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Ruben Loftus-Cheek


Tobey Gibson
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On 31/01/2016 at 7:35 PM, manpe said:

Maybe he has really bad stamina and is conserving himself? This would explain why he's not used more often or for full games (except today, where being active wasn't that necessary). But the way he plays when he has the ball is great, he's a really menacing physical presence, but this is not enough to break through in the PL. I agree, at the moment he's best suited as CAM, not CM.

EDIT: I thought he was great today, championship level is too easy for him.

I am, and always have been, less worried about Ruben's level of activity when the oppo have possession, than I am about the situation when we have the ball. When Ruben has the ball himself he's fine, but otherwise he's got to up the work rate to make more of an impact. I started to review yesterday's game to look for evidence to back up my comment and didn't have long to wait.

At about 0:01:33 he chased a Fabregas pass down to the corner flag, flicked it over the left back's head and was unlucky not to draw a foul when he was bundled over. Then, at about 0:10:44, he collected a pass from Brana on halfway and dropped a simple, first time, ball back to Matic. In the intervening 9 minutes plus, Ruben touched the ball once. Even then it was not because he engineered himself into the passing pattern. Rather it was because he closed down the left back and got a block in. That's 10% of game time; time during which his team was utterly dominant and created numerous chances.

Yes, it is possible for a player to make important contributions without touching the ball, and yes, any player might experience a passage of play like that from time-to-time. This is not a one-off for Ruben however. I've been banging on about this aspect of his game for three years. This is not about Ruben's team mates failing to pass to him, this is about Ruben working harder to support play, find space and make angles which enable him to receive the ball. Ruben has to be helped to acquire the knack of getting into possession. Only then will what he can do with it make enough of a difference for his team. Even Butch Wilkins noticed and commented on Ruben's lack of involvement yesterday.

Edit: Anyone who has read my opinion on Ruben before will already know this but just to be clear, I'm a huge RLC fan and am desperate that he should make it with Chelsea. If that is to happen, he will have to pay attention to this issue.

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Great news.

There is a persistent strand of opinion on here that Chelsea is a graveyard for young footballers, that, for the sake of their careers, young men should not join us and that those we already have should leave. Ruben and his advisers will be as well acquainted with such a viewpoint as any of us are, but they have better facts than we do. Putting pen to paper is therefore a pretty eloquent statement on their part. Very happy for Ruben and for Chelsea.

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Hearing his new contract means he will be earning around £40,000 p/w while other sources say it is 60k p/w. Probably earning £40k with clauses that if met, means it will rise to that much. Can see why the club wanted to tie him down but we award our youngsters with way too much, too soon. Dele Alli who has been excellent for Spurs this season was initally earning around £10k p/w which I think RLC was roughly on as well. Alli deservedly earned a new contract because of his excellent unexpected rise to stardom so quickly but is reportedly earning around £25k p/w with his new contract.

So in theory RLC is earning almost double what Dele Alli is earning. RLC deserves a new contract but that is a lot of money to be giving someone who has not even established himself in the first team as of yet. He comes across to me as level headed but this is where it can all go wrong for youngsters. We offered similar amounts to Chalobah and Josh too and probably more youngsters I have not even mentioned.

Kane, who also rose to stardom last season was awarded with a contract that put him on the same amount as RLC. Compare what both have achieved.

Hopefully the money does not get to his head and he remain level headed because those wages are what you normally give to a player who is important part of the first team.

Either way, delighted that he has committed to us for the long term.

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I am completely unconvinced that Loftus-Cheek will amount to anything other than being a bit-part player for the club in the future.

He does a bit of everything but has no stand-out feature - he doesn't even use his physical size very well in matches.  On top of that, he has a poor work ethic and doesn't assert himself on the pitch.

Typically, players like these never amount to anything significant in their careers unless they are fortunate enough to be with a club that goes on a trophy run over the seasons.

Contrast him to Riechedly Bazoer who is younger and has demonstrated much greater ability in terms of strength and movement coupled with much better link play in midfield.  Little wonder that half of the top European clubs are after him.

Completely over-hyped and giving a new 60,000 pound weekly wage is insanity and it's no wonder that our wage bill is the highest in the land with over-paid and under-performing/average players.

I rather get excited over Musonda and Traore.

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1 hour ago, bellion said:

I am completely unconvinced that Loftus-Cheek will amount to anything other than being a bit-part player for the club in the future.

He does a bit of everything but has no stand-out feature - he doesn't even use his physical size very well in matches.  On top of that, he has a poor work ethic and doesn't assert himself on the pitch.

Typically, players like these never amount to anything significant in their careers unless they are fortunate enough to be with a club that goes on a trophy run over the seasons.

Contrast him to Riechedly Bazoer who is younger and has demonstrated much greater ability in terms of strength and movement coupled with much better link play in midfield.  Little wonder that half of the top European clubs are after him.

Completely over-hyped.

I rather get excited over Musonda and Traore.

For what it's worth, I think Traore is ahead of all of them.

I can't argue with anything you say about RLC but I retain a bit of hope because I think if the penny drops about asserting himself then he does have qualities that can influence a game. As I said three years ago however, if that penny does not drop then Ruben will be lucky to get a gig in League One. (In fact I sad he needed a kick up the backside and that he needed to react to it.)

I have not yet seen anything which allows me to agree with your comparison of RLC & Riechedly Bazoer, except in one vital regard that is. I have never seen Bazoer do anything that I have not also seen Ruben do. Indeed, if asked to come down on one side or the other, I'd call Ruben the more talented player. The exception is a rather big one however; Bazoer does it often, Ruben only occasionally. This is really just a repeat of what you said above, but, unless Ruben is able to put his talent into action then, although that talent has earned him a contract which will shovel money into his bank account, it won't get his name onto the team sheet.

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One big problem that RLC has is that he did not get his chance to play his natural position.Hiddink and Mourinho always used him as a no.10 and yes,he can play there,but he seems most of the time lost due to the fact that he does not know where he should position himself during the game in order to benefit the team.Mourinho also used him as a no.6 and there,he played much better,but he is also not a no.6 because I am quite sure that he is not able to play the no.6 role against bigger teams.He simply has not the discipline to play that role right now.

His best position is playing the no.8 role,where he can go forward,but still do some defensive work.He never got a fair chance to play his natural position,so he did not get a completely fair chance.I remember that Traore always played really bad under Mourinho.The reason for that is simple.Mourinho used him as a LB or as a winger,but his real position is as a striker.Hiddink started to use Traore as a striker and what happended?Traore started to shine.It is always easier for a young kid to play in his best position.If he establishes himself into the starting eleven,the manager can try changing some minor things about his position.

 

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