Former Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte claims Chelsea DON’T KNOW how to use Romelu Lukaku amid his goal drought – but says they can win the Champions League if Thomas Tuchel can figure it out
- Antonio Conte says Chelsea are not getting the best from Romelu Lukaku
- The striker re-joined the Blues for a club record £98million in the summer
- The Belgian made a fast start with four goals in his first four games
- But Conte does not think Thomas Tuchel knows how to use the striker
- Lukaku enjoyed his best goalscoring form under Conte at Inter Milan
Antonio Conte does not believe Chelsea have worked out how to use Romelu Lukaku and claimed Thomas Tuchel is not getting the best out of him.
Lukaku re-joined Chelsea for a club record £98million in the summer and made a fast start with four goals in his first four games.
However, Conte, who worked with Lukaku at Inter Milan, thinks there is more to come from the striker and believes Chelsea need to use him differently after he failed to score for a third game in a row following the Blues’ 1-0 Champions League defeat against Juventus on Wednesday.
Antonio Conte (left) does not believe Chelsea have worked out how to use Romelu Lukaku (right)
‘I think he can still do better, above all with his technique,’ Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
‘He is already at a very high level, but a player must keep improving until the day he retires.
‘During the game, there are moments when Lukaku needs to be turned on, but other than that he is one of the toughest forwards to play against, because he can do damage in any area of the pitch.
Conte does not believe Thomas Tuchel is getting the best out of the Belgian forward
‘If you have a centre-forward like that, you need to use him and I don’t think Chelsea have quite figured out how to use him yet.
‘Last season, they didn’t have a proper centre-forward, so they rotated positions, whereas Romelu is a real reference point in attack.
‘If they can figure out how to use Lukaku, then Chelsea can become the team to beat in the Champions League this season.’
Conte guided Inter to their first Serie A title in 10 years last season, with Lukaku scoring 24 goals in the process.
Conte guided Inter to their first Serie A title in 10 years last season, with Lukaku scoring 24 goals in the process
‘A coach is good if he can improve players. I think we did great work with Romelu over two years,’ Conte added.
‘He is a very specific striker. Bringing Lukaku into the box, he is dangerous. However, when he starts from midfield, he is incredibly quick. It is very difficult to find a player who is both a target man, but can also run from midfield.
‘These are also characteristics I can see in Erling Haaland. I had been tracking Lukaku for a very long time and wanted him when I was at Chelsea, even when he was at West Brom.’
Lukaku has now gone three games without a goal after Chelsea lost 1-0 to Juventus