Thomas Tuchel was thrilled with Romelu Lukaku’s second debut at Chelsea, but tempered the praise, insisting it was “not the time to party too much”.
Lukaku scored the opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Arsenal on Sunday, with Reece James grabbing the second.
The Gunners had won their last three games against Chelsea in all competitions but were outclassed as Lukaku’s signing of £ 97.5million made an instant impact.
He made eight attempts and created three more chances, previously having only taken part in more than 11 shots in a single game in Europe’s top five leagues (13 for Everton v West Ham, 2015).
Lukaku continued his exceptional Inter form, with 13 goals and eight assists in their last 19 league games, and appeared to solve Chelsea’s biggest problem after an unnecessary 2020-21 campaign.
But Tuchel, despite having spoken of the striker’s role, didn’t get carried away with just two Premier League games of the season played.
“I certainly don’t think anyone likes playing against him,” the Chelsea manager said at a press conference.
“Everyone is aware of his physicality but also of his strengths in linking play and his strengths in attacking space, so he gives a dimension, another dimension to our game.
“But now it’s also our job not to lose our strength, to lose the pace of work, the team effort, the intensity against the ball, so we have to put it all together.
“It’s not just about Romelu’s qualities and skills, it’s the package that made him so promising for us.
“It’s age, it’s the experience, is that he’s a Chelsea fan and he’s always been a Chelsea fan and his dream was to be successful at this club. So that’s what we feel from day one from him.
“He has that personality and he grew in his personality in his clubs where he played; he played for big clubs, he scored for big clubs. And he has that real self-confidence.
“Like I said, I hope that takes the pressure off the shoulders of our young guys.
“Now this is his first game played and we have a lot more to do and it’s only just beginning. So now is not the time to give too much praise and now is not the time to celebrate too much. . We have to keep moving forward. The start of the season. “
Lukaku is Chelsea’s only high-profile signing so far in this transfer window, but Tuchel has suggested he doesn’t look for other additions, keen to protect the “strong bond” and “great spirit of team”.
“I am absolutely satisfied with our team and the alternatives available to us,” he said.
“It’s not too big a team, as we missed Christian Pulisic today and that meant everyone was directly in the squad, in the 18-man squad plus the goalkeepers.
“It means that we don’t have the biggest team, but we have a very, very competitive team in all positions, which I think is on the one hand necessary because we play a lot of competitions and have the Cup. world to come in December and we have a pretty unique situation that we’ve played a very long time and had the Euros and the Copa America.
“So if we want to compete, we need that kind of level.
“But at the same time, it’s also that we think we’re a strong group, because maybe that was the key to the last half, that we played with a strong bond and with a great team spirit.
“It will be the challenge for me and for the team, that we create that atmosphere again and that everyone is ready to take our positions and keep pushing the team. If we do that, we can do more than if we don’t. “
