’s poor form is entirely his own fault, not his manager ’s, believes Jamie Carragher after watching lose 3-1 to at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.
A Karim Benzema hat-trick gave Real the huge win in west London, with a Kai Havertz goal the only consolation for the home side.
Lukaku did not start the game but came off the bench on 64 minutes in a bid to change the game, replacing Christian Pulisic.
The Belgian did not manage to do that, with his most memorable moment being when he missed a superb opportunity, heading a Cesar Azpilicueta cross wide of goal.
The 28-year-old continues to look a shadow of the player he was at Inter Milan before Chelsea splashed the cash on him last summer and Carragher feels he is not doing nearly enough to prove his worth to the Blues.
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has clearly lost faith in the striker, who has not started a Premier League game since 19 February, but the Liverpool legend reckons it is up to Lukaku to prove him wrong.
‘It’s not down to the manager, it’s down to Lukaku,’ Carragher told CBS Sports. ‘It’s not about the love from a manager. You spend £100million on a player to make a difference in these games, and he can’t even get in the team. He’s got to do a lot more.’
Carragher went on to say that he does not see Lukaku as an ‘elite’ striker and one that has failed to impress him in the Premier League.
‘I think he’s just below the elite. His goal record is fantastic, if you look at his numbers,’ he said. ‘But I always feel whenever we’ve spoken about Lukaku, he gets a lot of goals but there’s always been a “but”.
‘Even his record in the Premier League, if you look at the teams, it was never against the biggest teams.
‘He’s a very good player, but when you’re talking about [Karim] Benzema, when you’re talking about Harry Kane, when you’re talking about [Robert] Lewandowski, for me he’s just always been a bit below that.
‘I don’t question the manager at all in that situation. This thing about needing love… just go and play well.’
Chelsea return to action at Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday and Lukaku will be hoping for his first league start in nearly two months, but his wait could well go on.
The former Manchester United man has scored just five league goals this season in 20 appearances, while netting twice more in the Champions League.
, .
, and .
