🇧🇪 Romelu Lukaku

[1chelsea 864]

Did he just tell Jose to call him after he scored the first goal but really it true he still can't handle been a top striker here IMO but Jose did him good so he can play matches there good for him

[Las7 951]

1) But you need to keep in mind it was a major investment, contracts were signed. And those contracts aren't that easy nor cheap to terminate.

2) It's not only the strikers for Chelsea that do not score, Chelsea as a team can't score at the moment. It's clear radical changes were made internally when Mourinho was appointed so it's unfair to judge the team based on what? - 6 games?

3) The Premier League isn't the only competition we're in. Torres scored 22 goals, 7 assists last season for Chelsea, not bad for a flop!

4) They knew a 20 year old will hit a rocky patch of form at some point - might it be after 2 games, after 10 games, and will lose his positiong to another striker.

I will not address the rest of your post because it's opinions but lets concentrate on a few points

1) Sheva was a big investment, loaned and gave him out for free. He had shown far more promise in his first year than Torres did in his first year. Sheva never had the type of backing Torres did, we never build a side around and we never bothered to try and come up with elaborate excuses for him. Simply put he was too old to addapt and there was no upward curve for him. For two and half years Torres has done very little do adapt to CFC, we had to adapt to him and his fans came up with elaborate excuses for his poor form. If we had spend 2 and a half years adapting to any other striker including Sheva they would have had at the very least similar results even Kezman could have turned out better.

2) How many times has Torres bailed us out with a bit of magic, fashioning a goal for himself the way top strikers do on regular occasions you can't seriously tell me that if you take out RvP; Kun; Zlatan; Cavani; etc out of their current teams those teams won't find it difficult to replace those magic moments. They play in big clubs where opposition also parks the bus and doesn't allow them too much space. In two years Torres has probably had 2-3 such goals, where he virtually scored out of nothing a good example is his Newcastle goal - the players I mentioned above score such goals once a month at the very minimum while constantly also getting on the end of easier chances it's what makes them top players. Torres's movement inside the box is pathetic so he rarely gets normal striker goals, his match winning out put is dwarfed by a 22 year old Brazilian who has scored more goals out of thin air than Torres has done in two and half years and I'd venture to say that probably in the EPL and CL Oscar has more match changing goals than Torres as well. Lukaku has already proven to be a consistent match winner in the toughest league in the World, he might not provide moments of magic yet consistently but in due time that will happen as well.

3) Lets break those awesome 20 goals down:

EPL: Newcastle(16th); Reading(relegated); Arsenal*; Norwich City(11th); Sunderland(17th) - 2 goals; Aston Villa(15th); Everton*

Two goals against direct rivals in a full season and the rest coming against team in the bottom half of the table for which top teams usually rest their first choice strikers.

CL: Shakhtar; Nordsjaelland - 2goals

He had a lucky rebound goal against Shakhtar and bloated his tally against possibly the weakest team in the Group Stages that year.

Europa League: Steaua; Rubin - 3 goals; Basel; Benfica

On our route to the Final the only team we faced who might have enough quality to be in the top half of the EPL is Benfica, it was the most important goal Torres has scored for CFC against a great team.

But honestly I've seen Massimo Maccarone and M'boro do well in the Europa League so it's not exactly the most vindictive competition we could win and in most years you'd face tougher teams on route to a FA Cup final than we did in our Europa League run. In fact there is many similarities between the two

The player's spell at Middlesbrough is remembered for two last minute winners in key UEFA Cup ties in 2006. He scored against Basel in the second leg of the quarter-finals, a tie in which Middlesbrough overturned a three-goal deficit to win 4–3 on aggregate.^[6] In the semi-final of the same competition he came on as a substitute and scored twice in the aggregate 4–3 win over Steaua Bucharest,^[7] once again in the 90th minute, taking Boro to the final in Eindhoven, in which he came on as a substitute. Following his exploits in the semi-final, fellow Middlesbrough striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink declared "Massimo, I love him until I die... it's unbelievable".^[8]"

The difference between the two is that one was a sub player for M'Boro while the other was a first choice striker for the CL the previous year. They pretty much faced two of the clubs we faced on route to the Final, they also beat Roma and Stuttgart two teams which I'd rate higher than Rubin/Basel and lost to the third best side in Spain at the time.

