Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea

Josh 76

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Away at Anfield, playing with 10 men. Why struggle with the mental gymnastics to justify he's shit?

He was decent in the first half, bullied Matip a couple of times and got the better of VVD once in a dangerous situation as well. He'll do fine for them.
I kind of agree with this.
But his first touch is shocking for a PL footballer. I’m glad Utd got rid.
 

Dumbstar

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Did Lukaku play today? I guess I'll have to catch him when he's playing Utd and City soon. Varane and Dias should have him in their pockets. :D
 

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Playing 10 men is probably the worst way to judge a strikers abilities. It has only been 2 games but I have not seen the brick first touch he had with Man Utd. His hold up play, including bringing in the ball and sliding it to other players looked good. I think some people are trying to justify their preconceived ideas about him. I like what I see so far. He was the first guy to run and embrace his teammates in a defensive game after the whistle blew.
And Daniel James has a warm smile and works his ass off. Who the feck gives a shit if he hugged anyone? :lol: has nothing to do with the fact he DID show bad touch today.
 

Zaphod2319

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And Daniel James has a warm smile and works his ass off. Who the feck gives a shit if he hugged anyone? :lol: has nothing to do with the fact he DID show bad touch today.
I have read here that he does not care about the team and teammates. He has a history to prove that point when he was with you. People grow. I really don’t expect United fans to embrace him. Chelsea fans have, and that is what really matters.
 

Pace Abuser

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Nothing has changed. Only now being leaner, he can carry on being a donkey for longer each game, than in short bursts that he showed with us. It was a classic United performance that we saw every week.

I have watched this guy live a number of times, he simply can not judge the flight of the ball which is why defenders find it easy to defend long balls to him, his short passing is clumsy, his dribbling generally involves leaving the ball behind, his anticipation is non existent. Brilliant finger pointing though and can finish sometimes when it's laid on a plate for him.
 

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Great CF display especially with the hand dealt to him. Id have had him back here in a heartbeat but we have CR7 back!

Also RVP great with his back to goal? Laughable, people need to take their red tinted specs off.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Someone like van Persie was really excellent in that situation, no-one around him, aimless balls, but he’d bring it under control and find players with really incisive passes.

It’s just something that Lukaku is completely incapable of. The only thing you can rely on him for on those situations is lots of complaints, and ultimately a lack of attacking inspiration. The lads behind him are working their bollocks off and all he can do is point and moan. He’s a good player but there’s no harm in recognising his flaws.
RVPs hold up play at his peak was absolutely brilliant though. Lukaku has never been that good at it. If you roll it to his feet he can use his strength to keep any defender at bay but when it's more of a contest i.e ball launched in the air or such situations he is no shakes. And tbf that's not really the CF he is. He can do it well at times but he's more a run into channels or in behind.
 

NK86

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Great CF display especially with the hand dealt to him. Id have had him back here in a heartbeat but we have CR7 back!

Also RVP great with his back to goal? Laughable, people need to take their red tinted specs off.
Or maybe you need to start watching football instead of playing on FIFA. That seems more likely given the post you made.
 

Bleu

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Or maybe you need to start watching football instead of playing on FIFA. That seems more likely given the post you made.
Holding the ball was never RVPs strength, he was brilliant running into space and poaching. Supreme finisher also. His first touch was very good, but he was never a brilliant target man.
 

NK86

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Holding the ball was never RVPs strength, he was brilliant running into space and poaching. Supreme finisher also. His first touch was very good, but he was never a brilliant target man.
As I said, maybe watch some games of RvP when he was playing as a striker before making these ridiculous statements. The guy was fantastic in holding the ball up and bringing others into play. Lukaku isn't even in his league despite being a massive guy.
 

Bebestation

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Glad that he is the same player.

A very good player that has flaws that can make you feel like you are playing with an extra player in your team. Against the best the extra player gets in your own way, against the smaller clubs the extra player helps you score easily.
 

