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Romelu Lukaku has been told that he simply needs to ‘go and play well’ by Jamie Carragher, who also waved away suggestions that the misfiring Chelsea striker is enduring a scoring drought because he does not ‘feel loved’ this season.
Lukaku was brought on as a second-half substitution in his side’s 3-1 defeat by Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final first leg, and failed to take a golden chance which may have hauled the hosts back into the tie.
As a result, questions have continued to be asked over why the £97.5million has struggled this campaign, with pundit Carragher and his colleague Micah Richards debating back and forth over the reasons behind his alarming slump.
Romelu Lukaku endured another frustrating evening for Chelsea as his poor form continues
From his previous 10 matches, Lukaku has started just twice; at Championship clubs Luton and Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. He has scored 12 goals in 36 matches, with just five in the Premier League, and has recently found his game time limited.
Richards, a Sportsmail columnist, has insisted that he will not ‘kick’ the former Inter Milan man when he is ‘down’, and instead pointed to his lack of ‘love’.
‘He missed a bad chance today,’ he said on CBS Sports’ coverage of the game. ‘It’s what the manager gives you. At this moment in time, he’s not played at the level, he doesn’t feel loved. He’s come out and done his interview.’
Carragher, however, believes Lukaku’s stuttering fortunes are self-made.
Misfiring Lukaku missed a golden chance in his side’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid
He said: ‘It’s not down to the manager, it’s down to Lukaku. It’s not about the love from a manager. You spend £100million on a player to make a difference in these games, and he can’t even get in the team.’
Defending his viewpoint, Richards fired back by saying that the frontman is ‘obviously low on confidence’, but conceded that the talisman must improve.
‘But at the same time, if you don’t feel loved somewhere… a breakdown in communication has happened somewhere,’ he added.
‘Today, he came on and he missed a sitter. It’ll be on all the socials and everyone will be taking the mick out of him. He’s a top quality player, he’s just going through a tough time at this moment.’
Lukaku roared into the air after the miss, and the £97.5m man has been criticised by pundits
Micah Richards believes the frontman’s struggles are born out of his lack of love at the club
Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge in the summer after enjoying two goal-laden years in Serie A, but his homecoming has soured after his explosive interview in Italy, which saw him publicly take a swipe at Thomas Tuchel’s choice of tactics.
It has been suggested that there were suspicions held at the club long before the admission that manager Tuchel wasn’t convinced about the striker, due to a pervading sense that his hefty acquisition didn’t suit his preferred style or strategy.
To add insult to injury, Carragher revealed his belief that Lukaku operates at a level ‘below the elite’ and has even taken aim at his impressive domestic goal record.
‘His goal record is fantastic, if you look at his numbers,’ he said.
Having returned to Stamford Bridge after Inter Milan success, expectations for him were high
Jamie Carragher has told the ace to just ‘play well’ and says his struggles are his own problem
‘But I always feel whenever we’ve spoken about Lukaku, he gets a lot of goals but there’s always been a “but”.
‘Even his record in the Premier League, if you look at the teams, it was never against the biggest teams.
‘He’s a very good player, but when you’re talking about [Karim] Benzema, when you’re talking about Harry Kane, when you’re talking about [Robert] Lewandowski, for me he’s just always been a bit below that.
‘I don’t question the manager at all in that situation. This thing about needing love… just go and play well.’
Thomas Tuchel believes the quarter-final tie is no longer ‘alive’ following his team’s setback
Slaven Bilic believes Lukaku’s torrid form may be because he is not the undisputed Blues star
Slaven Bilic, the former West Ham and Croatia manager, also weighed in on the debate, and suggested the fact that Lukaku is no longer the standout name in his team may be a factor behind his barren spell.
He said: ‘I follow a lot of Serie A, he was the No 1, the main star at Inter Milan. But he came to Chelsea and, despite all the money, he came to the European champions.
‘We have Jorginho, [Mateo] Kovacic, {N’golo] Kante, [Kai] Havertz, who scored in the final. We have other players. Maybe he needs to be the absolutely undisputed No 1 in a team.
‘Micah, I agree with you to a point. This is a quarter-final. A football game is very long. It’s all about details. His chance tonight was better than both of Benzema’s chances and he missed it. You have to be criticised for that.’
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