FA Cup:Brentford(3rd in League One)

League Cup:Wolves(Relegated from Championship that year); Leeds(13th in the Championship)

Club World Cup: Monterrey(11th in Mexico)

So yes out of his 20 goals approximately 3/4 could be classified against good opposition, two of those could be classified against top clubs in the Continent. The rest is either Relegation threatened teams or teams who don't have enough quality to be in the Premiership.

4) Torres goes through rough patches all the bloody time, 24 hours without a goal; 6 months without a Premiership goal; etc, yet you seem to be very patient with him - well excuse me my patience ran out when he got send off against Swansea and failed to find the net in the next 1440 minutes(24 hours) of football.

[TrippingStep 336]

I've seen the goals. Krul was ridiculous

On the seconde one, newcastle defenders did everything you can do wrong, not attacking the ball before the rebound, letting the striker runs unmarked with no one running with him to bother him and the goalkeeper was a pussy, he should have come to the ball and if necessary colliding with Lukaku after boxing the ball.

[robsblubot 3,595]

Not sure if posted already, but here's a funny bit from Carragher:

He's the type of player you look at as defenders and you think 'that's probably why I retired'. You don't really want to be coming up against players like that.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/29327/8950707/jamie-carragher-says-romelu-lukaku-can-fire-everton-into-top-four

I was expecting the same power, no not the speed but just the power, from Ba.

[Stats 7,142]

You said it yourself.

Arsenal are only playing Gnabry because they have no other option there. Walcott, Cazorla, Podolski, Oxlade, Rosicky are all out. Arsenal's squad is injury ravaged, and that's the only reason Gnabry is playing. Not because Wenger wanted to give his talents a chance.

But he is shining there ad playing and they are also winning games. He is a good prospect but if he can make an impact after a run of games then Lukaku certainly would have done the same with us.

[Fastrobbie 26]

Guess we all have to accept with the fact that we won't see Lukaku back untill 2014, if he does return to the Bridge at all.

But for now, let's just enjoy how he wrecks our competitors with Everton

[Weckerz 3,781]

#LukakuFacts

"Lukaku has a grizzly bear carpet in his room, the bear isn't dead, it's too scared to move."

"Ghosts sit around the camp fire and tell Romelu Lukaku stories."

"When you get 5 stars on GTA, the swat team don't come for you, Lukaku does."

"Romelu doesn't eat honey, he chews bees"

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

It's not about the competition for places that makes it harder to score for Chelsea. It's the fact that teams defend with 10 behind the ball when playing against us, and with only one striker up front he can not afford any mistakes. Simple as that. Please try to have more perspective.

I've never understood that argument. Lower teams play like that against all the top teams, yet RVP, Suarez, Aguero,... Don't seem to have any problems scoring tons of goals every year. It's not the other teams, it's either the quality of the strikers or the supply they get. Looking at the chelsea midfield, i'm going for option one.

[sutro 1,026]

What bothers me the most is that we in a transition year, but in this transition year we loan out someone who can be our future striker and buy at 32 years old striker.

Since we are building a new squad, shouldnt lukaku be part of that building process?

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

I've never understood that argument. Lower teams play like that against all the top teams, yet RVP, Suarez, Aguero,... Don't seem to have any problems scoring tons of goals every year. It's not the other teams, it's either the quality of the strikers or the supply they get. Looking at the chelsea midfield, i'm going for option one.

That's right! We don't have the quality available like RVP, Suarez and Agüero. Torres was on par with them on his prime, Eto'o aswell - but for Chelsea they haven't been on that level. So what makes you think Lukaku can reach that potential at the age of 20? It's like deliberately making him fail. Rather give him time in Everton to develope and adapt to English league. It might be frustrating for him, for some fans but in the long run it is probably for the best.

Some players should take note of Kagawa, who instead of sulking or saying stuff to national media, wants to improve and sees the positives in even his situation: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/8950832/premier-league-manchester-uniteds-shinji-kagawa-admits-he-needs-to-improve

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

That's right! We don't have the quality available like RVP, Suarez and Agüero. Torres was on par with them on his prime, Eto'o aswell - but for Chelsea they haven't been on that level. So what makes you think Lukaku can reach that potential at the age of 20? It's like deliberately making him fail. Rather give him time in Everton to develope and adapt to English league. It might be frustrating for him, for some fans but in the long run it is probably for the best.

Some players should take note of Kagawa, who instead of sulking or saying stuff to national media, wants to improve and sees the positives in even his situation: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11667/8950832/premier-league-manchester-uniteds-shinji-kagawa-admits-he-needs-to-improve

The whole point is that he's 'adapting' quite well, since he's one of the most productive strikers in the league, while the ones still at the bridge score less goals than the defenders. Twenty is not only his age, it's how many goals he scored in the league in little more than one year. How many more does he have to make before you stop talking about 'potential'?

