Lukaku's first touch

Steven7290 said:
Kinda relevant so has anyone seen that compilation of all the open goal misses from Cavani? You'd imagine the kind of striker who can't even score in a brothel.



Yeah, the same guy who scored 49 goals last season.

Edit: Wrong video
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Now that is a striker who deserves the rep the British Press hung on Andy Cole's neck. A master of scoring when it doesn't matter....
 
I've seen Big Rom pummel it into the @backofthenet mercilessly.

To be fair to other clubs, Kane, Diego Costa, Dele Alli, Aguero and Sanchez have all been smashing it over and over again into the back of the net for last few years...

I think even John Terry rammed it into the back of the net a few months ago as the season finished.
 
Rhyme Animal said:
I've seen Big Rom pummel it into the @backofthenet mercilessly.

To be fair to other clubs, Kane, Diego Costa, Dele Alli, Aguero and Sanchez have all been smashing it over and over again into the back of the net for last few years...

I think even John Terry rammed it into the back of the net a few months ago as the season finished.
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I think this could be a double tagging here.. I've seen @RedRom smash it hard into the @backofthenet

Sorry mate last one untill the season starts
 
Lord Megadrive said:
I think this could be a double tagging here.. I've seen @RedRom smash it hard into the @backofthenet

Sorry mate last one untill the season starts
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Hang on...

@RedRom joined in 2004, is a Chelsea fan, and has coined the term 'Red Rom' more than a decade before it was a reality...

Surely a name change has happened here? Or are we in the midst of some kind of magic?
 
I think when your team has spent 75M quid, which the fans eventually end up paying for anyway, it's only right for the fans to scrutinize that player.
Although Lukaku is a player with obvious qualities, he's also a player with major flaws. His touch and technique aren't great to put it mildly. But you can imagine why Mourinho was desperate to sign him considering the type no. 9 he's looking for in the type of system Mourinho likes his sides to play. And football has seen many great strikers, who weren't great players. Take Gert Muller for example; one of the greatest strikers in the history of the game who was also a pretty crap footballer.
 
KingMinger22 said:
I would note that Wenger once said that a players touch is something you cannot train or improve. They either "have it" or don't.
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Well that's just not true. Maybe you can't train a player to have Messi's first touch, but you can certainly train to turn a poor first touch into a good one.
 
Adisa said:
The stats don't say under what conditions they received the ball.
A good first touch can only be judged through observation and anyone with eyes would say Lukaku's the worst of that bunch with regards to their touch.
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Over an entire season the stats will even out. Unless you claim to have seen every touch of those players, then that's the best we have to evaluate each player's first touch.
 
Why do strikers have to have great first touches, as long as his final touch is good (20+ goals in the league last season would suggest he does) who cares?
 
Santoryo said:
Meh this is the Caf, the same place where it was said that Pogba has the touch of an elephant.

Nothing surprises me anymore in here, even when we just start creating random myths or make big deal out of nothing.

Like someone above said, Lukaku first touch was hardly something ever mentioned when he was playing elsewhere or being linked to Chelsea and the likes yet he comes to us and this nipick has turned into a thing where we're now making threads, memes and videos about.

Again, only on the Caf.
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You mention myths and then talk about one yourself. I'm in the pro Lukaku camp and don't think his first touch not being world class is a big issue but it was almost always discussed whenever you'd bring up Lukaku on this forum.
 
Redfan94 said:
Why do strikers have to have great first touches, as long as his final touch is good (20+ goals in the league last season would suggest he does) who cares?
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It is very weird that people are now stating a first touch doesn't matter. The likes of Hernandez have been slated for their less than average hold up play despite scoring a bucketload of goals.
 
Mibabalou said:
You could make a video exactly like this for every player every.
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You could but this problem is particularly evident in Lukaku. I and many other United fans noticed this from the limited times we've watched him but the kicker is plenty of West Brom and Everton fans were bothered by this watching him weekly.

I wouldn't just take the video as that's it; it's only meant to be a short demonstration of his weak point, it isn't exactly lengthy coverage of every bad touch he's ever made. Purely examples.

Don't see the problem in acknowledging he has flaws, let's face it every player does. I don't think he'll ever have a world class touch exactly but I do think it's something that can and will improve with the right coaching, experience and players around him. I can see it improving to the point where it's no longer a 'thing' at least.

For the time being he has plenty of other strong attributes that can cover up his first touch and if we play to those strengths i.e. let the other players control build up then we should be fine.
 
Poor first touch or not his goals would have won us most of those draws last season and we would have been much closer to Chelsea and would have saved me from hearing all the crap Spurs fan crap out like basically implying their team is best thing since sliced bread. I just want to him to work on it and improve it.
 
lem8sh said:
Anyone who has watched him knows it's nowhere near what you would expect from an elite striker.
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Except for the goals, you're right. If only it wasn't the main thing…
 
Its important to get the difference between how a first touch looks compared to what its done for. Killing the ball perfectly with a first touch doesnt mean the right first touch was executed. Sometimes the first touch needs to be out from under a players feet so the next touch is able to be executed efficiently, be it a shot or a pass or a dribble.
 
shamans said:
You mention myths and then talk about one yourself. I'm in the pro Lukaku camp and don't think his first touch not being world class is a big issue but it was almost always discussed whenever you'd bring up Lukaku on this forum.
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Not it wasn't. This is some grade A revisionism right there. It was mentioned here and there but mostly it was other qualities that were always brought forth about him rather than people simply being completely fixated on his first touch like it's been since he's been linked to us and moved.

