Has Lukaku already run out of steam for Chelsea?
Stefan Bienkowski
- 19 Oct 2021 16:04 BST
- 7 min read
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that star striker Romelu Lukaku looks “overplayed” and may need a break to rediscover his form.
The towering striker hasn’t managed to score a single goal in his last six games for Chelsea in all competitions.
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Which means, despite an impressive start to life in London, Lukaku has only managed four goals in 10 games for his new club since joining from Inter for £103 million in the summer.
And while Tuchel isn’t worried about his striker’s long-term form ability to score goals for the club, he does think Lukaku may need a rest.
'I feel Romelu is a bit overplayed'
“At the moment I feel Romelu is a bit overplayed,” said the Chelsea manager on Tuesday.
“I think he played too many competitions over the summer, too many competitions with the national team and now he has played the Nations League.
“He is a fantastic athlete and such a competitive guy that he digs in deep, he wants to win these things and he never takes it easy and judges games.”
He added: “I feel he’s a bit mentally tired. Not hugely that we have concern but for me he does not fully enjoy without having second or third thoughts, for me he overplayed and this is the key point.
“Once he finds his rhythm and things a bit easier he will be fine but it is hard to judge if he really needs a break or if we need to keep him on the pitch.”
Has Lukaku run out of steam?
While Lukaku’s dip in form may be down to him struggling for fitness, it does seem abundantly clear that the forward is struggling to have the same impact on games.
For example, in the striker’s first four games for Chelsea he was averaging 3.75 shots per match and an average xG of 0.7. Since then those averaged have fallen to just 1.6 shots per game and an average xG of 0.27.
So, in other words, there’s no doubt that Lukaku is struggling to get shots away and get into goal-scoring positions for Chelsea.
