Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he left Romelu Lukaku out of the Chelsea squad that takes on Liverpool on Sunday because his explosive interview had become too big of a distraction.
The 28-year-old spoke to Sky Italia three weeks ago, though the interview was only released on Thursday, and revealed he ‘was not very happy’ at Chelsea and accused his manager of ‘playing a different formation’ that does not get the best out of him.
Lukaku also revealed he was hoping to return to former club Inter Milan while he is still in the prime of his career, with his comments causing confusion and anger at Chelsea.
Tuchel has reacted by axing Lukaku from the matchday squad but has suggested this is only a short-term measure to remove the Belgian from a difficult and ‘noisy’ situation, while he consulted key players in the dressing room before coming to the decision.
Asked why Lukaku is not in the squad, Tuchel told Sky Sports shortly before kick-off: ‘The thing got too big, the thing got too noisy, so close to the match, so I decided to protect the preparation of the match, so that is why he is out.’
Probed on whether he has spoken to the striker, Tuchel continued: ‘Yeah. Of course we have spoken, we’ve spoken twice, I’ve spoken to the main players, of course, but after that we had to realise it was too close to the match, it’s too big.
‘We delayed the decision over what to do, but while we are delaying we have to protect the preparation of the match.
‘We have a big game to play and we need full focus, which is hard to get even without this decision, but it was easier in my opinion if he is not in the squad, and that is why we did it.’
Tuchel added: ‘For sure it was a difficult decision, but in my opinion it was the decision to take.’
Although…
Source : metro
