robsblubot

This is a tricky one. On one hand he's been playing at the top of his game, and he's still 28, so he's got another few years of quality play ahead of him barring injuries. On the other hand, he already did play for us at the top of his game, and won everything, so it's perhaps time to let him go to become hungry again. This is the most difficult decision a football club need to make, and they usually get this wrong by extending contracts based on prior performance. Hope the folks with all the data can get this right this time around.

It's really beyond me how anyone can watch him play and see an elite striker. With that out of the way, Lukaku obviously has strengths as a footballer: most if not all around his physicality, which would make him a good option to have if we ignore the price tag. Except! that he DOES see himself as an elite striker and on top of that comes a bad attitude when being benched for whatever reason. So, either Tuchel plays him VERY regularly or he will make noise again. He does not like being in rotation... did not like at United and does not like it at Chelsea. He loved inter because there he always played whenever available.

Agreed. He also broke the locker room code by going to the press. Affects the whole dynamic there like his teammates who thrive under the very conditions he openly complains about. toxic individual but then again this signing was all wrong from the get go.

Salah was the one who got away. brilliant player and intensity to boot

Attempting to head that ball makes you question whether he’s actually a footballer. absolutely inexcusable.

No argument here. I’m not big fan of tammy, but like I wrote on the lukaku thread, tammy is hard working and would be happy rotating. I’d be for going a different route and get someone young like tammy but more skillful, but nope needed to spend the dough that was lying around eh. where is timo?! Need him back in form asap.

Team is not flowing… play is pedantic. Intensity is still there but not much else. Lukaku scored a great strikers goal and at the same tIme played like shit; story of his game for me.

It's not just goals either. Abraham is actually playing better than Lukaku. Don't get me wrong, I still think Abraham isn't good enough to lead the line for us, but I'd rather have Tammy here than Lukaku. Tammy would be a good, and more importantly, happy rotation player for us. He can press and track back, something Lukaku does not do enough of. Abraham had a very good game against Atalanta, combining well with Zaniolo who finally looks fitter coming back from his bad injury/injuries--he can make Italy a lot better. Tammy still makes a lot of mistakes in the build up, like an overcooked pass in a counter.

perhaps because his feet being that big, makes his poor first touch less important?

Depends how you define "missing" here. 😉

Well he's got a point there. Ziyech should be the very first name in the starting XI every time we play Malmo.

Lukaku is now unsellable at this current wages. It's the max he will ever make and pretty absurd in my view. I see this Duvan from Atalanta and he looks twice the player Lukaku is - fantastic first touch too.

Speaking of Atalanta, that big striker of theirs looked pretty good on the ball.

yup, which is why we all agreed that a replacement for Giroud was needed - and one who could contribute more often/better - but also someone who could sit on the bench when the game was more for Kai as a false 9. I was honestly expecting someone younger, in the same mould of Werner age/experience wise. Tammy just couldn't deliver that, so we needed someone a bit more ready. Lukaku's price tag (and whatever surprises we may find in his contract) alone kinda prevents that from happening.

Do you guys think that being completely unable to run, much less play football, will force Tuchel's hand to not start Lukaku? Have to wait and see.

how Atalanta losing this?!

Agree that there is only so much one can do, but you can move the odds a bit. They have a lot of bio data we don't get to see. There is a blood exam that can show muscle fatigue or something for ex. Even for trauma injuries, a fitter athlete is less likely to get seriously injured. Yeah you can pick up an injury in training, but it's far more likely for that to happen during a very competitive match. Too much resting can be counter-productive by negatively affecting fitness, like in the case of Leonard, which may imply he always carried some niggling issue which was not disclosed. I have to be honest here, I did think the starting line up was a bit serious for such a weak opposition.

Was the starting XI a bit too strong for this fixture?

Nah, he's just nowhere good enough yet. He obviously has potential, but still looks very green to me... even physically.

hahah yeah Wenger!!! I did it again... poor Werner

I have to confess that I can't watch arsenal play anymore. It's not that I hate them as I did during the Werner rule (arrogant prick), but because they are so bad these days, that I'd rather watch most other PL sides instead.

While I also saw interesting things from the player (as well as Chalobah), I also saw big problems with the way they were unable to help the team keep possession, and instead of finding a pass, opted to hoof it upfield immediately handing the ball back to the opposition, which in turn increased the pressure on us. Along with Mendy heroics, shots hitting the post were also a result of that relentless pressure. I think much of it was nerves, but also lack of confidence. It takes a lot of confidence to look for a pass under pressure, or even attempt to dribble past a player so close to your own goal, but that's what it takes at this level. Either these players, at some point, show the skill and confidence to do that, or we will find someone who can, and that's why Zouma is no longer at Chelsea.

Good read. I'd say Ziyech plays in a different wavelength, but not only from Tuchel's style like the article suggests, but rather from the modern game and especially the PL.

Bottom line is that we bought the wrong striker, as usual. So, nothing new here really. Lukaku is definitely not a target man, and his characteristics match what lesser teams generally look for from his attackers (yes Inter too... not really a contender for anything important these days). That's why I'm not very optimistic about his passage here and whether he'll ever improve our side. The important bit here tho is that our side was already very good before he arrived, so improving on that would always be difficult.

Necroing this one a bit, but while I definitely agree with you on that, my point with the "in that City system" bit is that I think Ederson would drop a tier in any other system than City's. And since I don't really see a lot of teams playing like City these days, I think he is indeed a tier lower than the likes of Mendy.