Thomas Tuchel says it not time to laugh about Romelu Lukaku after the striker only touched the ball seven times in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend.
The Chelsea forward has scored five goals in 17 Premier League appearances this season having moved from Inter Milan for £97.5m last summer.
Tuchel says his lack of involvement in the Palace game is something the club need to analyse more closely.
“What can I do? I don’t know,” he told reporters ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 clash against Lille on Tuesday.
“We have to deal with it. The data is out there and the data speaks a certain language. He was not involved in our game, it’s sometimes like this with strikers, if they struggle a bit with self-confidence, to find the space and to get involved against a good defensive side, it can be like this.
“It’s not what we want or Romelu wants but it’s also not the time to laugh about him and make jokes about him. He’s in the spotlight but we will protect him.”
Tuchel says there is a history of strikers who do not reach a high level of goalscoring output at Chelsea and says there is a need for the west London club’s leading striker to work hard defensively as well as going forward.
He added: “There is a history of strikers struggling a little bit at Chelsea so it may not be the easiest place in the world for strikers. I don’t know why it’s like this.
“In my opinion, Chelsea are a team considered a strong defensive team, a physical team, that has a certain attitude when in competitive football.
“We demand a lot of our strikers in terms of defending. We want to be a physical, hard-working group that wants to play a physical game and as a skilful game. That maybe plays a part.
“We are on the subject and are well aware, but like always in football it’s not just one reason to sort a problem. It’s a complex sport and we will try to continue to play with faith, with a team effort.”
