Early loser: Lukaku, the Chelsea parasite

Romelu Lukaku is at best a passenger and at worst a parasite in this Chelsea team. Thomas Tuchel must consider a change.

Lukaku had two touches in the first half at Selhurst Park, including the kick-off, and seven in the entire game – the fewest for a player who played 90 minutes since Opta started collecting data back in the 2003-04 season. Of the Chelsea players to complete 90 minutes, Kai Havertz had the second fewest with 47. Lukaku spent the majority of the game – as he has done for at least the last two months with the Blues – with his hand in the air, barely moving.

Any runs he does make are in isolation. There’s no dropping deep then spinning in behind; no move to the front post then the back. It’s always one or the other. A player celebrated as a defender’s nightmare is currently incredibly easy to defend.

It’s as though his Chelsea teammates have given up on him. At the start of the season they were looking for passes into his feet and finding him in the channels. Now they’re back to slowly moving the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, as has been their wont for too long under Thomas Tuchel.

*Lukaku’s touch map from the first half at Selhurst Park. https://t.co/OBOdo5FfH7

— Will Ford (@willfordy25) February 19, 2022

There was a telling moment shortly after half-time, when Andreas Christensen intercepted for Chelsea and gave the ball to Hakim Ziyech, who had the option of a first-time ball for Lukaku in behind, but instead recycled it to the opposite side of the pitch. Lukaku flung his arms in the air in frustration, as we did watching. It’s those situations, on the half-turn, wrestling with a defender in the channel, that were Lukaku’s bread and butter at Inter Milan. We’ve seen it far too