Romelu Lukaku

[Stats 7,059]

Probably cause Watford have a terrific mentor as a manager, including some of the best coaching staff. David Hughes is a youth coach there, another guy who really brings out the best from young players. And they play quite decent football, that creates an atmosphere for young players to improve. and also the reason of 90 days. Quite handy to bring him back if we need him.

Fair enough but in no way at all should Lukaku be thought of being loaned out to a CL. He is good enough to start for most PL sides IMO and playing in the Championship would be a ludicrous idea considering what he done in the PL last season. Even though going to a Championship team was never a realistic option, there are several other PL clubs who he could of join and possibly even European teams which would be much more beneficial. Anyway at Everton he is at a team who plays good football. To be honest if a Championship loan for Lukaku was even contemplated I would struggle to wonder if that is some kind of April fools day.

[English Freak 456]

Fair enough but in no way at all should Lukaku be thought of being loaned out to a CL. He is good enough to start for most PL sides IMO and playing in the Championship would be a ludicrous idea considering what he done in the PL last season. Even though going to a Championship team was never a realistic option, there are several other PL clubs who he could of join and possibly even European teams which would be much more beneficial. Anyway at Everton he is at a team who plays good football. To be honest if a Championship loan for Lukaku was even contemplated I would struggle to wonder if that is some kind of April fools day.

Completely agree. The fact that people on this forum would even consider the idea of Lukaku going to Watford for 90 days is very concerning.

He had offers from Everton & West Brom and from what I heard Marseille, Valencia and Malaga were all interested.

He's clearly a talented young striker...just needs more experience so he can better deal with pressurized situations in crucial matches.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Fair enough but in no way at all should Lukaku be thought of being loaned out to a CL. He is good enough to start for most PL sides IMO and playing in the Championship would be a ludicrous idea considering what he done in the PL last season. Even though going to a Championship team was never a realistic option, there are several other PL clubs who he could of join and possibly even European teams which would be much more beneficial. Anyway at Everton he is at a team who plays good football. To be honest if a Championship loan for Lukaku was even contemplated I would struggle to wonder if that is some kind of April fools day.

I wasn't supporting the fact that he should go there, but just saying that Watford isn't a terrible place to go either.

[meetdoscar 335]

If you're gonna be sarcastic at least make it funny mate, now it just makes you look like a twat.

Did I hit some nerves? Take it easy i only speak the truth.

[didierforever 7,349]

did he get anytime with the belgium team?

[Hamilton 2,120]

No, Mirallas, Dembele and Pocognoli were the ones who got on second half

[Gorando 184]

Interesting article on Lukaku's not so positive image in Belgium http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/worldcupcentral/id/555?cc=5739

[Stingray 9,441]

I hope he gets a good run at Everton and builds up confidence and improves his weaker areas.

For now, I cannot blame Wilmots to choose Benteke over him, really.

[The only place to be 11,313]

..just needs more experience so he can better deal with pressurized situations in crucial matches.

How does one get that experience without playing in them?

Fuck Everton - he'll learn more from that one penalty miss than 40 games in the PL this season.

[DanishBlue 426]

Well, he still has to play games to develop and if Chelsea can't offer him games Everton is a good place for him - it's a very good club and he will play games with good teammates around him. Teams won't go all attack against Everton and because of that he will learn how to play better against teams that have a more defensive approach which is what we are dealing with at Chelsea. At West Brom he faced a lot of teams that attacked a lot and he had better conditions in the counter-attack. He knows that part of the game but now he will learn another how to deal with another approach. I think it's good for him and us and now I have to see all Everton games

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Interesting article on Lukaku's not so positive image in Belgium http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/worldcupcentral/id/555?cc=5739

Hmm, weird article, Benteke is first choice because he has rarely disappointed and there is only one spot for strikers. Lukaku is not seen as "a poor man's second choice". Maybe only by rivals of Anderlecht...

There is some truth in the France criticism though. Van der Elst is a very annoying commentator btw. The kind of guy that makes you change the channel.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

How does one get that experience without playing in them?

Fuck Everton - he'll learn more from that one penalty miss than 40 games in the PL this season.

Couldn't agree more. With Martinez especially, I really don't see any progress for Romelu with Everton this term, this really isn't the best option for him. He should've stayed with Chelsea & we should've sold Ba.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Hmm, weird article, Benteke is first choice because he has rarely disappointed and there is only one spot for strikers. Lukaku is not seen as "a poor man's second choice". Maybe only by rivals of Anderlecht...

There is some truth in the France criticism though. Van der Elst is a very annoying commentator btw. The kind of guy that makes you change the channel.

