Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea
- Thread starter RDCR07
- Start date
What the feck would I do with a creative CAM or CM? Get them to mow my lawn?
We can say that we have a similar problem with Ronaldo, who is obviously a three times a player but even worse at defensive game, in fact, one of the worst players in the league. That doesn't help our pattern of play either..
True. That's the reason why I think that looking purely at strikers numbers/goals is a very flawed metric in today's game where teams usually press from the front and most top teams operate with a striker who has a very good link-up play and ability to bring others into goalscoring positions.
Personally, I would try to play Ronaldo with Cavani or some variation where he isn't the focal point of our attack. But, that's for his thread and there is already a lot of talk about it.
The strongest rumor right now by several "journalists".
https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation...iga-hotshots-christopher-nkunku-florian-wirtz
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You won the CL last year, dominantly at that but yes, I agree and that's why I said - a striker who nets 20+ regularly has to he considered good (or did his job as you said). That said, his detractors will always point and rightly so at his big games stats to say he isn't elite. It's a roundabout discussion which will hardly find an agreement because end of the day, he is a good striker who solves a purpose but he isn't elite.
Yup, I was a huge advocate for signing him. I used to argue with plenty on here that didn't want him. I always maintained that while he had deficiencies, Jose would sort them out in time. How fecking wrong was I
Anyhow, he had a great start, but the longer he was here, the more I saw how awful he could be. I was absolutely dying to get rid of him by the end of his time with us. I guess it was telling that no one gave a flying feck when we flogged him off, and the overwhelming majority were delighted. He also just isn't a very likeable individual who clearly thinks he's far better than he is.
Argument was Lukaku vs fecking Morata, it was easy choice.
Also it's funny how the arguments from few Chelsea fans changed from "his touch isn't good, he doesn't score against big teams" to "goals are goals, all are same".
While Arsenal of all teams made us both look like idiots by bringing in prime Aubameyang.
I'd say it's exactly the other way around: it's a lot easier to see his shortcomings when he's playing for your team because you're emotionally invested in the game so each bad touch, poor pass, lost aerial duel is all the more frustrating.
I agree with this take. When he was at Everton, I only watched him sporadically, or on MOTD. All I saw was a player banging in goals, and I became a huge fan. However, it was only when he played for us, and I watched him on a far more consistent basis, that I saw his many flaws.
I liked him when he was at Everton and wanted him to be signed, I liked him in first season too but when he started to act like a twat talking nonsense in the interviews, acted unprofessionally gaining weight like Mark Henry and wanted to run away the moment he had to compete for his position then I started to dislike him and his poor attitude.
Says "You are a grown ass man, deal with it" and then ran away when he had to compete for his position and not an automatic starter when he stunk up the pitch week in week out in 2018-19 season.
Yup, I found him to be an insufferable prick by the end of his time here. He's clearly just a bit of a gobshite.
Have to agree. Werner, although he cannot finish is actually very good at moving defences about and gets a good number of assits. Lukaku can do that but needs to have things teed up for him. For me, the only way they'll work for Chelsea is if play together but even then, Lukaku is not as clinical as some would have you to believe and he could end up getting caught offside a lot as he does have good enough movement off the ball to work in tandem with Werner in dragging CB's about.
The issue with that is Tuchel would need to sacrifice an attacking midfielder to fit Lukaku and Werner into the team, if he wants to stick with a back 3. It worked against Southampton because both the central midfielders, Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek, were good ball carriers and Chilwell was getting in the box repeatedly Alonso-style.
If Jorginho is in the team, he works best with Mount and Havertz occupying pockets between the lines. It's an interesting conundrum. Chelsea are definitely more creative with Werner in the team and one of the things I was concerned about during the summer was upsetting the balance we had with Mount, Havertz and Werner. My preference was to run it back with what we had, if we couldn't get Haaland. Now that we have Lukaku, Tuchel has to find a way that gets the best out of him without sacrificing too much of the balance we had.
He'll draw some really nice patterns in the grass if he's well creative.
2 season wonder
The problem you face is that he makes the CL harder and possibly the league too.
Last season you were OK against the top teams but had a few dodgy results lower down the table. He will score you the goals you need to beat Norwich but it will be like playing with 10 men against the likes of City. Maybe its close to net zero but everybody always says its those 6 point games that you need to win for the title.
In the Champions League it will be more marked. Unless you get an incredible draw he will make it significantly harder to beat the teams you're likely to face in the latter knockout stages.
He has an underwhelming record scoring wise vs top teams, but there is quite a bit of difference between that and being utterly useless vs top tesms, which he of course isn't.
