Jase

Very surprised that came from you, Tomo. lol As someone else has mentioned, it's a good chance to give some players who just came back from COVID, who maybe need game time to play. It could be a similar lineup to the one we saw against Zenit and/or Brentford in the cup.

If Lukaku is gonna say what he said, he might as well just give us the middle finger directly instead of going behind everyone's back to do that interview. What does the things that Lukaku said have anything to do with Azpi, Rudiger and Christensen? Based on what Matt Law reported, everything Lukaku went and said, including setting up the interview without even his agent knowing never mind the club, was done for selfish reasons especially when you take his past into consideration. He supposedly did the interview after the United game, which was around the time when we were playing well without him and Tuchel was trying to ease him back in from injury. Instead of speaking with Tuchel privately about his situation then or just work his way back in then, he had to be his usual insecure egoistic self and go bitch to the media about his situation. Every player would go through spells like he did back then. Take for example Werner or Chilwell. Both of them played almost every game last season but found themselves on the bench at the start of this season, but did they go bitch about to the media? No, they just kept quiet and trained properly and eventually, they found their way back into the XI. When Lukaku came back here, he said it was his dream, that he has unfinished business at the club and that the club was his love or No.1 after Inter Milan. But that interview came out and no, we weren't even his first choice at all. Because he couldn't get a move to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern, he decided to choose. Heck, he would have even stayed at Inter had they offered him a new contract. So much for all the nice-ish stuff he said when he came back in August. Also, it's fucking hilarious that Lukaku went and complained about Tuchel's system etc when he literally said this in August: https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/08/16/romelu-lukaku-exclusive-first-interview-on-coming-back-as-a-lead ‘My role will depend on what the game plan is and what the boss wants me to do. If he wants me to be a focal point or if he wants me to attack the spaces in behind, I can do it. The two years in Italy helped me master all the facets of the game for a striker and now I’m ready. ‘I like the system that we play and I’m very flexible. I can play as a two or by myself and I’m used to the system because it’s what we play with the Belgian national team so I don’t need much time to adapt. It’s just knowing the strengths of my team-mates in important positions and knowing what we do off the ball, then I can do the rest.’ He even reiterated the point again after the recent Villa game, saying he's now a "multidimensional" striker and that he has improved his game at Inter and yet, he complained about the system in the interview. Am sure it also hasn't escaped anyone's attention that he has looked at odds with the Tuchel's system. This is someone who likes to stroke his ego and talks himself up a lot but when the going gets tough, he will somehow go and bitch to the media about his situation.

I was saying that on the basis that Lukaku supposedly did that interview to placate the Inter fans and nothing more but of course, every development since then has made the situation worse and worse. I still don't think it's terminal because even if we want to sell him, Inter don't have the money to buy him and no one else does as well unless we are willing to sell him off at a loss. I'd also assume that their talk on Friday or yesterday didn't go well at all considering Tuchel has dropped Lukaku from the squad altogether.

Guardian's Jacob Steinberg must have read my post. 🤪

He didn't even go through it with his agent. What a fucking big brain move... So, he did the interview after that United game and around the time where he wasn't playing because we were doing well without him and Tuchel was trying to ease him back. Again, @Tomo was right. The second things don't go his way in the team, he goes and moans to the media, like he has done before.

What's with you always claiming that Player X's career is as good as over? 🤣 Even I don't think the situation is anywhere near terminal for Lukaku but if he wants to repair the situation, then he has to go perform and score some big winners over the next few games and even lead us 1-2 major titles come end of the season.

Anthony Taylor is the referee for this game. LOL

He's really digging a hellhole for himself with this interview...

If Lukaku's goal was to placate the Inter fans with that interview, then it probably hasn't worked... Translation: “It doesn’t matter who runs away in the rain, it matters who stays in the storm. Bye Romelu.”

And there's also this...