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Holding the ball was never RVPs strength, he was brilliant running into space and poaching. Supreme finisher also. His first touch was very good, but he was never a brilliant target man.
He was brilliant at it holding the ball and bringing others into play.
 

tenpoless

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It was a tough game for a lone striker. And there should be more games like that over the course of the season. Based on the game vs Liverpool his struggles are still the same as Lukaku the ManUtd player. He's big but not strong, he's fast but his dribbling skills and touches arent enough to beat defenders. You want him at the end of chances but he doesnt excel when has to drop deep. Still looked a bit clumsy to me.
 

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From near the half way line at that pace? They can make space in the box or from just outside the box, but definitely at that pace. Link me the 20 then because that's not true at all. I think you're seriously underrating how fast he's going. The defenders are all sprinting without the ball and can't keep up with him. If Cavani can do that then we've basically got a hidden Ronaldo on our hands.
Yes. Look at the second goal in this video.

They were good goals by Lukaku, and hes got pace for sure, but considering how off balance the other team was its just a regular counter attack really
 

Ace of Spades

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Nothing has changed, still the same player with the same strengths and weaknesses.

Will score goals aginst the weak teams, which is what Chelsea needed so he will do what he was bought for.
 

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Holding the ball was never RVPs strength, he was brilliant running into space and poaching. Supreme finisher also. His first touch was very good, but he was never a brilliant target man.
Given there's a few people that think his hold-up play was great, maybe there's something to it? You might just have a more limited definition of hold-up play. Obviously we all agree that hold-up play is about playing with your back to goal, the focal point of the attack, with the goal of keeping it and moving it on. The point of difference might just be about physical contact. Some great target mans love to pin the defender and outmuscle them, but others like van Persie were brilliant at taking one or two steps at the perfect time, pulling off the centre back, unbalancing him, and from there he can hold off the incoming defender, lay it off for an incoming attacker or flick it in behind.

Look at the number of times in this that he picks it up with his back to goal and the defenders just give up tackling him because they can't get it off him. And because of that touch he gets it pinged in from all angles, with defenders all around him. That is great hold-up play. The fact he could also drop deep doesn't take away from that. Do you count a touch like this for Rooney's goal against City as hold-up play? Whatever you call it, Lukaku's much worse at it, and something like that would've been very useful to Chelsea yesterday.
 

11101

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Well that brought him back down to earth :lol: I've been saying for months, i live in Milan and watched Inter most weeks. He's the same player who left us just not as fat. He scored goals because of the low quality of Serie A, not because he's improved in any marked way. He will help Chelsea in some of the smaller games they fail to win but he will actually hinder them in the big games.


Lukaku is good at hold up play IF he can get the ball under control and use his size to keep the defender at arms length. And that's a big if. I can't imagine anybody who ever watched him thinking RVP might be worse than Lukaku at it.
 

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I don’t miss his pointing and throwing his hands up in the air when his teammates are on a different wavelength. Maybe look at yourself and move.
I could have sworn it happened in the 2nd half, threw his arms up not getting a pass, but he looked offside anyway
 

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Given there's a few people that think his hold-up play was great, maybe there's something to it? You might just have a more limited definition of hold-up play. Obviously we all agree that hold-up play is about playing with your back to goal, the focal point of the attack, with the goal of keeping it and moving it on. The point of difference might just be about physical contact. Some great target mans love to pin the defender and outmuscle them, but others like van Persie were brilliant at taking one or two steps at the perfect time, pulling off the centre back, unbalancing him, and from there he can hold off the incoming defender, lay it off for an incoming attacker or flick it in behind.

