Chelsea vs Liverpool: Three lessons learnt in encouraging draw
By Tan Yi Hao
3. Drawing a line under the Romelu Lukaku kerfuffle
Not being able to feature at all against Liverpool must have hurt for Lukaku. He is Chelsea’s club-record summer signing that set the club back £97.5 million. The Belgian was bought to be the difference maker in massive matches like these. Unfortunately, the 28-year-old’s ill-advised decision to give a interview aimed at appeasing the Inter Milan fans following his unceremonious departure in the summer saw him dropped by Tuchel for one of Chelsea’s most important games of the season to date.
As much as supporters often crave for greater honesty and transparency from footballers, some of Lukaku’s comments clearly went overboard in this sense. More importantly, many of his comments could easily be taken out of context by the press to form juicy headlines. For a man as intelligent as Lukaku, surely he knew exactly the kind of reception that his quotes would have throughout the English media and within the Chelsea fanbase. Lukaku’s actions brought added pressure and noise around the Blues and he was rightly punished by his manager. No player should be able to make these kinds of remarks and expect to get away with it.
However, what is undeniable is that Lukaku is currently one of the best strikers in the world. While Chelsea did manage to get a decent result against Liverpool, to continuously leave Lukaku out of the team would only serve to weaken the Blues’ position on the pitch. With the statement of intent now having been made by Tuchel, it would be best if a line can be drawn under this whole affair so as to allow all parties to move on. As for Lukaku, Chelsea fans are not a forgetful bunch. He still has much to do—and so many goals to score—to hopefully get them back on his side.
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What are some of the lessons you learnt in the draw? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!