When the story broke about Lukaku criticizing his manager’s tactics, it shocked every football fan, not just Chelsea fans, because it was far too early for such negativity to be made by the player.
The timing of the interview’s release was simply wrong, his words in the interview were utterly wrong, he should never have made such a statement, why would he have criticized his manager when he has yet to fully integrate into the team, but the worst mistake the Belgian has made so far, aside from the interview, is refusing to retract the statement he made during the interview.
Apart from the interview, I believe this has been Lukaku’s worst mistake so far, because the fact that he has refused to retract his words, or perhaps give another interview explaining what he actually meant, could be interpreted differently, which could affect his starting place in the team.
Thomas Tuchel is expected to have a closed door meeting with Lukaku tomorrow in regards to the controversy. Speaking with journalist after the draw with Liverpool, the German tactician had this to say;
He is our player and will stay our player. We will always protect our players and when we take certain decisions, first we have to evaluate the situation and not listen to the media or the pressure. But we want to understand what he said and why he said it. This is the meeting tomorrow
From there, we will take the decision and if the decision is he is good to go on Wednesday, this is the decision. If it’s not, it’s not. I can’t tell you right now because we need to talk and understand the situation better. From there we go.
Once the situation is clear, there’s no doubt he will stay our player and we will also protect our player.
