Romelu Lukaku’s poor form is his own fault, not his manager Thomas Tuchel’s, believes Jamie Carragher after watching Chelsea lose to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
A Karim Benzema hat-trick gave Real Madrid the huge win in London, with a Kai Havertz goal the only consolation for the home team.
Lukaku did not start the match but came off the bench on 64 minutes in a bid to change the game, replacing Christian Pulisic.
The Belgian did not do that, with his most memorable moment being when he missed a superb chance, heading a Cesar Azpilicueta cross wide of goal.
He continues to look a shadow of the player he was at Inter Milan before Chelsea spent the cash on him last summer and Carragher feels he is not doing enough to prove his worth to the Blues.
Thomas Tuchel has lost faith in the striker, who has not started a Premier League game since 19 February, but the Liverpool legend says it is up to Lukaku to prove him wrong.
‘It’s not down to the manager, it’s down to Lukaku,’ Carragher told CBS Sports. ‘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. He’s got to do a lot more.’
Carragher went on to say that he does not see Lukaku as an ‘elite’ striker and one that has failed to impress him in England.
‘I think he’s just below the elite. His goal record is fantastic, if you look at his numbers,’ he said. ‘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.’
