Romelu Lukaku

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, Tomo said:

Missing loads of chances is always a lesser evil compared to barely getting any, atleast with the former there's a hope they will revert to the mean (which Werner has been doing of late all be it more for the national team than us but it's a start), if you barely get any where's the hope? The players behind him were creating chances at will last season, for that reason alone the service excuse doesn't wash. Their finishing can be critisised but creating? Not a chance.

I know players have different roles and we haven't exactly been the best at bringing the best out of our attackers in recent years but as you alluded to, the lack of service reasoning doesn't seem to quite wash. I mean, if we aren't providing our strikers with service, then why did Werner have way more touches against Brentford compared to Lukaku - 44 to 18? The attacking setup was slightly different against Southampton but again, Werner had 46 touches compared to Lukaku's 24. Against Man City, Werner had 28 to Lukaku's 18. Does Tuchel just ask Lukaku to stay up there and wait for the ball to come to him - if that's the case, then questions should also be asked if he's making himself available for the pass etc and not just the lack of service - or does Tuchel give Lukaku tactical instructions but he is not able to execute it? I don't have the full stats from the cup competitions but for comparison sake, the lowest number of touches Werner has had when he's started as the central striker in the league under Tuchel is 19 and the second lowest is 26. Havertz's lowest number when he's started in that position is 25 and the second lowest is 36. So again, is he making himself available for the pass? Is he moving around to make himself available as an option? Or are the others supposed to just find him at wherever he's standing? 

Furthermore, besides the missed chances last season, I remember people also criticized Werner that when he did get the ball, he didn't do much with it and by the same token, questions should also be asked of Lukaku on whether he does do enough when he gets on the ball because it's not as if we don't pass the ball to him at all. At the moment, all the talk seems to be like we're having to lay chances on a plate for Lukaku and that's it. Given how often Lukaku boasts about himself, talking about how he's much improved, how he's more complete etc, think it's fair to expect more from him in general than just being a goal poacher, especially for someone that we paid almost 100 million for. 

4 hours ago, Tomo said:

You mention pressing but Rom is the big reason we've gone to shit in that regard, only Saint Maximan and Ronaldo rank lower out of PL attackers. He's not a stylistic fit atall for what Tuchel is/was trying to build and it is frustrating the hell out of me that we've ripped apart a promising system to accommodate him. The get a poacher to finish what we create narrative was far too flawed, in reality you take a man out of the build up and it's showing, big time.

The drop in our pressing game could be down to several factors but I don't think it's outlandish to suggest that Lukaku is one of those several factors. 

As mentioned by Pizy, the commentators mentioned during the Brentford game that we're 19th in the table at winning the ball back in the opposition half so far this season, and while I don't have last season's figures but I imagine we would not be that low. Plus it's no surprise that we're coming under more pressure this season due to our lack of pressing than at any point under Tuchel last season. Our league xGA this season is 10.1 after 8 games and that's already higher than Man City (5), Brentford (7.7), Palace (8.1), Wolves (8.5), Liverpool (8.6), Everton, West Ham and Brighton (all three on 8.8). In the 19 league games under Tuchel last season, our xGA was only 12.3. And not to mention, while Tuchel has praised Mendy this season for saving our butts, he has also mentioned that he's not quite happy that he's been too busy this season. So, our xGA is 10.1 but we've conceded only 3 goals. Is that sustainable?

You have seen the graphic that was recently shared but regarding the attackers' pressing, here's a comparison of Lukaku with our attackers on Pressures per 90 in the Premier League this season:

Werner - 22.6

Mount - 15.8

Havertz - 14.7

Lukaku - 6.32

It's worth remembering that Lukaku has started every league game since joining while the others have been in and out of the team at various points during the same period. For context, Werner's stat above puts him the highest among the attackers in the Premier League - above Jota, Firmino, Jesus, Salah, Aubameyang, Bamford etc - while Havertz's and Mount's numbers put them in the middle acceptable range of the list among the attackers and Lukaku's is near the bottom, just a tad higher than Ronaldo's, as you pointed out. 

