He wasn't a target man in the way somebody like Drogba was, but as a brilliant all round footballer he could do the job just fine. A hell of a lot better than Lukaku can do it, anyway.
Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea
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He wasn't a target man in the way somebody like Drogba was, but as a brilliant all round footballer he could do the job just fine. A hell of a lot better than Lukaku can do it, anyway.
RVP was brilliant with his back to goal. Not all strikers have to hold up the ball like Drogba. Strikers like RVP and Saha knew how to give themselves enough space to spin their marker or play a lay-off. Lukaku doesn't have the touch of Drogba so it bounces off him and he has the turning circle of a bendy bus.
What Lukaku is perfect at is running onto the ball. The more touches he needs, the worse he is.
What Lukaku is perfect at is running onto the ball. The more touches he needs, the worse he is.
His stupid point is this " he wasn't a target man so he wasn't good at holding the ball up". I'm like "wtf ???"
Pretty much, and that is a very good player if you play into his game.
Bang on
Yes, I know it didn’t prove anything about what you were talking about, it proves what other people were talking about before you jumped in with the snide comment. Your definition of hold up play is more limited than most people’s. For most people, brute strength is just a facet of it. Lukaku is very strong and rubbish at holding it up. Van Persie is not that strong and great at holding it up. Drogba was both, and so a better target man overall.
That Rooney goal against City is great target man play. It’s a looping ball, back to goal, and he turns a nothing moment into a chance with great awareness and control. That’s the purpose of hold up play.
You are more interested in form than function. Which is fine. But when you’re ridiculing people for thinking van Persie is much better at holding the ball up, it’s not because they have an inferior understanding of their respective qualities, it’s because they pay attention to different features than you. At which point the ridicule just points back to yourself.
Damn son
RVP during his peak CF years is great playing with goal on his back.
How can people forget this?
How can people forget this?
One of the best. Not sure how anyone could think otherwise
Lukaku tried to show he is getting better at it, but based on evidence he lacks top class first touch to match with his strength.
More often than not, the ball bounces off awkwardly and he makes up to that with his pace to chase the loose ball.
RVP from 28-30s is a different animal, he developed some strength and match that with his exceptional technique, he was unstoppable.
Lukaku is a poor target man, but RVP was the complete forward.
I may be wearing blue-tinted glasses, but do people think he was that bad yesterday? It was by no means a performance that warrants any praise, but I thought he did alright being quite isolated against one of the better centre back pairings in the league, and got the better of them a couple of times. From the top of my head turning Matip and laying it off to Mount for a good chance (better choice would have been to try to play Havertz in, and Mount could've squared it to Havertz himself, but still a good chance created). Should've been played through for a 1 on 1 with the keeper by Havertz a few minutes after our goal, but Havertz didn't spot it. Then of course completely isolated in the second half as we were a man down, but still managed to play Kovacic through for a good chance. No earth-shattering performance by any means, but better forwards will do less in many more games throughout the season.
Seeing some discussions regarding his play with his back to goal and from what I've seen for a massive total of 180 minutes this past week or so is that his hold-up play is quite alright while his link-up play isn't much to write home about. With his back to goal and he gets the ball played to his feet he has (so far) been quite consistent at controlling it and playing a simple horizontal pass to our wide players. His link-up play however has still looked quite limited and inconsistent, but that's not anything new nor surprising.
It will be interesting to follow the thread throughout the season to see what people outside of the club thinks of how he plays, but sometimes it can be difficult to spot if it's their genuine assessment or if it's clouded a bit by dislike as he has uttered some less flattering comments about Man Utd in the past. Of course the positive comments from Chelsea fans might be biased in the other direction as we want him to do well and will look for positives in otherwise poor performances. Wouldn't be surprised if there is quite the discrepancy of opinion in how his season has been come May between Chelsea fans and rival fans.
Seeing some discussions regarding his play with his back to goal and from what I've seen for a massive total of 180 minutes this past week or so is that his hold-up play is quite alright while his link-up play isn't much to write home about. With his back to goal and he gets the ball played to his feet he has (so far) been quite consistent at controlling it and playing a simple horizontal pass to our wide players. His link-up play however has still looked quite limited and inconsistent, but that's not anything new nor surprising.
It will be interesting to follow the thread throughout the season to see what people outside of the club thinks of how he plays, but sometimes it can be difficult to spot if it's their genuine assessment or if it's clouded a bit by dislike as he has uttered some less flattering comments about Man Utd in the past. Of course the positive comments from Chelsea fans might be biased in the other direction as we want him to do well and will look for positives in otherwise poor performances. Wouldn't be surprised if there is quite the discrepancy of opinion in how his season has been come May between Chelsea fans and rival fans.
It wasn't a terrible peformance but not good either. A few good moments - that one where he made Matip look something silly, outmuscling VVD, the hold up and pass to Kovacic were good moments, and of course a fair few not so good ones. Again, down a man, it's hard for any CF and easy for any CBs.
I've always thought of him as a more athletically gifted and better version of Chicharito. Which isn't a bad thing in itself and will get you plenty of goals but definitely isn't a target man.
