“He has dealt with things calmly” – Cesar Azpilicueta tips hat to Tuchel for handling of Lukaku row at Chelsea

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has praised Thomas Tuchel for his handling of Romelu Lukaku after the Belgian’s controversial interview with the Italian media.

Lukaku hinted in the interview that he was unhappy with Tuchel’s tactics which resulted in a lot of furore on social media. Chelsea moved swiftly to condemn the interview and drop the Belgian for their subsequent clash against Liverpool.

The Blues drew the game 2-2 without Lukaku. The striker has since apologized to the club and the issue is now behind them.

Tuchel: “We need to protect Lukaku. He’s our key player and he wants to be our key player. I’m happy Rom’s on the pitch today”. #CFC

“We accept it happened – and him too. Time to move on and protect Rom”.

Personal opinion: Tuchel has been really perfect in this Lukaku saga.

Tuchel: “We need to protect Lukaku. He’s our key player and he wants to be our key player. I’m happy Rom’s on the pitch today”. ???? #CFC“We accept it happened – and him too. Time to move on and protect Rom”.Personal opinion: Tuchel has been really perfect in this Lukaku saga. https://t.co/4trBjVYC9p

Azpilicueta said he was happy the whole issue was resolved and praised Tuchel for the way he dealt with the situation:

“We would prefer not to have this kind of situation but once it happened, we had to deal with it. The manager of the club makes the decisions, he [Lukaku] apologised to the fans and to the manager and the club, the board and everybody.”

The Chelsea captain added:

“Now he is looking to have success with the team. I think he made it clear that for him, it was his dream since he was a boy to play for Chelsea and now the most important thing is to work on the pitch the way he has today to help the team.”

Azpilicueta also believes Lukaku will soon start scoring goals which will help the team become stronger and move forward from the situation.

“I think we all have a very exciting four or five months ahead of us. The manager has the experience of dealing with different types of player and in this situation, from the very first second, he has dealt with things calmly and without making too many emotional decisions.”

The Spaniard concluded:

“He made his decisions alongside the club and it is very clear everything is sorted. Now we have to put it behind us and only focus on what happens on the pitch.”

Chelsea will hope Romelu Lukaku does his talking on the pitch

Lukaku has had a mixed spell at Chelsea so far as he has not been able to score as freely as he did in Serie A. The Belgian has managed just five goals in 13 Premier League appearances and his season has been disrupted by poor form and injuries.

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After scoring four times in his first four games for the club, Lukaku hit a rough patch where he went goalless for nearly three months. The 28-year is back now and Chelsea will hope their record signing can do his talking on the pitch in the second half of the season.