Hakim Ziyech insists it’s a ‘matter of time’ before Romelu Lukaku gets back to his best in a Chelsea shirt.
The Belgian has endured mixed fortunes since completing a club record £97.5m move in the summer that also saw him dropped by Thomas Tuchel for criticising the team earlier this season.
Lukaku has scored just four goals for the Blues since mid-September and and has come in for criticism for his performances in recent weeks, failing to find the net against League One side Plymouth in the FA Cup earlier this month.
But Ziyech feels the striker will soon be back to his best and believes he is sometimes up against three defenders at once which is making things difficult.
‘He has shown it for years, there is no question of his quality. In the beginning, it was all good. He came back from injury, he caught Covid. Is there any question about his quality or whatever? He showed it for the last few years. It is just a matter of time,’ Ziyech said.
‘Everybody [has to adjust]. That is something we have to work on and we still work on. Sometimes in games it’s really good and sometimes a bit less. I think there is still a lot of space to improve.
‘If you look at some teams we are playing against, they play in a back five. He is by himself against three defenders. Is that not hard?
‘It doesn’t matter who you are, if you have three defenders of course it is hard to find your space or whatever it is.
‘For example, he makes an action against one, but the other one is coming as well. He also needs his space for his runs or whatever.
‘It’s quite normal if every time you play against three defenders. It is really difficult at a time when we play football right now. It is hard.’
Lukaku will have the chance to get among the goals when he leads the line for Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final clash with Al-Hilal this afternoon.
MORE : Chelsea improve Antonio Rudiger contract offer again but line up Barcelona star as replacement
MORE : Glen Johnson names two players Chelsea could sell and sends sack warning to Thomas Tuchel
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
No comments:
Post a Comment