We have played the back 4 before and we have seen that it can also be stifled. And we change formation to supposedly be more offensive...what about defensively? Alonso is not a LB. Can Azpi still function as a RB effectively game in, game out? Can Silva, Christensen, Chalobah and Rudiger thrive in a back 4 when their best work for us has come in a back 3? Can a midfield of Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante suddenly work consistently when it didn't under Lampard and Sarri? Also, Tuchel has complained about not having enough time in training to even do the things he wants to do with the current setup. I don't see how he would suddenly to a new system and having to coach the players to make it work at this time, especially with all the COVID and injury disruptions. Also, our attackers have played in the back 3 system. Lukaku obviously did it at Inter as well as with Belgium and Everton. Werner did so at Leipzig. Havertz did it with Germany. Mount with England and us under Lampard. Think Pulisic also did it at Dortmund under Tuchel.

Ifs, buts and maybes. Will a change of system really make us suddenly score more goals? Barring some players, Lampard played a back 4 with this team and things never really worked out. Half of this team, notably in midfield and defence, also played in a back 4 under Sarri and again, things never worked out either. We were OK in attack and more often than not, very leak-ish defensively. We never had the balance right. If anything, Tuchel has stuck with the back 3 because it will give us far more defensive stability to go win games compared to a back 4 system, especially when there are question marks over a good number of players on their suitability to play in the latter system.

The usually reliable Chelsea media have covered the news and with the quotes that he did question the system. In any case though, is it really a surprise if he did question it given he has looked at odds with the system so far this season and the fact that he has a history of doing/saying such things?

NIKKI FOR Chelsea MANAGER!

Everyone else seems to be claiming their own translated version of the interview but his quotes were apparently more or less that Tuchel plays a system that doesn't suit him/Tuchel chose to play with another system. I don't think the timing here is necessarily the problem but more of what he said. Did he really need to say what he said to the media? And that's without even talking about him wanting to go back to Inter while still in his prime (a kind of comment that is never going to sit well with fans).

I find it absolutely hilarious that all the talk has been we have to adapt to his strengths and not the other way around or even both parties adapting to one another. With all that talk, you would think Lukaku is Ronaldo or Messi that they have all the goals, trophies to back up their greatness and "force" teams to adapt to their strengths but he's neither like one of them and has only ONE major trophy in the bag. On top of that, this is a fella who said only a few days that he's a multidimensional striker these days, someone who has improved from his days at Inter. So, he should be adapt to different tactical needs etc.

Yes, just saw it. This bit is interesting (cc @Tomo) : https://football-italia.net/lukaku-expresses-Chelsea-regrets-and-inter-reunion-hopes/ “I am not happy with the situation at Chelsea, that is normal. I think the coach chose to play a different system, I just have to not give up, keep working and be professional. I am not happy with the situation, but I’m a hard worker and I mustn’t give up.” And then there's also this: “I really, genuinely from the bottom of my heart hope to come back to Inter, not at the end of my career, but while I am still at the level to win more trophies.”

He wanted 3 years but the club were willing to offer 2 years.

Luiz and Willian disagree with that statement.

Oh for sure. I'm not saying Tuchel should be sacked. Nowhere near it. Tuchel still has credit in the bank for the Champions League and Super Cup wins. Am just pointing out the reality vs the expectation of the squad when it comes to the title challenge. We have been more of a cup team than a league + cup team over the last decade.

Nothing has been confirmed yet though. Not saying that we should go into a bidding war with Newcastle but you never know if we just test the waters, Trippier may fancy coming to us instead, for obvious reasons.

Just throwing this suggestion out there - Kieran Trippier, anyone?

Or maybe, the team have never been good enough to challenge for the league and people over-estimated the squad especially after Guardiola and Klopp came to England and raised the bar. Furthermore, when you think about it, our last two title winning squads were brought to a title winning level by the same person - Mourinho. Since his sacking in 2015, we haven't had a manager who's built a title winning team before. Okay, there was Conte and fair play, he won us the league but he pretty much had the same squad formed by Mourinho and then of course, he gave up in his second season. Sarri had never won the league before coming here. Lampard was inexperienced. Tuchel has won league titles before but it was in Ligue 1, where he faced competition nowhere near as fierce and strong as the ones he faces now.

Maybe it was a penalty or maybe it wasn't but it's silly if we keep focusing on that and not the fact that we failed to create anything of note from open play against Brighton and especially, nothing after we scored.