Romelu Lukaku has lately struggled for form, and former Italian striker Antonio Cassano believes he may not be suited to Chelsea.
Chelsea made huge waves in the transfer market by re-signing Romelu Lukaku in a mega-money deal from Inter Milan. The signing was hailed by many as a masterstroke, one that will win them the Premier League title. The Belgian started brightly scoring on his debut against Arsenal, but things have gone downhill somewhat in recent weeks.
Lukaku is enduring a mini goal drought, as he has failed to score in six games now. He has four goals in all competitions, including one in the Champions League against Zenit. However, there have been few worries regarding his lack of strikes for Chelsea.
Recently former Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte stated Thomas Tuchel might not be utilising him properly. Lukaku was prolific under the former Chelsea manager at the San Siro, helping them win the Serie A last season.
The striker continues to feature from the start under Tuchel, which will be the case for the foreseeable future. He will get plenty of chances to score as Chelsea play in such style. However, the likes of Kai Havertz and Timo Werner will be breathing down his neck if his goal drought continues.
Former Italian striker Antonio Cassano, however, believes the striker may be unsuited to Chelsea’s style all together. He also explained why Lukaku was a consistent performer under Conte and why he might be struggling under Tuchel. Sport Witness posted some of the former striker’s comments about the situation on Twitch.
Cassano said, “Lukaku is struggling, he clings to the defender, and it’s his teammates who go looking for him. Tuchel doesn’t have to learn from Conte how to make Lukaku play; a coach shouldn’t dare to say things like that to someone who has won what he has won.
“Tuchel, though, could take all kinds of strikers, but Lukaku has nothing to do with his idea of the game; at PSG, at Dortmund, he had different strikers. When you play with Conte 50 metres from the goal, it’s easy, and then playing in Italy is another thing; in England, you have animals defending; in England, he struggles because Lukaku doesn’t have that kind of characteristics.
“Chelsea are distorting themselves to get Lukaku into the game, it’s Lukaku who has to follow Chelsea’s idea, but he doesn’t have the characteristics Tuchel wants.”
Lukaku will have another chance to stop this goal drought from extending against Malmo in the Champions League as he probably will be in the lineup. However, if he fails to score in more games, then the worries might increase, with the striker very much at risk to come into the spotlight.