Romelu Lukaku

[True_Blue 469]

There is only people in the stand behind the goal that can head the ball when Bosingwa crosses.

Ah crap you beat me to it

[Badboy 1,526]

Sam there are big differences between Lukaku and Carlton Cole. Lukaku has scored goals in Europe against sides like Benfica and a double against Ajax. He has also scored against Russia's first team in international competition, he arrived at this club with plenty of first team games already under his belt. Carlton Cole was unlucky that he had one of the best finishers in Europe ahead of him in Jimmy ad he had Guddy who worked so well with Jimmy upfront and of course Zola off the bench.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Well if your so optimistic about him, saying he has scored against top opposition, then why does he keep playing in the reserves? If the club were so willing to pay a lot of money for him then why is he not getting more first team action? At the moment I'm confused at the board for buying him for that amount of money then deciding he is not ready for the first team. We buy Romeu, unkown at the time for £4,35 million at 19 years of age and now he is playing for the first team. While Lukaku, costing a lot of money and hyped as the new Drogba (somthing I cringe at) and he is just rotting at the bench. So I'm not convinced by his abilities until the club plays him more and he justifies why we paid that amount of money. We rightly criticize Torres for his form due to the amount of money we paid for him, so the same should apply for Lukaku, who frankly has the first touch of a donkey and poor agiility.

[Nic! 301]

The thing is (which I find normal, that aside): Torres has got plenty of chances. Until now, he blew them. And yes, Lukaku's first touch is weak, bad actually. But that didn't prevent him from scoring goals at Anderlecht. Torres' first touch is rather good, but that didn't guarantee him any goals.

I'm just saying; you can moan about Lukaku being a expensive transfer and just playing for the reserves. But he didn't get the chance to prove us, the fans, AVB and the rest of the squad, wrong.

Oh, and it's not 18 million yet. It's 13 that can go up to 18 if he performs well. 13 million is still ridiculous for a reserves player, so I'd say: start Lukaku against Villa! I'm pretty confident he won't do any worse than Torres.

PS: I love Torres, have nothing against the guy. Still think he's very talented. But at the current Chelsea, he seems pretty much worthless.

[zolayes 14,489]

Lukaku is Lukaku and not any Carlton Cole or Jones or whoever. its unfair to compare him to anyone, when actually we havent seen him play for the first team. He is good with the reserves, and thats why he needs to be given some minutes in the first team. I just wonder why people are so negative.

Trust your young players and hope they get time to proove themselves. he's 18 FFS.

good post ,,we need to show patience ..his first touch is poor because the pace of the game is much faster than he is used to ..

even many experienced players need time to settle in the PL

[Tomo 21,733]

Sturridge could not get on the bench of a Pre Sheikh City side at 18.

just saying.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Sturridge could not get on the bench of a Pre Sheikh City side at 18.

just saying.

Sturridge wasn't paid 18 millions.

[Badboy 1,526]

Oh come on Sam we all know its a lot easier for a midfielder to settle then a striker at a top club. He'll get his chance when Drogger and Kalou are gone.... we'll see him them !

[Atholy 1,293]

Well if your so optimistic about him, saying he has scored against top opposition, then why does he keep playing in the reserves? If the club were so willing to pay a lot of money for him then why is he not getting more first team action?

Well I think there is only one real reason for that => money.

Don't forget that football clubs these days are real business. So investors also want return on their investments. If you buy Torres at 50 million... You wouldn't want him to leave this winter for 20 million to Athletico (to name one) => That's a loss of 30 million in one year. OR you are as rich as the sea is deep and you don't give a shit... OR you oblige your manager to give this lad some minutes, to prove he still has the killer instinct in him, so you can sell him at least for 30-35 million (in winter or summer).

Same with Drogs... if you let him rot at on the bench for the rest of the season his value will decrease enormously in the next few months. So he needs to play... hopefully score some goals and at least be worth some millions when you sell him.

IMO you don't have to look further than that. Lukaku himself is not the reason for him not playing at this moment. It has just to do with the way businesses are ran: return on investment. Once Drogs is to the ACN, Anelka is in China & Torres is sold... who will be your starting striker => that's right Romelu Lukaku!

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

We rightly criticize Torres for his form due to the amount of money we paid for him, so the same should apply for Lukaku, who frankly has the first touch of a donkey and poor agiility.

The same should apply to Lukaku? Just put the price thing aside and ask yourself if it's fair to criticize an 18-year-old for not being able to break into the Chelsea first team especially when he's competing with Torres and Drogba.

[Swedish House Mafia 508]

I'm very disappointed with his lack of playing time. We play a donkey upfront but we don't give this lad a chance. Baffling.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

The same should apply to Lukaku? Just put the price thing aside and ask yourself if it's fair to criticize an 18-year-old for not being able to break into the Chelsea first team especially when he's competing with Torres and Drogba.

Yes, one who can't score from an open net and another who is old and can't be bothered anymore. Tough challenge for him.

[Badboy 1,526]

LOLZ give him time and we'll see Sam. He is only 18 years old he is still a very young player. He has hardly played and he didn't get much of a pre season. He has tools that we can work with, he can shoot with both feet he's fast he can out-muscle defenders he can head the ball well. He has a shit touch like Drogba his agility is terrible and that is down to him being overweight like Essien was when he joined, he should never in his life drift to the wing he should stick in the box. I want him to start games like Drogba did when he first arrived because i think this guy can give us something other then goals like Drogba did when we won the league. He can provide a distraction like Drogba did while opening space for players around him, we have one of the best young goal scorers in the world in Danny next to him.

[francozola 2,040]

If Torres doesn't start scoring when Didier leaves in a week then I say give this guy some real playing time. 1) Because it will send a message to Torres that it's not just Drogba or Torres & I think it will be quite humiliating for him to be benched for a player who has only played in the reserves so far (because Torres tends to play better for us after getting benched and when he is really fired up) and 2) also to give Lukaku a chance

[Hamilton 2,120]

Probably he will get his chances when Drogba and Kalou are gone for a while.

Hopefully it will be soon, cause if AVB get's another striker(Cavani, Higuain?) the chances will be limited again..

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Yes, one who can't score from an open net and another who is old and can't be bothered anymore. Tough challenge for him.

Don't be ridiculous. It's always tough for young players to compete with the likes of Torres and Drogba even when they're out of form. Besides, the whole team is struggling, and naturally, we turn to the more experienced players. And Lukaku has had barely enough time to settle in and figure out what he needs to do to succeed in England.

Anyway, just because we paid 18m pounds doesn't mean he has to immediately make an 18m-pound impact. We paid the money because of his potential, and he may be in the reserves right now, but he certainly has more than enough in him to become better than Drogba.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

If he doesn't even start every FA Cup game between now and the end of the season then he'll have wasted 12 precious months.

[Liquidator 5,176]

I have a good idea. How about we play this guy or at least put him on the bench! he has been doing well for the reserves and was very encouraging against Norwich on his debut, with Juan Mata stealing the headlines by scoring on his debut.

He is obviously not that bad if he has an almost 50% scoring record for Anderlecht. Of course the Belgian league is not the Premier League but for an 18 year old (16 and 17 for some of his Anderlecht career too) that is pretty amazing.