Tuchel praises enthusiastically
Havertz shows what Lukaku is currently lacking
02/23/2022 11:33 am
If Chelsea FC wins again, the name Kai Havertz will quickly come up. And Chelsea often wins, like now in the Champions League round of 16 first leg. The DFB player shows why he is better than the supposed big star of the team. There is great praise for this from coach Thomas Tuchel.
Kai Havertz needed eight minutes. Then he gave his Chelsea FC a 2-0 lead in the Champions League round of 16 first leg against OSC Lille. Then the German national player had already moved more than Romelu Lukaku in the Premier League game before. Before the eighth minute and the goal to make it 1-0, the 22-year-old had already missed two big chances and had five more ball contacts. There should be a total of 47 ball contacts before the final whistle, with a pass rate of 83 percent.
Lukaku, on the other hand, has the crazy statistics from the Opta data service from the game against Crystal Palace, which lists only seven ball contacts for the Belgian – over 90 minutes of the game. One of them at kick-off. “You would have had problems finding and using him,” said coach Thomas Tuchel. Instead of Lukaku, who recovered after an injury break of several weeks, Havertz played against Lille.
And under the eyes of national coach Hansi Flick, he did more than well. According to his own statement, his presence motivated him: “You always exchange ideas. That’s why we knew that the coaches were in the stadium today. Of course you’re happy to prove yourself a bit,” said Havertz on Prime Video. His mission to success started with a missed shot when he narrowly missed the goal from five meters in the fourth minute of the game. Only two minutes later he was back in action, Lille’s goalkeeper Leo Jardim was able to parry his flick to a corner, but this then led to Havertz’s third big chance and the goal. Hakim Ziyech took the corner kick and Havertz headed in.
“I’m very happy for Kai, he’s been very strong for weeks. His commitment is immense, he works a lot,” said Tuchel: “He was a decisive factor again, created chances and is never above defensive work. “
Problem case Lukaku
Again, because Havertz has almost become a guarantor of victory for Chelsea in recent weeks. Most recently, ten days ago, he converted the decisive hand penalty against SE Palmeiras for the Club World Cup. He was also the winning goalscorer in the Champions League win against Manchester City in May 2021. “He scored the decisive goal in the Club World Cup final. You can tell that he’s there when it matters most,” said the national coach after the Lille game. The former Leverkusen player has long been ennobled as “King Kai” by the English tabloids.
The one who was actually bought by the Londoners as “King” continues to quarrel. Lukaku came from Inter Milan for 113 million euros, but so far has mainly played the role of the problem child. In the league he scored just five goals in 17 games, in the Champions League he has two goals after four games. The Belgian is slowly becoming a real problem for Chelsea after injury and coronavirus infection.
“I had the feeling that he was a bit tired and exhausted,” explained Tuchel to BT Sports before the game why the 28-year-old was not in the starting XI. “It might be easier to come off the bench and turn the tide if need be.” But that wasn’t exactly necessary. Although Mateo Kovacic (51st) and Ziyech (60th) had to leave the field injured, Lukaku did not come into play. At the latest when Christian Pulisic made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute, victory was certain for Chelsea.
“Like to play anywhere up there”
Lukaku and Chelsea FC have not been a success story so far. At the beginning of the year he teased Tuchel in a TV interview and criticized his situation with too little playing time, for which he was even kicked out of the squad. The waves had recently calmed down after a discussion, but Lukaku should still not be happy.
Havertz is completely different. In his role as a center forward, which he now also played against Lille – and with which he further heats up the direct competition with Lukaku, he feels comfortable: “We have a lot of good strikers. It might be good to change from time to time to not to make it easy for the opponent,” he said on BT Sport: “It worked well today, but I like to play up front everywhere.”
The second leg will take place in Lille on March 16th. Whether with Lukaku or Havertz in the storm is of course not fixed yet. Tuchel has the choice. His instructions, on the other hand, are already clear: “We have to deliver again.”