Tuchel reminds of Chelsea ‘demand’ while dissecting Lukaku issue, as ‘brave’ teammate earns appreciation

Thomas Tuchel will be looking for a solution to the involvement of Romelu Lukaku for Chelsea after assessing his own demands for his attackers.

Lukaku only touched the ball seven times despite lasting all 90 minutes of the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday. It raised further questions of the striker’s impact after his club-record return to Chelsea from Inter Milan in the summer.

The spotlight has been on the Belgian frontman, whose form has differed greatly from what he enjoyed in Italy last season. It has become a dilemma for Tuchel, who must try to get more of a tune from the £97.5m man.

Asked about how he can get Lukaku more involved when speaking before their next match, against Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday, Tuchel replied: “What can I do? I don’t know. We have to deal with it.

“The data is out there and the data speaks a certain language. He was not involved in our game. It’s sometimes like this.

“It’s, of course, not what we want or Romelu wants. But it’s not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him.”

Lukaku is the latest in a long line of high-profile strikers to shine elsewhere but struggle at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel is all too aware of the pattern. He conceded that in Lukaku’s case – and the other strikers currently at his disposal – it could be as a result of his own system.

He replied: “Maybe, maybe. There is a history of strikers struggling at Chelsea so it may not be the easiest place in the world for strikers.

“In my opinion, Chelsea are a team considered a strong defensive team, a physical team, that has a certain attitude when in competitive football.

“We demand a lot of our strikers in terms of defending. We want to be physical, hard-working group that wants to play a