Reece James praises Romelu Lukaku for ‘bullying’ Arsenal players during Chelsea win

Reece James has praised Romelu Lukaku for ‘bullying’ Arsenal’s players in Chelsea’s 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

James provided the assist for Lukaku’s early opener from close range, while the Chelsea right-back doubled his side’s lead before half time with an excellent finish past Bernd Leno.

Lukaku delivered an impressive performance in his first game since completing his £97.5 million move from Inter to Chelsea last week.

And James believes the Belgium international’s physicality offers Chelsea a unique quality in attack.

‘What an addition to our team to have such a vocal striker like that,’ James told Premier League Productions.

‘Everyone’s seen today how powerful he is and when he gets a chance he finishes.

‘I think he’s shown how he bullies players today.

‘I can’t really think of any other players like him in the world. How strong he is and how powerful, everyone he just comes up against he bullies.’

Tuchel, meanwhile, praised Lukaku for his performance against Arsenal and his link with play with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz.

‘It was a very good start,’ said Tuchel.

‘That’s the best thing when your new strikers scores straight away and an important goal to get the lead, 1-0 to us.

‘On top of that, he linked up well with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz to bring something to our game. We could play very direct up front to the last line. He was very dangerous through the whole game because they are also dangerous in counter-attacks. We brought him into the game very well already.

‘Now, it is about details. Of course, there’s some things to improve. He almost scored a second one, but it was a fantastic save from Bernd Leno and it was a very good debut.

‘He linked up well with us and now it the moment to continue and improve.

‘His profile gives something that we did not have so much. We can overcome pressing with long balls and if we are close to the box we can also play into him. He is a very physical player, he gives strength to our counter attacks because he likes to run into spaces so.

‘He was involved in training, with the guys. He is very smart, a very open and friendly person so it was easy to connect with everybody. They like to play with each other so it was very important it gives us more opportunities.

‘At the same time we work on the details and keep going… and there is a lot more to come.

‘His profile gives us something that we did not have so much. We can overcome pressing with long balls and if we are close to the box we can also play into him.

‘He is a very physical player, he gives strength to our counter attacks because he likes to run into spaces.’

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