You go to threads when he was linked with Chelsea and we weren't in the pictures(as far as we knew back then) and talks about Lukaku were very different ranging from Chelsea prospect of further strengthening their teams to how Conte will be happy etc.

One could hardly see any mention of his first touch. The talks were vastly different to what we're really seeing now. But as soon as he got linked to us and especially after his move finalised, it felt like some just took it personally and made it their mission to let everyone know that Lukaku has this mythical pub player level first touch.

It has even become a thing when it wasn't before but merely something that could be mentioned here or there but conversations about him before were very different to what we have now.
 
adexkola said:
It is very weird that people are now stating a first touch doesn't matter. The likes of Hernandez have been slated for their less than average hold up play despite scoring a bucketload of goals.
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Hernandez was mostly appreciated for what he brought us and the difference dimension he brought to our game. A lot of people were firions when he got sold and most still regretted he left especially with us struggling for goals. People been blaming Van Gaal for making that move.

The people who complained about him are the same kind as the ones in this thread who constantly nitpick and whine about petty and almost irrelevant things.

Chicharito was greatly appreciated in here and was a favorite. It just happens that we've always had complainers in these boards, even complaining for the most absurd and irrelevant things. This thread is just another proof.
 
Santoryo said:
Not it wasn't. This is some grade A revisionism right there. It was mentioned here and there but mostly it was other qualities that were always brought forth about him rather than people simply being completely fixated on his first touch like it's been since he's been linked to us and moved.

You go to threads when he was linked with Chelsea and we weren't in the pictures(as far as we knew back then) and talks about Lukaku were very different ranging from Chelsea prospect of further strengthening their teams to how Conte will be happy etc.

One could hardly see any mention of his first touch. The talks were vastly different to what we're really seeing now. But as soon as he got linked to us and especially after his move finalised, it felt like some just took it personally and made it their mission to let everyone know that Lukaku has this mythical pub player level first touch.

It has even become a thing when it wasn't before but merely something that could be mentioned here or there but conversations about him before were very different to what we have now.
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Okay I disagree and believe it was definitely mentioned before we signed him. Lukaku's first touch and how he's not clinical enough has been the usual criticism for him so I don't know how you can just deny that.

I think having a whole thread on his first touch is a big ridiculous but let's not pretend it was never discussed before. It's not his strongest attribute but almost every top striker has some weaknesses. No need to be so defensive.
 
Santoryo said:
Hernandez was mostly appreciated for what he brought us and the difference dimension he brought to our game. A lot of people were firions when he got sold and most still regretted he left especially with us struggling for goals. People been blaming Van Gaal for making that move.

The people who complained about him are the same kind as the ones in this thread who constantly nitpick and whine about petty and almost irrelevant things.

Chicharito was greatly appreciated in here and was a favorite. It just happens that we've always had complainers in these boards, even complaining for the most absurd and irrelevant things. This thread is just another proof.
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For the record I loved Chicharito while he was here. Still think he could do a job for us off the bench or in a support role. I was just under the impression that a lot of people classified Javier as "too limited", in this weird rush to rate strikers at things other than putting the ball in the net.
 
adexkola said:
For the record I loved Chicharito while he was here. Still think he could do a job for us off the bench or in a support role. I was just under the impression that a lot of people classified Javier as "too limited", in this weird rush to rate strikers at things other than putting the ball in the net.
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Yeah I remember those talks about Hernandez being too limited and him not offering much in the build up. It somehow has become this obsession on the Caf with some people for our strikers prerequisite requirement to be some sort of Iniesta like playmaker or something.

But for the most part people appreciated Chicharito and he was vastly popular among fans beside your usual nitpickers.

I myself love a good technically sound player who does wonders with a ball at his feet but I know to appreciate a player when they're contributing to the team. Chicharito was a favorite of mine and didnt have to have the skills of an Iniesta with the ball at his feet.
 
adexkola said:
For the record I loved Chicharito while he was here. Still think he could do a job for us off the bench or in a support role. I was just under the impression that a lot of people classified Javier as "too limited", in this weird rush to rate strikers at things other than putting the ball in the net.
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Lukaku has many of the same limitations, but he's a unit. So offers a lot more for the style of football we'll be playing next season.
As long as he gets over 20 goals a season and we win things, who cares about his first second or third touch? We really need a striker who can score in those crappy home games where there's 8 or 9 opposition players on defensive duty for the majority of the game. I believe he'll make a massive difference.
 
And we got a new obsession for people to discuss endlessly next season.... Cant wait
 
And I just watched the video which turned out to be mostly about misplaced passes than first touches.
 
Lukaku's first touch is Dier. Perhaps we need a player to Bale him out? Fabinho?

Silly season is making me silly.
 
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