Auba is a great finisher, but I'm pretty sure his all-round game would have been more heavily scrutinised had he joined us, or Chelsea.
Most of those quotes are absolutely on point. He is a much better player with the biggest improving coming in his game with his back to goal. The comment about him being better than Haaland and Mbappé sounded just as crazy then as it does now.
Maybe not utterly, but pretty much unless is fair when you actually look at his club and international career against big teams.
Are we just talking about goals here, or his performances against top teams in general? Because 'pretty useless' seems to be a really harsh thing to say about a player.
I strongly disagree. Biggest difference in his game for me at the moment is that he is fitter than he was when he was here. But he still displays the same inconsistent touch and erratic heading. And that’s putting it mildly. Same player he’s been his entire career basically.
That's fine, you're entitled to your opinion. It's still pretty weak to pull quotes that are all completely reasonable in context in an effort to bolster your point.
I don’t find the comments reasonable though. To think that a professional footballer could or would improve his technique after over a decade of top flight football is not reasonable.
Where did I say that he has improved his touch?
Anyway, he is playing with his back to goal in a way that he almost never did with us, Chelsea are actually playing him as a point of reference (Conte's term) and succeed most of the time (which doesn't make him elite at it by the way, just way closer to the level that you'd expect from someone his size). With us he was absolutely hopeless at that, falling over while trying to push through defenders, losing half of physical duels despite having a height & weight advantage over most defenders etc. All you could hope to get from him in the build up was an occasionally brilliant cross or pass that happened like twice per season — the way that he was playing for Inter and started playing for Chelsea is a very, very different one.
It's not an improvement in technique. Most of his improvement came:
- in terms of his fitness
- in tactical development — he uses his body (height, strength, weight, pace) in a much more effective way. He was about as intimidating physically as Chicharito during his time here despite possessing all of the tools. Conte taught him how to use those (it's quite incredible that he was the first one who succeeded)
Why don't you think that a full year of training exclusively with his back to goal under an absolute madman like Conte would have an impact? Playing with your back to goal is about far more than just touch, by the way. No one in your quotes suggested that he had a great touch, just that he'd improved - do you think players at age 25 are set in stone and can't improve further? That's a far more unreasonable position.
He was really inconsistent in the buildup with us but pretty much useless that final season due to a lack of fitness. It is an interesting point you raise but I still think he is done as soon as a defender gets a body on him. Also worth mentioning that Chelsea are far less creative with him in the team this season so he is obviously not pulling up trees in the buildup aspect.
Again I think it’s mostly fitness that’s improved but perhaps it’s a fair point you raise. Maybe his awareness has improved although I still see him as highly inconsistent when asked to do anything other than running the channels.
Lukaku is pushing 30 and still displays the same inconsistencies in his game as always. And no I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a player to improve significantly at that age. Technically or otherwise really.
He turned 28 in May. He was with Conte for his age 26 and 27 seasons. Dismissing two years of his prime as "he's pushing 30" is either disingenuous or idiotic.
Suppose it's just unreasonable to say that Ronaldo ascended to a level in his age 25 season. Or that Ramos went up a level around that age. Benzama improved when he was 27 and then again when he was 30. Players hit their prime around age 25-26 - this is very well documented. Your position that no one can improve going into their prime has no basis whatsoever.
General performance. Whenever I have seen him in a big game he normally goes completely awol. I mean in just in the last five months (at a time where he has meant to have developed his game) he had zero impact in the games against City, Juventus and Liverpool for Chelsea and against Italy for Belgium.
Hurls insults and then compares Lukaku to Benzema, Ramos and Ronaldo.
Good day to you, sir.
Simply put he's the Michael Jackson of basketball.
We were down to 10 men at Anfield and we were forced into parking the bus against City. Hardly his fault that Chelsea couldn't get out of our own half against those teams, but even in those games, he wasn't useless. Admittedly he could have done better against Juventus. He played really well against Arsenal and Spurs. I suppose what I'm objecting to is the hyperbole. Well I thought it was hyperbole, but it seems people really mean it when they say he's totally useless.
I'm expecting a reasoned and fair review of however he plays tonight.
You're the one who said it's unreasonable for players to get better around the age Lukaku did! It's got nowt to do with their quality relative to each other; again more willful misinterpretation on your part.
Ronaldo won a Ballon d’Or at age 23. Ramos was in between RB and CB until around that age. Benzema was always a top player but took a backseat to Ronaldo as Rooney did. Never mind that they’re all levels above Lukaku. So who is the fan of willful misinterpretation ?
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