Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Daniel Childs

Thomas Tuchel uncovers Didier Drogba Chelsea trick as Hudson-Odoi's Club World Cup ploy pays off

Many wonderful pictures were released as Chelsea celebrated becoming FIFA Club World Cup champions for the very first time.

On the turf of the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, smiles were liberally shared, there was little social distancing to be found surrounding the piece of silverware that completed Chelsea's glittering set of honours under Roman Abramovich.

But one picture did hit differently.

It was posted to Romelu Lukaku's Instagram of him standing alongside Didier Drogba.

This came after Lukaku had emphatically scored a goal the Ivorian would have been proud of. One that was very reminiscent of goals Drogba had netted in major finals for Chelsea throughout his iconic career.

The 2007 header that beat Arsenal in the League Cup final, the 2009 header against Everton in the FA Cup final and most iconically, the towering one that brought Chelsea level against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.

This image and Lukaku's goal against Palmeiras brought back so much of the sentiment that surrounded the Belgian's return last summer.

A sentiment that has sadly been extinguished since his controversial interview with Sky Italia before the new year.

The support and hope for Lukaku to do well have been replaced with much cynicism and heavy criticism. Some supporters already would not mind seeing him depart this summer.

But individually, Lukaku can walk away from the Club World Cup campaign with a sense of accomplishment and vindication.

Two games and two important goals. The winner against Al-Hilal was a moment of much-needed fortune but his pinpoint header to break a stubborn Palmerias resistance was more impressive.

It was a link with Callum Hudson-Odoi that proved key in the final. A connection many had hoped could blossom into something highly productive this season for Thomas Tuchel.

The pair combined for another headed Lukaku goal back in December away at Aston Villa with the winger cutting back onto his right and bending a ball into the forward's path.

Hudson-Odoi replaced Marcos Alonso as the left wingback on Saturday and for a majority of the first half, his crossing was pretty poor.

Wildly overhitting crosses to the back post that either found no blue shirts or floated into the grateful palms of Palmeiras' shot-stopper Weverton.

Didier Drogba posed with Romelu Lukaku after Chelsea's Club World Cup win. (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

But then in the 54th minute, a moment of precision changed all that.

This time, the winger opted against cutting inside. Instead preferring to use his left to float a cross at the suitable height for Lukaku to contest.

With the Belgian's jump perfect, all he needed to do was redirect the ball towards goal which he did in style.

That goal, like the one scored against Al-Hilal in midweek, seemed to inspire Lukaku to better link with his teammates as Chelsea pushed for a second.

His overall performance was encouraging from the start of the final. Using his physicality to hold up the ball and bring others into play. Becoming a split striker with Kai Havertz on the left, Lukaku was able to float to his favoured right side.

His header in the final means he's now reached 10 goals for the season from 27 appearances.

Far from the ruthless finisher Chelsea thought they had bought, particularly when you break that tally down to only five league goals from 16 appearances.

But it is still enough to demonstrate Lukaku's natural ability to score goals, something the current Chelsea attack has lacked severely this season.

The double substitution by Tuchel to take off his creator and scorer with the game finely poised at 1-1 raised eyebrows and seemed to hurt Chelsea's attacking rhythm greatly after.

Chelsea's record-breaking signing needed to respond this week and he's done just that. This can hopefully be one step towards recovering his reputation amongst supporters.

Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.