Trevor Sinclair suggested that Thomas Tuchel could squeeze more out of Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Sinclair felt the Blues boss still hasn’t fully unlocked his expensive centre-forward.
Tuchel signed Lukaku over the summer in order to complete the Stamford Bridge puzzle.
Chelsea won the Champions League without a recognised number nine yet to achieve similar success in the Premier League, a player of the Belgian’s caliber was required.
It took £97.5m (Sky Sports) to prise the 28-year-old away from Inter Milan and back to the club where it – almost – all began.
After five fixtures, the fairy-tale seemed destined to come true.
Lukaku netted four times in the opening quintet of matches upon his Chelsea homecoming.
However, reality struck pretty hard, pretty fast for the attacker.
Following that purple patch, he went seven goalless games before being struck down by injury.
His return at the end of November stretched that barren streak by a further three appearances, until he finally struck gold against Zenit St. Petersburg mid-week.
More to come from Chelsea and Lukaku
The Belgian international’s struggles have kindly coincided with the wobbles of Tuchel’s men as a whole.
They are have collected just one win from their previous four outings, a spell that saw them drop off top spot in the Premier League and their Champions League group.
Questions are understandably being asked about the German coach, whose tenure up to this point has been near-perfect.
If Tuchel can get Lukaku up and running again, then those queries will soon diminish.
“Thomas Tuchel has done superbly since he joined Chelsea, winning the Champions League, you look at the way he’s recruited by buying a top striker in Romelu Lukaku,” said Sinclair.
“He’s not getting the best out of Lukaku at the moment, but in general with the team Frank Lampard built, he’s organised them, he’s made them difficult to beat and they’ve gone on a run where they’ve been unbelievable.
“But they’re human, they’re always going to have a bit of a blip. He wants better in the basics, and the mentality from the players, and I’m sure they’ll get over it.
“However, you know what Chelsea are like, their footballing model is if the manager is not doing it, get shot and start again.”
Abramovich wielding the axe
History does suggest that Roman Abramovich will not stand on ceremony to sack his head coach.
Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Di Matteo, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri were all relieved of their duties the season after winning silverware.
Just because Tuchel orchestrated Champions League success in May, does not mean he is safe from the chop.
Fail to clinch Manchester City’s domestic crown and defend their European trophy, then the jobcentre might be calling once again.
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