"Throw him out of the club if he doesn't want to be there" - Paul Merson suggests Tuchel was wrong to drop Lukaku for Chelsea vs Liverpool

Paul Merson has criticized Thomas Tuchel's decision to drop Romelu Lukaku for Chelsea's clash against Liverpool. The Blues came from 2-0 down to draw the game 2-2 and are now ten points behind league leaders Manchester City.

Lukaku was left out of the squad after comments about his desire to return to Inter Milan in the future. Speaking to Sky Sports, Merson was asked whether the way the Blues handled the Romelu Lukaku situation was a victory for the club. He said:

"No, not really. Why would it be a victory? Chelsea had to beat Liverpool to have any chance of winning the Premier League. They had to beat Liverpool and then Manchester City in their next game to have any chance, but for me, he's chopped his nose off to spite his face."

Merson added:

"Lukaku is going to play for Chelsea again so why not play him against Liverpool? It's not like he's never going to play for Chelsea again. If that was the case and he's not going to play for Chelsea again, then I could understand it, but if not, why do it?

The former Arsenal player felt the Blues were "better off throwing him to the wolves and playing him." If he didn't do well, the club's fans would have made their feelings about him known.

Merson believes that Lukaku should have played against Liverpool if Tuchel was planning to bring him back into the fold in the future anyway. He explained:

"It's been far too easy for Lukaku. He's said what he wanted to say, he's been dropped, will come back for a lesser game than Liverpool and everything will be alright. Tuchel should have played him against Liverpool. It was the biggest game of the season for Chelsea. I don't get all the debate around this."

He added:

"All the talk of 'Tuchel did the right thing' and you can't do this or that. Why? They are paying Lukaku £300,000-a-week. He needs to play in the biggest games. If he's never going to play for the club again, I get it. Throw him out of the club if he doesn't want to be there and he wants to be at inter Milan."

Chelsea travel to Manchester City to take on Pep Guardiola's side in their next Premier League fixture. However, the Blues will first have to navigate an FA Cup fixture against Chesterfield and the second leg of their Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham.

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"I think he deserved a massive fine" - Merson on how Chelsea should deal with Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku was dropped for the game against Liverpool

Merson was also asked what he would do as a manager if he was in such a situation. He said:

"It's only the fact Chelsea came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 that there is not absolute mayhem. The result, in the end, papered over the decision to leave Lukaku out. I think he deserved a massive fine and from there, you get him out on the pitch. You let the fans make their mind up."

Merson added that the manager will be "long gone before the fans go," so they should've been allowed to make up their own mind. He said:

"They'll let him know. Don't worry about that. If Lukaku doesn't pull his weight, he'll know about it and as a player, you don't want that. However, what happened was just easy, sitting out of the biggest game and not facing the best centre-half in the world."

Lukaku returned to the starting line-up for the first leg of the Blues' Carabao Cup semifinal against Tottenham Hotspur. He played the entire 90 minutes as Tuchel's side won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.