The Times - UK (2022-01-01)

Tom Roddy

Thomas Tuchel has expressed anger at

Romelu Lukaku’s decision to go public

with his frustrations at Chelsea but

insisted that the club-record signing

will not be leaving this month.

Tuchel plans to hold talks with

Lukaku, who returned to Stamford

Bridge from Inter Milan for almost

£100 million in the summer, after the

interview in which the Belgium inter-

national said that he was “not happy”

with his role at the club. The 28-year-

old striker also told Sky Italia about his

intention to return to Inter while still at

“a good enough level”.

Tuchel, the Chelsea head coach,

rejected Lukaku’s claim that the playing

system had changed, and said that

the striker had created unnecessary

negativity at a time when the west

London club are falling behind in the

Premier League title race. They face a

big challenge tomorrow when rivals

Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge.

The match was last night still due to

be played despite Jürgen Klopp reveal-

ing three new suspected Covid cases

among his Liverpool players.

Asked about Lukaku’s interview,

Tuchel said: “I don’t like it, of course,

because it brings noise that we don’t

need and it is not helpful.

“You know very well how it is to take

lines out of context and then later

realise that it is not so bad and maybe

not what he meant. But let’s be honest,

we don’t like it, I don’t like it, because it’s

noise that we don’t need. We need a

calm environment and focus.

“This is today’s world, and everything

you say is out there in public, if you are

such a big player like Romelu. He is an

experienced player and he should know

what kind of value it has when he

speaks out with messages like this.”

Asked whether Lukaku could be sold

or sent on loan in the January transfer

window, Tuchel said: “That is clearly

not my object [objective] and I will not

comment on the second one, not at all.”

Lukaku’s interview, which was

recorded several weeks ago, was

intended to heal relations with Inter

fans angered by the striker’s summer

move to Chelsea but only risked dam-

aging his bond with Tuchel. The

German, 48, advised Lukaku not to do

any more interviews and urged him to

“speak up” at the club after claiming no

one knew that he was unhappy.

“We will [discuss] it behind closed

doors, and we will do it openly, like I

think the relation is and has always

been,” Tuchel said.

“I will not enter in finding reasons

now to understand the interview. I

don’t want to because I don’t have to

and I don’t have a reason. I don’t go now

Continued on page 2

Sp or t

New year...

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PAGES 12-13 & 24

NO PRESSURE,

Poor results, an unhappy star

striker and Liverpool next up

SHAUN BOTTERILL/GETTY IMAGES

Fresh doubt

over Ashes

after more

Covid cases

Elizabeth Ammon

The future of the Ashes series has been

thrown into fresh doubt after it

emerged that Covid-19 had broken out

in both camps.

Travis Head, man of the match for

Australia in the opening Test at the

Gabba, returned a positive test and was

ruled out of the fourth Test, starting on

Tuesday. With fears that close contacts

of Head may produce further positive

cases, Australia called up three

additional players to their squad.

Meanwhile, with several backroom

staff, including Chris Silverwood, the

head coach, forced to remain behind in

Melbourne in isolation, England

announced that Adam Hollioake, the

former Surrey and England all-round-

er, was joining the party to assist in the

team’s preparations as they strive to

prevent a 3-0 deficit from turning into a

5-0 whitewash.

Hollioake, who has been based on the

Gold Coast, is a former county col-

league of Graham Thorpe, England’s

assistant coach, who, in the absence of

Silverwood, has taken charge of the

team until the head coach is free to

rejoin the squad in Sydney, probably

towards the end of the Test.

Ashley Giles, England’s director of

men’s cricket, is due to arrive in Sydney

this weekend, 48 hours earlier than

planned, to address the fallout after the

loss of the Ashes inside 12 days and to

assist in ensuring the series is

completed, despite the many hurdles

thrown up by Covid. Tom Harrison, the

ECB chief executive, who is already in

Australia, is also in close discussions

with Nick Hockley, his counterpart at

Cricket Australia.

The England camp was hit with

several positive Covid cases among

coaches and family members during

the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne,

which led to a delay in the start of play

on the second day. They included

Jeetan Patel, the spin bowling coach,

Jon Lewis, the fast bowling coach, and

Darren Veness, the strength and

conditioning coach.

David Boon, the match referee, has

also tested positive and has been ruled

out of Sydney.

The two teams are staying in the

same hotel in Sydney, which has been

given over to their exclusive use,

though they will be kept apart as much

as is practicable. They were due to fly

from Melbourne on the same charter

flight, but Australia were delayed by

the positive test result from Head.

Marcus Harris missed the flight but

eventually produced a negative test and

planned to make the 500-mile journey

by car instead.

So far no England player has been

directly affected, but it is understood the

England management has informally

Continued on page 15

THOMAS

SATURDAY JANUARY 1 2022

The forward

Lukaku said he

was “not happy”

at Chelsea with

Tuchel, right,

the head coach