EPL: Why I benched Lukaku against West Ham – Tuchel

Chelsea manager, Thomas Tuchel, has explained why he left Romelu Lukaku on the bench for the 3-2 defeat at West Ham.

It is the second successive game the Belgian striker has been left out of the Blues’ starting XI.

Lukaku started from the bench as Chelsea played a 1-1 draw with Manchester United last weekend.

Tuchel has now called on the 28-year-old to be “patient”, as he is not fully fit.

“The schedule is relentless, it’s such high intensity in the games.

“I know that Romelu is pushing, I’m happy that he’s pushing. He’s impatient, it’s his nature.

“But there is a difference between match-ready and training-ready and there is a difference between Premier League-ready.

“We need to build him up, he needs to be a bit patient which is not his nature,” Tuchel told BT Sport