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...

In other words he did nothing.
First of all needs to learn how to defend, because he knows nothing about it. ANd needs also to start doing somethin g in counter attack, because what he shows in this aspect is really limited.

I imagine people would just say he's young but clearly talented and to stick by him because he'll come good in the end.

I think your ideas on La Liga / EPL are a bit outdated...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"

Probably away to Stoke last season and continued throughout the season. Not really flapping, but being hesitant on indecisive and he was dropped for the Steaua match after that.
Miles better? Think that's a mild exaggeration but wasn't Cech still playing in Rennes at Courtois's age?
How many Champions League Finals matches had he appeared in to that point? Did you see him play much at Rennes?
It's weird that people like you and lionsden who tend to moan quite a lot about us not giving youth players a chance are now criticising us giving a truly world-class young player a chance. There's some god-level cognitive dissonance going on there.
Is it possible he's more exciting because he's a better player at this point in time?

yea, they're people out there that rate Courtois more than Petr. Sorry you had to find out this way.

The club really cannot win can they?Let players get old and stagnate (like Malouda, Anelka, Essien) we are too sentimental and succumbing to player power, act in advance in replacing a player and we're cunts disrespecting players.
It seems like so many are happy to constantly contradict themselves for the sake of having a whine.

Ofcourse Thibaut "parry shots back into dangerous zone" Courtois is better.

And strangely the two of them have more or less the same passing acuracy, lukaku wins more header scores at a better rate than Drogba and is less often dispossed. He is not easy on the eye but a good player he is.
http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/08/01/romelu-lukaku-has-already-proven-he-is-a-better-option-than-di-1/

and with that first touch, Lukaku needs as much time with a football as he can get....

Fantastic numbers no doubt about it.
For that picture I have a caption........."This time next year my head will be this big"

Why are people so butthurt,great transfer for CFC, Everton and Lukaku.
I just don't think it's very fair to blame young players like Sturridge or Lukaku for not being happy about bench roles with managers who obviously don't rate them.
Jose had Torres ahead of him in the pecking order last season - that's pretty much like telling him to the face "I think you're shite".
Young players and specially strikers need great confidence to become great, that's why a manager needs to develop a great relationship with them and have his arm around their shoulder. Play them out of position that's alright but explain why you are doing it, bring them on as a substitute but make them feel like they are part of your plans and will have a larger role. This is something we have struggled with enormously - unless we buy a finished product or invest heavily most youth players never develop while here.

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. :-)

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!

People seriously need to calm down.
Lukaku wanted significant playing time. He wasn't gonna get it here (rightly so), so he left. End off.
Why some people need to add so much drama and insult Lukaku, i really don't understand.
Oh and to the person that hopes Chelsea fans will boo Lukaku : Get a grip. He 's done nothing to deserve getting booed.

Lol. If he becomes the next best striker of PL, everyone will take him in second and forget the history. People's opinions on players on this forum change every week if you havent noticed. One day he is best potential, next day after one poor game, he should be sold etc... Im sure in 2-5 years should Lukaku reach Drogba level, me, you and everyone else will want him here.
Kid is ambitious, maybe too much, but it could work for him like Pogba, tell me about ManU fan who doesnt want Pogba despite he didnt want to fight for team.

There's a difference between don't deserving or needing sympathy of Chelsea fans and people on here branding him a coward for not fighting for his place and claiming he's a deluded tool for asking minutes.
Which was exactly the point I was trying to make.
Chelsea have got a nice profit on him, Lukaku has what he wants so I'm baffled and frustrated by why people on here feel the need to now start throwing mud to him.
And we're still talking about the livelihood of a player. Since your Dutch you should know about Guidetti? What has happened to him since he went back to City to fight for his place after his brilliant year on loan at Feyenoord?
I don't think Lukaku should be subject on that kind of abuse on here for choosing the starting spot at a stable subtop-team and a genuine future in English football.
Besides, are you sure you'd want Lukaku to respond to Mourinho's comments. Those comments played out in the media have the nasty habbit of evolving in nasty backstabbing of eachother.

For one. I'm not a Lukaku fan.
And I'm sure this is what Lukaku wanted. I'm just not conviced Lukaku would have demanded the guaranteed starting spot but instead significant time on the pitch.
A line that is now used as a stick by the mad horde to yell "Good riddance to the coward."

I dont justify that .. BUT I think the abuse a young ambitious boy has got on here is completely disgraceful .

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

Frustrated that he gets so much flack on this forum.
He made some comments in the press during his loans that weren't smart. But like so many young talents at Chelsea, he soon became disillusioned with the chances and career path the club has for young players.

Lukaku isn't my type of player. I don't rate him as a footballer and I loathe his style of play. But he is a terrific goalscorer who will be guaranteed to run 1 in 2 during the season, which gets you 20 goals a season if he stays fit. And it is scoring that matters in the end. His record for a 21-year old is remarkable.
I think Lukaku is far more realistic than the brigade that has been stating that he should stay and fight for his place. He had a first row ticket to see Sturridge blossom after he was a fringe player at Chelsea for years. The first year at Chelsea was his most miserable in his career. And he saw KdB being promised guaranteed minutes by Mourinho for the busy month of december in november last season which turned out to be a hoax.
In the end, it's a good deal for both Chelsea and Lukaku. At least if Costa comes out guns blazing because the press will turn on him, Mourinho and Chelsea if Lukaku outscores him next season.

A lot of people have said in this thread during the years they'd lose all hope of ever seeing a homegrown youngster break through to the top at Chelsea if Lukaku didn't succeed. There's genuinly a case to demand Chelsea re-evaluate their policy regarding youngsters. Yet the current policy has made the club a ton of profit.
Funny thing is the wheel turns and now those people turn to Bamford to be disillusioned in 3 years and turning to another youngster.

That's not really an apt compasion...we got Costa and Drogba for Eto'o and Ba would be more like it.
Better off yes, but that you can't make comparisons to how it would have been with Lukaku...I think this sale was more of a case of Chelsea trying to balance its books

In 2-3 years time when the big clubs have poached Barkley, Lukaku, Stones, Coleman, McCarthy, and Roberto Martinez is managing Barca let's see how smug this Everton fan is.

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!