So Tuchel's gotta figure out how to make Lukaku work in the system that he wants to play, especially in regards to pressing. If he's going to give him a free pass in that, then Lukaku needs to do more in attack and produce the goods consistently, similar to Hazard when he was given lots of leeway defensively because of what he did going forward. 

P.S. Didn't include Ziyech and Pulisic above since they played only less 100 minutes so far while the others have played at least 320 minutes.

[Warning_Hazard 156]

3 hours ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

Or to wherever Conte takes over.

Lukaku back at united? Cant see it!

[NikkiCFC 7,948]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10102881/Romelu-Lukaku-simply-functional-DULL-player-says-West-Ham-legend-Paolo-Di-Canio.html

Romelu Lukaku is simply a 'functional, DULL' player - and top-of-the-table Chelsea are NOT to blame for their £98m striker going six games without a goal, says West Ham legend Paolo Di Canio

[Vesper 28,796]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10102881/Romelu-Lukaku-simply-functional-DULL-player-says-West-Ham-legend-Paolo-Di-Canio.html

Romelu Lukaku is simply a 'functional, DULL' player - and top-of-the-table Chelsea are NOT to blame for their £98m striker going six games without a goal, says West Ham legend Paolo Di Canio

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Vesper

[Warning_Hazard 156]

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/12438259/tuchel-mentally-tired-lukaku-has-played-too-much

[LAM09 6,744]

On 16/10/2021 at 22:48, Jase said:

So, you're saying that Tuchel's reason was legit?

Not at all. He effectively had an extra week off, so fatigue shouldn't even come into play. Tuchel was just trying to deflect from his poor performance.

Will be interesting to see what Lukaku & co do against one of the worst sides in this season's CL.

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by LAM09

[Warning_Hazard 156]

[NikkiCFC 7,948]

TT spoke about resting him but still played him and he got injured. Typical.

[MoroccanBlue 5,297]

We looked a better team without him. 

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

5 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

We looked a better team without him. 

Think either way we looked a better team regardless compared to the last 3 or 4 games.

Be interesting to see how we do without him, all good saying he’s injured now TT has to use Havertz as a false 9 but we need to see consistency from Kai.

Did like the front 3 of Mount, Kai and CHO tbf because we had someone who is good in 1 on 1s.

Edited October 20, 2021 by OneMoSalah

[NikkiCFC 7,948]

7 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Think either way we looked a better team regardless compared to the last 3 or 4 games.

Be interesting to see how we do without him, all good saying he’s injured now TT has to use Havertz as a false 9 but we need to see consistency from Kai.

Did like the front 3 of Mount, Kai and CHO tbf because we had someone who is good in 1 on 1s.

CHO/Havertz have some good chemistry.

Krasnodar, WBA, City, Palace and today. 5 goals they assisted each other. Dont have exact stats but considering limited game time CHO has I imagine they spent very little time together on the pitch.

[whats happening 1,525]

i dont think his injury is bad, maybe one week out. werners is worse imo.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,477]

They said on the Champions League post game show it could be 4-6 weeks.

[robsblubot 3,504]

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.

Edited October 20, 2021 by robsblubot

[Tomo 21,733]

11 minutes ago, robsblubot said:

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.

I wish it happened under better circumstances but I really enjoyed seeing Kai as false 9 again. We simply don't have that fluidity playing with a vocal point.

It's going to be really really infuriating if we build some momentum with this system in the next few weeks (easier opponents or not) only for Rom to be thrown straight back in.

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

Watch us look like a proper team again now.

However we will struggle to break down stubborn defences without him again. Defenders will feel a lot more comofrtable facing CHO or Kai instead of big Rom.

 

[robsblubot 3,504]

1 hour ago, Magic Lamps said:

Watch us look like a proper team again now.

However we will struggle to break down stubborn defences without him again. Defenders will feel a lot more comofrtable facing CHO or Kai instead of big Rom.

 

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.

[Blues Forever 1,232]

Feel Lukaku was more like the board signing rather than Tuchel.