Whether intentional or not — and it would seem to be the latter — in his interview with Sky Italia that emerged last week Romelu Lukaku found himself asking not insignificant questions of Thomas Tuchel’s managerial authority at Chelsea. Those have now been emphatically answered.
Tuchel has drawn a line under the affair, bringing Lukaku back into the Chelsea squad with a view to being involved against Tottenham Wednesday in the EFL Cup semifinals. He has done so with his authority enhanced as Monday’s meeting with the club record signing brought closure to a dramatic five day spell which began when quotes emerged that questioned Tuchel’s methods and hinted at a desire to return to Inter Milan.
Chelsea had been blindsided by Lukaku’s comments, even if they had been made three weeks earlier when he was confined to an impact role off the bench after a hamstring injury. In such circumstances, amid faltering results on the pitch, it is not unknown for the manager to take the blame rather than the $135 million new signing. After all, when Frank Lampard could not convince those above him he could manage Kai Havertz and Timo Werner he was swiftly dispensed with for Tuchel.
Yet the German had the confidence in his standing to drop Lukaku for Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool, to hold face to face talks with him on Monday and confirm to his happiness that he had a player who wants to be at Chelsea.
Tuchel said: “We were happy that we took the time that was needed to talk calmly. This is what we did. He apologized. He is back in the squad for today’s training session.
“For me the most important thing was to really understand and believe that it was not intentional to create this kind of noise ahead of a big game [against Liverpool]. The second one was that it was the very first time that he even behaved [badly], even before when in his opinion he was ready to play from the start after his…
Source : cbssports
