"You expect more" - Paul Robinson explains why he is still unimpressed by Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku despite improved performance against Wolves
Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson has claimed Romelu Lukaku's second spell at Chelsea 'has not been good enough'.
The 28-year-old scored his first top-flight goals of 2022 thanks to a brace at Stamford Bridge against Wolves in the Blues' last outing.
Despite those strikes, Robinson feels the forward hasn't contributed nearly enough since his club-record move from Inter Milan in the summer, having only scored 14 times in his 41 Blues appearances this term.
Chelsea player wages (reported):
Mason Mount - £70,000 a week
Reece James - £60,000 a week
Hudson-Odoi - £120,000 a week
Timo Werner - £270,000 a week
Romelu Lukaku - £300,000 a week
This is a problem. 🔵
Lukaku has only started 40% of Chelsea's league games this season, with his most memorable act since his return arguably being the interview he gave to Sky Italia in December, where he expressed he was unhappy with his situation at the West London club.
Speaking to Football Insider, ex-Tottenham shot stopper Robinson claimed:
“It was a more encouraging performance from him but when you pay that amount of money for a striker you expect more. That was his first league goal this year. He has not been good enough.
“I tipped Chelsea to win the league this season. I thought he was the missing piece of the jigsaw. He is a £100million striker. It’s not been good enough."
Tammy Abraham has as many goals as Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku combined this season 👀 https://t.co/IbgQklRCrx
Robinson believes Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel could be sacked in the summer
The Blues are in the midst of a terrible run of form, having only picked up eight points from their seven encounters.
They managed to throw away a two-goal lead at home to Wolves in their previous game and now find themselves just a point above London rivals Arsenal at fourth.
Tuchel's side are alos just five points ahead of Tottenham in fifth, with both sides having just three games left to play.
No doubt off-field issues have affected the Blues in recent months and while Robinson sympathizes with Tuchel's situation, the pundit claims his job could be in jeopardy if they don't finish in the top four.
The 42-year-old told Football Insider:
“We all know how trigger happy Chelsea have been with their managers. If you don’t win a trophy you are normally in trouble. Often the manager would change after a season like this. Tuchel could well have been in trouble if Abramovich was still in charge.
“On the flipside, the situation that Tuchel has had to deal with is not easy. It is a situation he did not expect or want. Would they have gone out of the Champions League and have had such a slump in league form if things behind the scenes were stable. There has been a lot of outside influences this season.
“If you look at Chelsea’s season on face value, you would probably question Tuchel’s future come the end of the season.”
Thomas Tuchel:
"Romelu [Lukaku] has been scoring goals since he was six years old. It is in his body. This is what I tell him all the time - trust your body, trust your brain, trust your instincts."
[via @MirrorFootball]