Lukaku's first touch

He's not really a team player. Great finisher and should fit into your cagey long ball stuff.
 
Lukaku can help us improve dramatically in the one department we were poor last season - finishing. He won't be the kind of player that will make us more fluid in attack or who will help set-up goals for other people in the team. But he will score goals.
 
It's his 2nd touch in most of those clips that's the worry. In lots of them his first touch is perfectly fine. It's certainly a weak point of his but we've been able to work around Rooney's inconsistent 1st touch for years so it's not a major concern. Obviously Rooney could pull off wonderful touches to balance it out in a way that Lukaku can't, but I'm far more concerned with how often he messes up simple passes and fluid interplay.
 
His link-up play and teamplay is obviously a worry.

Hopefully it improves with better players/coaches.
 
His first touch is erratic, there's no getting around that.
 
We should be worried about it yes, but he will improve. Does make you wonder how much he would have cost if he had solid holdup skills
 
I'm sure Mourinho is aware of this and plans to improve him in this area. But I wouldn't worry, we have a pretty good defense that can handle these types of mistakes. Lukaku also makes up for it by scoring 20+ goals a season.
 
To think that from that wonderfully talented Belgium team we've signed a pair with the worst possible touch :lol:
Back to the issue - Lukaku knows about it and he has been working on/around it for years now, with some success. I guess we'll see.
 
Perfect touch for the Bale-style kick the ball forward and outpace defenders to chase the ball:lol: safe to say JM will build a team truly based on transitions this season
 
Can't see how this might be a problem if all his first touches are shots. :p Or someone here is suggesting he can't shoot?
 
goldenballs said:
Not seen that before. He does have some good attributes. He certainly is a lump of a boy, takes some knocking off the ball.
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He's definitely not got that Zlatan touch, and I doubt he'd suggest that himself. If we can tidy up his second touch after he controls it, I think we'll be quite effective going forward with his hold up play and movement around him.
 
It's his weakness yes but not to the extent that video shows. As youtube compilation can make a player look like Ballon D'or contender, it can also give inaccurate impression on a player. Watching him play in real time, I'd say he's maybe a bit above average, not too big a worry.
 
I'm more worried about his decision-making than his first touch, really. He sometimes runs with the ball like a headless chicken, maybe Mourinho can prevent him from that.
 
Skizzo said:
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By the way, is this video supposed to be impressive? Have seen it posted a few times, wasn't impressed at all. I know that he isn't a youtube-ish player though
 
harms said:
By the way, is this video supposed to be impressive? Have seen it posted a few times, wasn't impressed at all. I know that he isn't a youtube-ish player though
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Not sure what you mean? No he isn't the type of player who has Messi style highlights, but it just shows more of his all around game. I only posted it to show his "first touch" video isn't a true representation of his ability.
 
You could make a video like that for most players, but a lot of people seem to think it's an issue with him.

We already struggle with keeping possession when playing at any kind of intensity above doing nothing, and if anything we need to be upping that quite a bit and not struggling to keep hold of it with poor decisions and touches.

I think for Lukaku to work well everyone is going to need to step it up, and we're going to need a couple more top level players (wing/cm) to alleviate the issue.
 
goldenballs said:
Not a player I studied before, so he's relatively new on my radar. Should we be worried, or will he improve.

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Those clips are from 2 years ago. I think last season his overall game showed signs of improvement and let's hope it continues.
 
Steven7290 said:
It's his weakness yes but not to the extent that video shows. As youtube compilation can make a player look like Ballon D'or contender, it can also give inaccurate impression on a player. Watching him play in real time, I'd say he's maybe a bit above average, not too big a worry.
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This is very true as has anyone seen the Fellaini Zidanne video?
 
If it's that bad his good old pal Pogba will teach him how to handle them balls. #BroCare
 
Do we really need him to have an amazing first touch anyway? As long as he can control the ball, who cares?
 
The Mitcher said:
Do we really need him to have an amazing first touch anyway? As long as he can control the ball, who cares?
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If the offensive can't link up play with him, we'll have to find another way of playing, cause last season a lot went into Zlatan's feet.
 
Skizzo said:
Not sure what you mean? No he isn't the type of player who has Messi style highlights, but it just shows more of his all around game. I only posted it to show his "first touch" video isn't a true representation of his ability.
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It's just that half (slightly exaggerating) of this video consists of mistakes and average moves, while it is supposed to be a highlights video.
 
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