Was Benteke always first choice for Belgium or did he force Lukaku out?

[The Skipper 20,593]

Couldn't agree more. With Martinez especially, I really don't see any progress for Romelu with Everton this term, this really isn't the best option for him. He should've stayed with Chelsea & we should've sold Ba.

I'm interested in why you think such? Why do you think it would've been better for Romelu to probably be third choice here than him probably being the first choice striker at a club aiming for a top 6 spot, who play the sort of football that we require from him (Romelu)?

[Stingray 9,441]

Was Benteke always first choice for Belgium or did he force Lukaku out?

Well, Lukaku just came around after having shit strikers for so long. Then came Benteke and when Lukaku was benched here, Benteke started to take his chances - see last year. Wilmots, the new NT coach put him in and he started scoring immediately. The rest is history.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I'm interested in why you think such? Why do you think it would've been better for Romelu to probably be third choice here than him probably being the first choice striker at a club aiming for a top 6 spot, who play the sort of football that we require from him (Romelu)?

I think he would've benefited more from the competition we have here, under the supervision of Mourinho, than he will have at Everton. While Everton are a competitive team and Martinez is a capable manager, I just think the best way to follow up to West Brom would've been getting more experience here.

One look at Everton's strikeforce and you see guys like Koné & Jelavic who aren't exactly the best to bring the best out of Lukaku. At least at West Brom he had Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie (pre-transfer request) and Rosenburg. He went from 3rd choice there to joint-first with Long. He displaced Odemwingie (which led to that transfer window fiasco) and because of that Rosenburg didn't even get a look-in.

Obviously I can understand Lukaku's reason for wanting the loan, with it being World Cup year and all. But as a Chelsea fan, I just think it would've been better for his development to try and force out Torres.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Was Benteke always first choice for Belgium or did he force Lukaku out?

In my opinion there was no real clear choice until October 2012. Multiple players were used before that: Lukaku, Benteke, Mirallas, Vossen, Ogunjimi. Around 2 years ago, Lukaku was playing for Anderlecht and he was seen as the clear choice for the future. After that he lost a year on the Chelsea bench, while the other strikers all played regularly. Once he got fired up at WBA, Benteke already made some important goals for the national team. It'll be hard to get him out of the starting eleven by now.

Benteke's immense progress last year was a real surprise for me. I always thought it was a player without character. England really did wonders for him... He played a really useful game against Scotland. Very pleasing to see.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I think he would've benefited more from the competition we have here, under the supervision of Mourinho, than he will have at Everton. While Everton are a competitive team and Martinez is a capable manager, I just think the best way to follow up to West Brom would've been getting more experience here.

One look at Everton's strikeforce and you see guys like Koné & Jelavic who aren't exactly the best to bring the best out of Lukaku. At least at West Brom he had Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie (pre-transfer request) and Rosenburg. He went from 3rd choice there to joint-first with Long. He displaced Odemwingie (which led to that transfer window fiasco) and because of that Rosenburg didn't even get a look-in.

Obviously I can understand Lukaku's reason for wanting the loan, with it being World Cup year and all. But as a Chelsea fan, I just think it would've been better for his development to try and force out Torres.

I think rather the opposite to be honest. After all, it was Mourinho that advised him to go out on loan to Everton - which indicates to me that he'd rather have Lukaku developing whilst constantly getting games at Everton, improving his link up play and finesse, making him a more complete footballer than getting the odd minutes here and there for us (which is what it was beginning to look like).

Martinez has a pretty good track record out of getting the best out of young players. Forget Kone & Jelavic, it's about the players that are surrounding Romelu. The likes of Mirallas, Pienaar, Deulofeu, Barkley, McCarthy etc. are all decent technical players, and with their manager who has a possession/passing football philosophy, Lukaku in my opinion will learn a lot more of his general play, thus refining it a lot more. The kid is too good to just get a few minutes here and there for us in my opinion but the competition we have here will ensure that.

Constant first team football is far more important for a youngster than having to beat the likes of Eto'o, Torres and Ba to a starting spot. Loaning out Ba wouldn't have benefitted us whatsoever as when he returns he won't improve as a player - what he is as a player is pretty much set. That's different with Lukaku though, Romelu is still very raw, and I believe that Martinez's philosophy will refine him in the right way.

He doesn't need this sort of heavy competition to bring the best out of him. With all respects to WBA, Long, Odemwingie and Rosenburg are not Eto'o, Torres and Ba. it isn't the same in my opinion.

Loaning out Romelu to the right club, which was Everton rather than West Brom, is what will make the loan a success. He'll come back more than ready to compete for the number one striker next year providing he has another great season at Everton, which I think he will do.