipped to the point that 3-5-2 now seems the way to go.

Tuchel’s fixed the defense, but the offense remains a big question mark. Who is going to score? Are we going to create chances or just possess the ball? These questions don’t have easy answers. It is far more complicated than the presence of one striker or another. But something has to be solved before a few games without a goal turns into a drought that hits the whole side.