Lukaku's first touch

[Pogue Mahone]

@GifLord

Got a gif of him bringing down that lofted pass from Sanchez? That’s about a difficult a first touch, technically, as any striker will need to make. And - from memory - he absolutely nailed it.

 

[GifLord]

@GifLord

Got a gif of him bringing down that lofted pass from Sanchez? That’s about a difficult a first touch, technically, as any striker will need to make. And - from memory - he absolutely nailed it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Nice. Thanks dude. That is indeed a hell of a good first touch.

Fecking awesome pass too.

 

[Cliche Guevara]

Beautiful move.

 

[Greck]

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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Has made improvements but this video is still his first touch under pressure in a nutshell. His first touch at Everton had some good moments as well. It's the variance in his touch from moment to moment that baffles

 

[red_john]

One things for sure, he has improved his first touch since joining which was never as bad as people make out.

 

[haram]

Getting better. His link play is good as well. Improving his hold up and first touch will allow him to make full use of his link up play.

 

[sunama]

Lukaku's first touch, there, was excellent.
But what about Sanchez's pass.

 

[Lentwood]

I don't think Lukaku has a problem with his first touch tbh - I think because he is so bulky when the ball does bounces off him (and sometimes even when it doesn't) he looks very clumsy. I bet if you ran some stats you would see the ball doesn't escape him any more or less often than your other top CFs

 

[noodlehair]

Lukaku's first touch, there, was excellent.
But what about Sanchez's pass.

Yeah that''s what I like about Sanchez. I thought he was poor yesterday yet he still comes up with things like that. Even the pass for the goal. He made it look simple but a lot of players just wouldn't have played it.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Good bump @Pogue Mahone

Excellent play.

Lukaku and Sanchez, i like this combination, not just against Huddersfield, but even against Newcastle, their combo plays are exciting.

 

[Jaybomb]

He’s class on the ball. The whole thing is over exaggerated media bollocks.

Yes his touch let’s him down at times but his build up play is top quality. He’s not this one dimensional “donkey” that rival fans try to paint him as.

 

[Yagami]

The pass from Alexis and touch from Lukaku were both great, but I loved Shaw's contribution to that attack, too. A lovely little lob to Alexis instead of hoofing it or passing to Matic, and providing Alexis another option with his overlapping run which he's been guilty of not doing as much during his time here.

 

[Aresma7]

Nice. Thanks dude. That is indeed a hell of a good first touch.

Fecking awesome pass too.

It was not too bad, but the defender gave him time, and you can see the ball bounces once before he gets control over the it. Imagine berbatov in same situation..the ball would be glued to his feet at first touch!

 

[B20]

He’s class on the ball. The whole thing is over exaggerated media bollocks.

Yes his touch let’s him down at times but his build up play is top quality. He’s not this one dimensional “donkey” that rival our own fans try to paint him as.

Fixed that for you

 

[Web of Bissaka]

The pass from Alexis and touch from Lukaku were both great, but I loved Shaw's contribution to that attack, too. A lovely little lob to Alexis instead of hoofing it or passing to Matic, and providing Alexis another option with his overlapping run which he's been guilty of not doing as much during his time here.

Good catch, he always is that skillful with passes.

 

[simplyared]

Yes his 1st touch is definately a weakness and if he wants to get up there with the best, he must improve in that area. Should be something for the coaching staff to take on board.

 

[PaidMonk]

His first touch was really poor but has improved slightly in the recent months. I mean he is no Ibra after all but still needs to work on it.

It's his dribbling that worries me more.

 

[Moonwalker]

Blind hens and all that.'

 

[macheda14]

Blind hens and all that.'

Blind hens?

 

[Moonwalker]

Blind hens?

The proverbial blind hen, yes.

 

[minoo-utd]

He is getting very much better.

 

[dogwithabone]

His first touch is better than Kane’s in my opinion.

I don’t deny Kane is the better striker but I’m not sure he scores that sort of second goal Lukaku did yesterday. That was explosive.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Blind hens and all that.'

Blind hens?

The proverbial blind hen, yes.

Even a blind hen can sometimes find some corn or something like that.

Personally, I thought his touch from that pass from Sanchez was not as great as some are making out, he did not stop it dead or in his stride and it bobbled up so he had to bring it down twice. What was great about that situation was his run and timing to perfection on getting on the end of it under pressure from a defender which also means we must praise Sanchez for his nothing less than exquisite pinged pass.

I have seen him do better and would not say that was an outstanding example of his work in this context. He is a mixed bag where no one here can honestly say that they don't have any apprehension or heart skip a beat whenever a semi-difficult ball comes into him. If anyone tells you they have a massive amount of confidence in that situation then they are lying or have the memory of a goldfish.