What he's actually excellent at is having that poacher's instinct to pop up in the right place in the box to score even scrappy rebound type goals, tap ins and headers.
Lukaku will score goals and easily be considered a success at Chelsea. Still, it's fairly fecking funny seeing how big the differences are between his strengths and weaknesses. His free runs with the ball, space in behind the defenders, what you're waiting for is him reaching top speed and the defenders having to struggle with the size of Lukaku, either fouling him or not being able to stop him, but instead he manages to lose control of the ball. Problem is, it happens too often, it's not the usual one off that happens with every player, he's just not that good with the ball at his feet in tight spaces.
Its was a ok performance, especially considering Chelsea were down to 10 men for long periods.
I think his weaknesses and strengths ,literally, were there for all to see though.
He's been playing top flight football for so long now and his ball control and passing has always been iffy, to say the least, irrespective of his form in Italy that side of his game will always be there.
I think his weaknesses and strengths ,literally, were there for all to see though.
He's been playing top flight football for so long now and his ball control and passing has always been iffy, to say the least, irrespective of his form in Italy that side of his game will always be there.
I keep hearing about how he had lost weight, was leaner and had improved his game in Italy so I was expecting a performance different from the ones we used to see at United.
Instead, it was disappointingly more of the same.
I was one of his biggest critics when he was here, and I don't like him at all. But imo he's been improving his game especially his first touch, hold up and linking. Still, imo he's pretty the same when we talk about finishing, he still needs considerable time and space to deliver a good finish. He'll continue to score against the small teams and disappear when facing better defenders in the top games, as usual I think.
You don't have to be big and strong to be excellent at holdup. RVP was one the best at it because of his excellent touch and awareness. Lukaku is just shite at it because he lacks both.
Just look at how peak Liverpool use Mane and Salah. It was constant long balls down the flanks and they are both deceptively good at shielding the ball.
Just look at how peak Liverpool use Mane and Salah. It was constant long balls down the flanks and they are both deceptively good at shielding the ball.
Has anyone posted this classic Lukaku gem yet?
He can be clumsy, but in that clip, he takes the ball from the halfway line to the box before clumsily tripping over it. Defenders look scared though and are backing off.
Ball then drops to a teammate anyway and he could have been played in on goal.
It’s not pretty, but he has that ability to create confusion and get defenders backing off because of his pace and power. He is an excellent finisher too. He will get 25+ in all competitions this season comfortably.
We will never forget Adriano.
He was a monster alright, his powerful shot was ridiculous
The only player who featured on The Muppets show
Sorry but i cannot put any media and Twitter files yet.
Not gonna write the whole twitt but want to focus on last part comapring United to shit
From Fabrizio Romano:
Lukaku:
…Sth about Chelsea’s 3rd bid…
„…I told Inzaghi: Inter pulled me out of shit but i wanna leave only because of Chelsea.”
Do not remember last time some player was so annoying for me to wish him so bad.
How many of our former players got bad reception coming back to OT ?
Tevez, Di Maria ? Cannot think of anyone else.
Do you think Lukaku is gonna get one or is he more of a Clown figure that nobody pays attention to?
Not gonna write the whole twitt but want to focus on last part comapring United to shit
From Fabrizio Romano:
Lukaku:
…Sth about Chelsea’s 3rd bid…
„…I told Inzaghi: Inter pulled me out of shit but i wanna leave only because of Chelsea.”
Do not remember last time some player was so annoying for me to wish him so bad.
How many of our former players got bad reception coming back to OT ?
Tevez, Di Maria ? Cannot think of anyone else.
Do you think Lukaku is gonna get one or is he more of a Clown figure that nobody pays attention to?
Huh?
Comments against Alonso seem unnecessarily disrespectful. He’s still a teammate.
What did he say about Alonso?
He's too big to be barged down like Young did to ADM. The squad and fans should wind him up until he loses his cool.
That will be well received by inter fans 
Chelsea was the team he dreamed of joining when he was young. Just like Mbappe dreamed of joining Real Madrid. I really don’t see what is so terrible about the tweet?
its not a diss. They were serious because they included a quality player like Alonso in the deal
Then they should have shown Lukaku and the world how seriously serious they were and should have included a proper quality player like Kante!I do wonder why he joined us in the first place as he obviously doesn't have any fondness for us as a club though we cannot fault his effort when he was here
Similar to Di Maria though he pretty much made it clear when he was here he never liked us Not sure which way is the most annoying
Meanwhile Carlos Tevez last post on Instagram was him wearing our shirt strangely.
Similar to Di Maria though he pretty much made it clear when he was here he never liked us Not sure which way is the most annoying
Meanwhile Carlos Tevez last post on Instagram was him wearing our shirt strangely.
When he said Inter pulled him out of shit? Was that a dig at United or am I reading it wrong?
So why did he turn Chelsea down for United?
If you're in "the shit", you're referring to a situation, not a place.
I would think he means "out of form, on the bench and not loving life" rather than just the odd phrasing of calling Manchester United. "the shit".