“He was still a kid, who needs support” – Jose Mourinho tells Tuchel how to handle Chelsea player
Chelsea boss Tuchel reacted by dropping Lukaku out of the squad for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
However, former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has already told Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel how to handle Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.
Mourinho managed Lukaku at Chelsea and Manchester United and revealed last summer how he believes the Belgian should be managed.
“[In his first spell] at Chelsea, he was still a kid. At Manchester United, he was still developing. At Inter he became the top man,” Mourinho told The Times in June.
“He became loved – a big love from the supporters, love from teammates, great relations with the coach.
“He’s a big guy, physically so strong, but there is also a kid inside who needs that love, needs that support, needs to feel important.”
Meanwhile, Tuchel has revealed Lukaku has apologised and has returned to training ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final versus Tottenham.
Tuchel said: “We are happy we took the time that it needed to look on it and to talk calmly about it. This is what we did.
“Romelu apologised and is back in the squad for today’s training which is later. For me, the most important thing was to clearly understand and believe that it was not intentional.
“He did not do this intentionally to create this kind of noise in front of a big game.
“Secondly, it was the very first time. Before, when he seemed in his opinion to be ready to play from the start after his injury, and we thought he needed to readapt to the intensity a little bit more, there was never the slightest behaviour against the team.
“So it was the very first time that we actually felt in this way. And these are very important points to stay calm, understanding that it’s not as big as maybe people want it to be. It’s also not small, but it’s small enough to stay calm, to accept an apology and to move forward.”