Look at the number of times in this that he picks it up with his back to goal and the defenders just give up tackling him because they can't get it off him. And because of that touch he gets it pinged in from all angles, with defenders all around him. That is great hold-up play. The fact he could also drop deep doesn't take away from that. Do you count a touch like this for Rooney's goal against City as hold-up play? Whatever you call it, Lukaku's much worse at it, and something like that would've been very useful to Chelsea yesterday.
Good post but Chelsea were slow to commit men forward to back him up when he got on the ball in more advanced positions. There wasn’t a lot on and he did fine. Yes he’s limited in his all round game and it’s crazy money to pay for a powerful poacher but you could see against Arsenal he’s what they’ve been missing. With Werner I think that game would possibly have been a lot tighter. Rom will force the centre backs to sit deeper and make more space for the cavalry which should in theory work well for mount and havertz and he gives their attacking full backs something credible to aim for in the box. He’s also difficult to stop once he gets past the first man and won’t often be beaten for physically in the box. All in all he’s not a great player but he’s going to score a awful lot of goals for them in games that they might have otherwise stuttered in.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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Great CF display especially with the hand dealt to him. Id have had him back here in a heartbeat but we have CR7 back!

Also RVP great with his back to goal? Laughable, people need to take their red tinted specs off.
You think Lukaku Is better with his back to goal than RVP? Now that’s laughable :lol:
 

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This thread will keep seeing a lot of activity all season. Thing is though, he'll always score goals just not vs elite opposition because he's not an elite player.

Doubt Chelsea care though because under Tuchel, they're good enough to just need him to get the 20 goals all season especially vs non top teams which they found difficult last season having Werner upfront. Do that and they're immediately gunning for the title.
 

Berbasbullet

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Great CF display especially with the hand dealt to him. Id have had him back here in a heartbeat but we have CR7 back!

Also RVP great with his back to goal? Laughable, people need to take their red tinted specs off.
What? RVP was great with his back to goal! It’s so frustrating seeing outright lies about our old players to downplay them.

His performance away to Madrid was a great example of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
 

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This thread will be exactly the same come May. Half the posters saying he's great because he's got around 20 league goals. The other half saying he isn't because his performances in the big games aren't good enough. A player that you spend that kind of money on should really be doing both.
 

Bleu

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Given there's a few people that think his hold-up play was great, maybe there's something to it? You might just have a more limited definition of hold-up play. Obviously we all agree that hold-up play is about playing with your back to goal, the focal point of the attack, with the goal of keeping it and moving it on. The point of difference might just be about physical contact. Some great target mans love to pin the defender and outmuscle them, but others like van Persie were brilliant at taking one or two steps at the perfect time, pulling off the centre back, unbalancing him, and from there he can hold off the incoming defender, lay it off for an incoming attacker or flick it in behind.

Look at the number of times in this that he picks it up with his back to goal and the defenders just give up tackling him because they can't get it off him. And because of that touch he gets it pinged in from all angles, with defenders all around him. That is great hold-up play. The fact he could also drop deep doesn't take away from that. Do you count a touch like this for Rooney's goal against City as hold-up play? Whatever you call it, Lukaku's much worse at it, and something like that would've been very useful to Chelsea yesterday.
No, those videos to me didnt prove anything about what I was talking about. Hold up play for Lukaku I was talking about using his body strength Target Man style. The same way Ibrahimovic, Drogba and Kane would. Lukaku would never have a touch as RvP would, that will never change so people comparing RvP and slamming him for not holding the ball like RvP were bang off target because RvP would never hold up play by being physical to begin with. Lukaku does use his body to hold off defenders while holding up play.

People were also calling Lukaku the new Heskey, but to be honest Heskey had great hold up play using his body and strength, he just couldnt score or get himself in position to score. Lukaku is nothing like that because he absolutely knows how to get in positions to score.
 

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What? RVP was great with his back to goal! It’s so frustrating seeing outright lies about our old players to downplay them.

His performance away to Madrid was a great example of holding the ball up and bringing others into play.
Who is downplaying RvP? Robin was two times the player Lukaku is and 10x better then most strikers that have ever played. Doesn't mean he could hold up the ball the same way Target men do. He was never and will never be that type of player so hold on to your horses before you have a shock to your system.
 

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He has never been a target man. It's a common misconception due to his size. He's basically a 6ft 3 inch, 90kg, Michael Owen. Just with worse technique, less speed and inferior finishing ability.