burrogol

As a (neutral) football fan, the stage obviously wasn't set for him tonight. Regret to see him participate in an ordinary rugby-tie where guys like Luiz (ffs) runs the shows. Poor football...

I think your ideas on La Liga / EPL are a bit outdated... Nowadays, all top leagues have become quite "physical" with an emphasis on set-pieces. Don't know if you ever watched La Liga games but they DO attack crosses/corners quite intensively and I wouldn't call Pepe / Puyol / Llorente / Ronaldo / etc. "pushovers" in the box? He has -IMO- proven to be successful in these situations, both internationally, in Spain and in the CL (when confronted with Luiz, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic, Ramires?) So I'm sure he has all the qualities (1.99 m!) to do so in EPL as well... PS/ Interesting read on # of aerial duels / league: http://footballthoughtsfromsweden.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/aerial-duels-in-england-france-germany-italy-and-spain/ "I was surprised by the high numbers from Spanish La Liga, last season La Liga actually had the largest mean of the AADW for the five leagues"

Sounds like Romelu upon Costa's arrival... On topic: I think also in la liga they have pacey/physical situations tbh - especially for GKs- Hasn't he shown last year he can deal with intense games vs. British opponents?

True. He clearly is a brighter/more chill person... Or, does his PR better... ;-)(And obviously proven much more vs. Lukaku) Wouldn't be grieving -let alone blaming Rom- since CFC made +/- 20M on a teenager playing 10 games for them... Since everyone's clearly happy in the end. :-)

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/9400945/ffp-a-factor-in-lukaku-sale This one's for you Dr Phil! ;-)

I'm not whining about his (ex) CFC situation? It only makes sense IMO for all parties. I only dislike people bogus explanations/hatred based on torn paparazzo / ' Mourinho insiders' statements. Good riddance, for all parties IMO...

Cause he s not the finished article yet? You as a Dutch guy should have heard about players development before no?

Couldn't make it 'just yet' I'd say... Let's follow up the next few months / years

You couldn't ! ;-) All the best, I just don't sympathise with the way CFC/press/fans described Rom as -IMO- he is entitled to want playing time, even at a lower level. It just speaks for him...

I expect him to move to a proper top European CL club in 2 years (when he would actually be ready for nr 1/2 spot)

Far from darling... I couldn't support any club who doesn't know about growing footballers -and the importance of playing time, education and patience which come with it. Ps/ I support a club who has grown Lukaku, Kompany, Januzaj, Musonda and Thielemans in very recent times. Good luck with your 'superstar' bunch... No way Jose lol!

True, now. Let's see in 3-4 years when he's entering his prime and your 'club' is fighting FFP and buying another new kid on the block... ;-) (At the exception of the 1 occasional talent you might grow yourselves without the Tsar's money)

Good riddance! Intelligent players like Rom luckily realise at a young (though Well-paid) age they need a maximum of playing time. Despite him hoping to get a chance (after proving his point for at least 2 years), bringing in drogba clearly wasn't a vote of confidence and would make him again at best nr 3 in the pecking order. I hope your Russian pimp club breaks the shirt-sales record! Cause -apart from a to-be-proven-Costa- you re definitely not going to break any goal scoring records with Torres (preferred again to Rom) and veteran Drogba!

True. Cause that what football is all about right? :-)

What has he done wrong to your club? (But prove two years in a row he was better than the other money loving 'hookers' you employ in your pimping 'football club'?)

Thanks for what exactly?

Agree. However I still think a lot of reactions and fed-up-ness are over the top and way too harsh on him. All he wants is to reach top level and he correctly understood he needs games to grow. As much as possible... So probably CFC just came too early in his career IMO. (And it remains in doubt if he'll ever reach that level) On the bright side: getting that much playing time at WBA and Everton made him a better player so he didn't just do himself a favor, CFC and Mourinho (tbc) should also look at the positives of his past 2 seasons IMO. (Better player / more cash in case of sale)

IMO, Mourinho simple didn't (doesn't) rate Lukaku highly enough. Whether or not his judgement (obviously rating the other 3 higher) last year was correct is open for debate I'd say... (404 pages kind of at least prove that)

Do you really believe Mourinho (/any manager) would approve a loan request if he considered that player to play any (significant, not as a 5 minute sub to 'kill a game') role in his plans?

Or He was a kid, CFC fan and unproven talent, signed at very young age and now he's proven to be an asset for the premier league Don't get so carried away y'all! :-)

Yes he chose to go and play which I only see as a good / normal thing as he wasn't nr 1 or 2 in the pecking order. Maybe -easier said now than before the season- he would have got a lot of playing time at CFc as well but surely, you can't argue that indeed at Everton he would get much more? So his move only made/makes sense as playing time is what he needs, and a lot of it, if he is to be Chelsea's nr1 at some point... For me the move only shows both Rom, mourinho and CFC all agree on that. Ps/ obviously I'm not as close with Mourinho as you are so I'm glad to hear Mourinho rates character a lot! I think moving abroad at 18, committing everything for a 100% to his game and career and not falling for the usual young-starlet pitfalls (clubs/birds/booze/etc) shows character and determination to 'get there 1 day'. I only assume a top coach like Mourinho is experienced enough with young players (and their learning curves both on and off the pitch) and clever enough to make the correct judgement (his development and his growing track record and stats) whether or not he sees Rom in his plans. Ps/ IMO he won't be part of his CFC plans for sheer football matters, not for any tabloid/twitter talk which I would definitely understand as I think Rom isn't ready enough and needs more games (/experience and development) to be realistically ready for a nr 1/2 role at Chelsea (/ any other elite club)

I don't go along with your Dr-Phil analysis on him. IMO, Rom just showed his hungre and ambition by pushing for a loan and rightfully so. In order to get better/develop, he needs a maximum of playing chances and it was clear he would get more of those at Everton than at Chelsea. I don't see what's wrong with that, on the contrary? (Comparing with the majority of young 'stars' who feel less need to work/play after having signed a lucrative contract)

I don't see how you can not rate him as a top player, IMO, his career and stats sofar speak for itself. However, Despite he is definitely top IMO, I agree he s not amongst the strikers 'elite', which a club like Chelsea will always strive to have... I think Rom's statements simply show he realizes that and has drawn the (logical) conclusion that in order to get there one day, he needs to play as much as possible, which at Chelsea doesn't look very likely to say the least. So it only makes sense to me that unlike Courtois, Lukaku has seen the light that he should move a step back now in order to grow? I see no difference/problem however in having similar ambition (or more) than fellow 21-year old 'top players' who want to get better and be elite one day. IMO, it and his recent statements only show : A) he's -sadly enough- understood he isn't good enough yet to be Chelsea nr1 he is very hungry to be elite one day Put A and B together and it allows to look beyond the image of the 'supposed ludacris/self overrated youngster' and see an ambitious young guy who may has had 1 dream/illusion 'broken' but lives and breathes football so much that he'll simply fight and work for as long as it takes to be elite (/Chelsea-nr 1 striker-ready) one day... 1 basic requirement for that: playing time, as much as possible!

Point being? I read you don't compare but maybe you should? In my opinion, it's only natural for top players that they want to play (/grow, especially youngsters)? So unless you don't consider Lukaku a top player -with similar ambition to learn/play/grow-, I miss your point?

He wouldn't be the first class player "in your laps" who wouldn't get a chance to prove it would he?