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

The whole point is that he's 'adapting' quite well, since he's one of the most productive strikers in the league, while the ones still at the bridge score less goals than the defenders. Twenty is not only his age, it's how many goals he scored in the league in little more than one year. How many more does he has to make before you stop talking about 'potential'?

When he scored 20 for Chelsea, there's a difference.

[zolayes 14,489]

I've seen the goals. Krul was ridiculous

On the seconde one, newcastle defenders did everything you can do wrong, not attacking the ball before the rebound, letting the striker runs unmarked with no one running with him to bother him and the goalkeeper was a pussy, he should have come to the ball and if necessary colliding with Lukaku after boxing the ball.

I think all the barcodes defenders got scared shitless by Lukaku.. the way Drogba did it .

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

When he scored 20 for Chelsea, there's a difference.

Sigh, if they'd put him in the actual team, he might. Let's face it, he can't do worse than what's happening now....

[Melanicus 5,208]

Romelu Lukaku can touch MC Hammer #LukakuFacts

[His Majesty 43]

What bothers me the most is that we in a transition year, but in this transition year we loan out someone who can be our future striker and buy at 32 years old striker.

Since we are building a new squad, shouldnt lukaku be part of that building process?

I agree. The signing of Eto'o shows there's a lack of long term plans. This year would have been a perfect opportunity to integrate Lukaku in front of Mazacar. Instead we go out and buy another two attacking midfielders and destroy all automatisms.

[bouletje 82]

the striker problem is big here, big in the lines of when we would have signed a top class striker and i'm just popping out names, RvP, Rooney, ibrahimovic and a few more when those guys would put out a mediocre performance for 3 games in a row, even they would be getting alot of criticism here, just like eto'o is getting now.

Imagine the shit storm lukaku would be getting after 3 bad games.

So just to be sure, the loan is a good idea, he started great, let him confirm not his potential but the class he already has and he'll start up front for chelsea next season with alot more credit than he has now, and that's if he's deemed ready

Because to be honest "he hasn't scored 20 for chelsea" is a shit argument, no candidate for that spot up front these days has done that for chelsea.

And one other thing, Drogba made it work, Drogba is unique, if he had a twin brother even that guy wouldn't be doing the same as he did here, when you get a good player for that spot and he's not performing, it doesn't necessairy mean the striker doesn't qualify, it might mean something else is being handled the wrong way.

wake up, the best striker in the world might fail here, it's about trust in the guy, his mentality and the players surrounding him.

[Las7 951]

Torres hasn't scored 20 goals in the EPL for Chelsea in nearly 3 seasons here, yet people say that Lukaku shouldn't be starting because he hasn't scored 20 in a Blue shirt.

I'd understand if Lukaku was loaned while we had Aguero/RvP or someone in that caliber banging goals in week in week out but we got Torres who can't even reach double digits in 2 full seasons at CFC and took 14 matches to score his first goal. Ba who's an injury away from retirement and hasn't set the world on fire when given chances. Coming out of retirement Eto'o who hasn't played high intensity football since going to Siberia.

We loaned our best striker and to make things worse people have their heads so far up their arse they are not willing to admit we don't have anyone better.

[robsblubot 3,595]

Torres hasn't scored 20 goals in the EPL for Chelsea in nearly 3 seasons here, yet people say that Lukaku shouldn't be starting because he hasn't scored 20 in a Blue shirt.

I'd understand if Lukaku was loaned while we had Aguero/RvP or someone in that caliber banging goals in week in week out but we got Torres who can't even reach double digits in 2 full seasons at CFC and took 14 matches to score his first goal. Ba who's an injury away from retirement and hasn't set the world on fire when given chances. Coming out of retirement Eto'o who hasn't played high intensity football since going to Siberia.

We loaned our best striker and to make things worse people have their heads so far up their arse they are not willing to admit we don't have anyone better.

We got Eto'o because Jose did not trust Ba and Torres, and Lukaku was loaned out because we couldn't move either Torres or Ba.

Had we kept Sturridge and not signed Ba, I reckon Lukaku would be still in the squad because Daniel is more versatile (than Ba). Oh well... too many ifs.

[Despiadado.Maleante 1,046]

Lukaku kiled Mufasa #LukakuFacts