 

[macheda14]

The proverbial blind hen, yes.

Had just never heard that one

 

[el3mel]

I'll say it's more inconsistent than being bad. Some times he controls the ball very well, other times completely the opposite. Will improve over time and with training, no doubt.

 

[SerenityValley]

Every time I see the subject of this thread, I remember that someone suggested when Dion Dublin signed for Utd, that he could trap the ball further than most people could kick it.

 

[breakout67]

His first touch is better than Kane’s in my opinion.

I don’t deny Kane is the better striker but I’m not sure he scores that sort of second goal Lukaku did yesterday. That was explosive.

Kane is a more limited striker; but he's really good at those things (hold-up play and goalscoring instinct).. Lukaku has that inside forward aspect to his game, where he can go wide and run at the full back or cut inside.

IMO Kane is a very similar profile to Lewandoski.

 

[Cascarino]

His first touch is better than Kane’s in my opinion.

I don’t deny Kane is the better striker but I’m not sure he scores that sort of second goal Lukaku did yesterday. That was explosive.

No chance imo, though I definitely think Lukaku's touch is better than he's given credit for.

 

[Jim Beam]

Kane first touch and all round game are better. Let's not get crazy now.

Lukaku is more explosive and dangerous on the counter. Also, his first touch is underrated, although he has a similar problem to Rooney. When he has an off game, it looks really bad.

 

[cyberman]

Kane hasn't got a special first touch. I'd say they're on par.
If anything, Lukaku has better attributes with the way he drops deep or pulls wide but Kane is a beast at the high end of the scale.
Kind of like Ronaldo over the last few years compared to a Diego Costa or Griezmann.

 

[Rightnr]

Not sure if it's a one-off or because it was just Huddersfield but his first touch looked much improved. I definitely think he's been working on it but the true test will come against a top 6 which will give him less time.

I also think Lukaku might have been showing much better form recently had most of our team not been underperforming.

 

[Greck]

No player with a great first touch is prone to one or two Hesky moments every game. There's a reason he makes for a poor targetman

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Its like we signed an Andy Cole clone with extra height

 

[Ish]

Kane first touch and all round game are better. Let's not get crazy now.

Lukaku is more explosive and dangerous on the counter. Also, his first touch is underrated, although he has a similar problem to Rooney. When he has an off game, it looks really bad.

Yeah, it always happens though re the bolded bit. His first touch is underrated, indeed, but when you need to pull footage to show and convince others of his "great first touch", then for me that does show that it is actually an area he can still improve a little more on.

I think "very good to great" first touches, are sort of an expectation I'd have of really expensive footballers, if not most pro footballers.

 

[ThatsGreat]

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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Most of that video was the pass after the first touch though. Not the actual first touch. A more appropriate title would've been 'Lukakus hold up play'. Lukaku is very poor with back to goal, inspite of his size. Operates more like PEA, rather than Giroud.

 

[JohnnyKills]

He's definitely improving as a player, whether he can improve to the level we need against top teams remains to be seen. Spurs showed how far he has to go.

 

[kthanksbye]

Don't know if this deserves a separate thread of its own but one thing I've noticed while watching our players dribble is the visible lack of control on the ball. The ball always seems to be wobbling and our players having to adjust strides to take touches, which slows them down.

Was very apparent in his second goal the other day, he was clear on goal, but the ball never seemed to be under control and he almost ran ahead of it.

Is this just me imagining things, or has anyone else noticed this too?

 

[Antonedwin]

it was rival fans and football community who start exaggerating how bad his first touch is when he was confirmed to join us and sadly most of our fanbase believe it as well
His first touch is okay imo , it's just his awkward body language made it look worse

Was very apparent in his second goal the other day, he was clear on goal, but the ball never seemed to be under control and he almost ran ahead of it.

Is this just me imagining things, or has anyone else noticed this too?

he was, but most importantly it's still end up in the back of the net, i bet the likes of morata , lacazette or welbeck would have miss given the same opportunity

 

[red_john]

Don't know if this deserves a separate thread of its own but one thing I've noticed while watching our players dribble is the visible lack of control on the ball. The ball always seems to be wobbling and our players having to adjust strides to take touches, which slows them down.

Was very apparent in his second goal the other day, he was clear on goal, but the ball never seemed to be under control and he almost ran ahead of it.

Is this just me imagining things, or has anyone else noticed this too?

He did very well and the ball was under control as much as it needed to be. Remember he was running with the ball whilst trying to keep ahead of defenders at high speed which is very difficult to achieve. Im sure people are purposely looking for errors in his game. I don't get it. Strange