The fans of Chesterfield FC could not be ignored. About 6,000 spectators, as many as usually attend the home games of the fifth division team from the Midlands, did not miss the trip to Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday evening. Because one of the peculiarities of the oldest cup competition in football is that the clubs with home rights have to surrender around 15 percent of the stadium tickets for the visiting team, the following from Chesterfield at Stamford Bridge was able to expand unusually.
Accordingly, the amateur club celebrated the consolation goal scored by a certain Akwasi Asante, 29, in the closing stages. However, it was not enough for Chesterfield at Chelsea’s befitting 5: 1 (4: 0) in the end to a cup sensation – in contrast to Cambridge United. With a surprising 1-0 (goal: Joe Ironside, 56th), the third division embarrassed Newcastle United, who was penalized by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in October, with the best line-up and for the first time with Atlético Madrid’s € 15 million winter signing Kieran Trippier. Due to the third round of the entry hurdle for the first division club, the newly rich Newcastle missed out on cup prize money this year, while opponents Cambridge pocketed – at least – around 100,000 euros.
Instead of sporting resistance, Chesterfield had a meanness of another color ready for Chelsea, which the favorite could overlook far less than the underdog’s somewhat too intrusive goal celebration. Almost all of the visiting fans cheered on Chelsea’s most recent public dispute with striker Romelu Lukaku – who came from Inter Milan in the summer for the club record of around 115 million euros – by ridiculing Lukaku as the Italians player: “Romelu Lukaku – he’s Inter Milan! “
The unauthorized interview costs Lukaku half a million euros – and an apology in front of the camera
The chant, which was unpleasant for Chelsea, reminded us that the slightly embarrassing fight with Lukaku on the island should not be forgotten as quickly as the club around coach Thomas Tuchel had hoped. In order not to suffer any further damage, the two sides quickly reconciled at the beginning of the previous week – but at the expense of the Belgian national attacker. For an unauthorized interview with Sky Italia, in which Lukaku only indicated that he was “unhappy” with his playing times and the way the team played, he reportedly had to shell out almost half a million euros and apologize in front of the camera. In a six-minute conversation with the in-house broadcaster Chelsea TV, Lukaku asked for forgiveness from the fans, the coach, the team-mates and also the club board.
What punishment do Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea want to pronounce in the future if it really crashes?
(Photo: Andrew Couldridge / Reuters)
Lukaku will be able to get over the fine, which is the same as his weekly salary in London, financially, but he will not be able to say too much in the future if he wants to fulfill his contract with Chelsea, which ends in 2026, and earn something at the same time. Given the penalty accepted by Lukaku, it now looks like Chelsea, especially the coach Tuchel, who was responsible for the scolding, will emerge stronger from the feud. On closer inspection, one finds that the so far so successful Tuchel has done himself a disservice in this matter because he seems to have been a little pissed off by the English tabloids, which like to cause trouble.
Contrary to what the translated statements about Chelsea suggest, Lukaku invited the Sky reporters to London to justify his sudden departure from Milan and to try to keep his fan favorite there intact. Before that, he had declared with Belgium during EM 2021 that he wanted to stay with Inter. In the half-hour television report, Lukaku expressed his attachment to the Italian champions and indicated that Inter’s precarious financial situation was the reason for his failed contract extension and the subsequent transfer. In some passages, however, Lukaku got a little too enthusiastic about his former employer and sometimes let his heart speak more than his mind. Especially with regard to his first months at Chelsea, which were more ankle injuries and corona disease than his five league goals.
What penalties does the club want to impose for its players in the future if it really crashes?
In order to generate as much attention as possible with Lukaku’s interview at the beginning of December, Sky Italia published the harmless snippets of quotations three days before Chelsea’s trend-setting top game at the start of the year against Liverpool (2-2). The island media immediately rushed to the statements and summarized them in such a way that Tuchel, who had no idea of this interview, came under massive pressure the next day in the press conference. To make matters worse for him was that Chelsea had to tear down in this phase in the battle for the championship. Nonetheless, Tuchel kept calm by warning of the interview as “unnecessary noise”, but at the same time protecting his player – before suddenly removing Lukaku from the squad on match day.
With this measure, Tuchel probably wanted to make an example of Lukaku, but with which he did the media a favor, because the banter about Lukaku suddenly lit a flash in the pan. It was only the draconian sanctions that caught the controversy again. However, they reduce the room for maneuver for Tuchel: What penalties does the club want to impose for its players in the future if it really crashes?
After the successful cup win, to which Romelu Lukaku contributed the third goal, the argument between Lukaku and Chelsea seems to be over for now. But the way the club handles its personnel, as the calls from the Chesterfield fans have shown, will certainly resonate.