Lukaku Ready to Step On The Turf Against West Ham
Lukaku’s injury made the front page of football publications around the world, with everyone from the BBC to BettingNews88 covering the sidelining of the Belgian striker. Considering his star power, it’s not surprising that his recovery was covered widely as well. For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting his return to the turf, here’s a piece of good news: speaking to Football.London, Thomas Tuchel revealed that the Belgian striker is ready and “eager” to return to play in Chelsea’s upcoming match against West Ham United.
Updates
It was just a few days ago when Tuchel delivered a fitness update on the striker, who has been training with the team since at least the middle of last month. Now, he is not only ready to return but apparently, he can’t wait to, constantly pushing the coaches.
“He is happy, he smiles every day,” Tuchel said in the interview ahead of Chelsea’s game against Manchester United. “ He is determined and trains at a very high level. Once we are happy that he is fully free and ready to go and contribute, which is a lot. We still believe he can make a difference for us. At the same time, we will be patient.”
In today’s press conference, Tuchel revealed that Lukaku is indeed eager to start against West Ham but he didn’t make it clear whether the striker will actually start in the match or not. “It is difficult for Romelu and all the other guys after injuries to hit top level. We should try always to reach it,” he said.
Like he previously said, the team will not push him – or other players recovering from injuries – to start playing.
Missing or not so much?
Is Lukaku sorely missed from Chelsea’s matches? Well, statistics seem to show that not so much. His ability is not up for debate, he is easily one of the top players in football today. But Chelsea has scored plenty during his absence.
In their Premier League matches against Newcastle, Burnley, and Leicester, Chelsea scored 14 goals and played well enough to keep Man City and Liverpool behind them in the standings. Players like Chilwell and James alone were responsible for four of these goals and helped three others happen. And since he returned, Lukaku hasn’t scored for Chelsea yet – still, the Blues scored 10 times in their away games even without his contribution.
According to pundits, Romelu Lukaku will not start in Chelsea’s game against West Ham. Instead, he will probably be kept on the bench for at least the first half, stepping on the turf in the last 30 minutes or so.
