The coach of the Chelsea Thomas Tuchel explained that the absence of Romelu Lukaku of the summons of his team before him Liverpool They were due to statements made days ago by the Belgian forward, which “made too much noise.”
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Lukaku, in an interview released Thursday, said he was unhappy with his role in the Chelsea and that the coach preferred a system that did not benefit him. In addition, he underlined his desire to return to the Inter.
“I decided to protect the preparation of the game, that the team isolated itself from the situation. That is why I did not call him,” argued the German coach after the clash with him. Liverpool which ended with a tie at two goals.
“Of course we have talked”
Tuchel He acknowledged having spoken with the footballer and with the most important players in the team. “Of course we have spoken. I have spoken with the main players and we saw that the match was very close after that.”
“Things got too big and there was a lot of noise with the game at the gates. We put any decision on hold and in the meantime, we had to isolate the team from the preparation of the game,” he added.
“We had a great football game to play. We need to fully concentrate and that is quite difficult to achieve without this decision. That is why he did not play. It was a difficult decision to make,” he added.
It cost 115 million euros
Lukaku, 28, has scored seven goals in 18 games since rejoining the Chelsea coming from the champion Inter de Milan for 97.5 million pounds sterling last June.
Asked if the forward will no longer count for the future, Tuchel it was not forceful. “I can’t say right now because we need to talk and understand the situation better.”
In fact, he left open the possibility that he would play on Wednesday against the Tottenham: “He is our player, and we have to protect our players.”