Romelu Lukaku

[Blue Armour 4,436]

4 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Every player can improve but asking someone who isn’t a target man to all of a sudden improve and become a target man isnt going to work. Hes said that himself re being a target man - its not his game and never has been. 

All in all he’s not the worst at using his body at times but he does need to work on things, as does the whole attack. He is pretty mobile for a big guy but he’s not really the sort of player you want drifting out on the left or right wing constantly when he’s here as the focal point surely? I think thats why this 352 has to go and the 343 has to come back, to play with two 10s/attacking midfielders to try and play in the pockets or a bit wider if needed. 

I agree that he isn't a target man and that's the part that's a bit confusing, the team seem to play like he's a target man. They use him to setup attacks for runners playing along side, kind of like how Giroud was used. 

And yes, agree that the 352 has got to go. We look much better with 2 attackers playing alongside Lukaku.

[robsblubot 3,595]

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. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by robsblubot

[OhForAGreavsie 6,058]

20 hours ago, Hermione said:

Sell to whom, were stuck with this guy for years to come.

Ah me lads, ye shudda seen us gannin’,

We pass’d the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin’;

Thor wes lots o’ lads an’ lasses there, all wi’ smiling faces,

Gannin alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races.

[Warning_Hazard 156]

23 hours ago, Hermione said:

Sell to whom, were stuck with this guy for years to come.

Newcastle!

[Tomo 21,751]

On 17/10/2021 at 13:37, Pizy said:

If Rom was missing loads of sitters and easy chances like Werner I’d be concerned. Or if he was being fed good through balls repeatedly and having the ball bounce off him like a donkey. But that’s not what’s happening. He’s not even getting opportunities.

For me the much bigger annoyance and concern is the players behind him. We see nearly every time he plays for Belgium what happens when you feed the beast. But much like last season we’re currently getting ZERO from our midfielders. On paper the likes of Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic, and Mount behind a world class goal scorer should be ridiculously lethal. But Ziyech and Werner have forgotten how to play football since joining Chelsea, Pulisic is made of the most delicate porcelain known to man, and Mount is woefully out of form at the worst possible time. Havertz has also yet to put together a consistent run of games where he looks amazing.

Combine all that with the fact that Jorginho and Kova offer nothing going forward creatively AND that Azpi keeps playing as the RWB and there’s no wonder Lukaku is struggling.

Also, I heard the commentator during our game yesterday say that we are 19th in the league so far at winning the ball back in the opposition half. Ahead of only rock bottom Norwich. Meaning we don’t press high AT ALL anymore. That’s pretty much the hallmark of every top attacking team these days. Press like maniacs, win the ball, and blitz the opposition box. We just aren’t doing that this season. We kind of just sit off teams and when we get the ball the opponents are already set deep to negate Lukaku.

We need to have a run of games with Chilly and Reece as wingbacks, Mount back in form and working his socks off pressing, and a more attacking mentality overall.

 

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.

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.

He has to start pushing a goal a game (especially vs the flat track teams) and his goals pushing us into a title race for what we've sacrificed to accommodate him to become even remotely justified.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Tomo

[ZAPHOD2319 4,803]

38 minutes ago, Warning_Hazard said:

Newcastle!

Or to wherever Conte takes over.

[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 8,288]

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 30,100]

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 7,043]

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 8,288]

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

[MoroccanBlue 5,377]

We looked a better team without him.