Romelu Lukaku should be ‘going nuts’ at Chelsea, Rio Ferdinand claims

Lukaku is enduring a dip in performance for the Premier League club

Lukaku is enduring a dip in performance for the Premier League club (EPA)

Rio Ferdinand says Romelu Lukaku needs to tell his teammates to give him more of the ball after the Chelsea striker had a dismal seven-touch display against Crystal Palace.

Pundits have implored Lukaku to badger his teammates with Gary Lineker saying the Belgium international needs to “hammer” them. He said: “When I played, if I wasn’t getting much of the ball, if I wasn’t getting service, I would be hammering people.”

Ferdinand agreed with Lineker’s assessment and told Vibe with Five: “I agree with Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer by the way, if anyone saw their comments, if I’m Lukaku I’m going nuts.

“[I would be saying] get me that ball, get wide and cross me the ball, play the ball in behind when you get the opportunity, play to my strengths.”

Chelsea were in the title race at the beginning of the season but it looks now to be a two-horse race between Manchester City and Liverpool. Ferdinand lays blame at manage Thomas Tuchel’s door as he believes the boss is unsure who to play.

“I think that’s probably the biggest issue you’ve got with Chelsea at the moment – what’s their best team?, Ferdinand added. ‘I don’t think [Thomas] Tuchel knows his best team at the moment.

“He wants to get a £100 million player in, which is understandable, in Lukaku and he’s hit a bit of a bad run in terms of goals.

“They’ve got to find a way of playing to his strengths. Lukaku’s strengths… what are they? He’s a fox in the box. You get that ball in the box and if it drops to him invariably he’ll put it away. He’s shown that everywhere he’s been all throughout his career. You cross the ball he can finish, he loves the ball played in behind to run on to things, to bulldoze his way past people.”