Romelu Lukaku

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

I'm at a loss about this whole thing, what exactly is the problem here? I can't see one. It's so naive to think that they only communicate via the media.

Knowing the way this club is ran I wouldn't be shocked. Lukaku already said the club doesn't talk to him

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Knowing the way this club is ran I wouldn't be shocked. Lukaku already said the club doesn't talk to him

Is it a bad thing that Chelsea haven't contacted him? Its only been a couple months. He cost the club 18 million I can assure you people are keeping a close eye on him.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

Is it a bad thing that Chelsea haven't contacted him? Its only been a couple months. He cost the club 18 million I can assure you people are keeping a close eye on him.

I find it bad.

He is our investment so if he is a part of our plans, we should have someone in constant contact with him to make sure he is developing and working on what the club feels he needs worked out.

There are more than enough people on staff that could do this.

[iceboy 992]

No drama.

[iceboy 992]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25156907

[Fernando 6,376]

I can't blame the guy.

And I'm happy that Mourinho and Chelsea gave him the option to leave.

We could have really used him, but as Romelu said it was better for his development.

As I also believe next year he should be ready to be our main striker if he keeps up his form and improving.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

If the rumors are true then why would he hand in a transfer request after missing a penalty? Jesus christ...... talk about overreacting and being idiotic both at once.

Feel for Jose though, everyone thought he was stupid letting him go but not really if Rom was wanting to go, he needs to shut his mouth though and remember he's only there because he wanted to leave (apparently he originally wanted to go permanently because he missed a penalty LOL... which the club obviously rejected) so to say I hope Jose is watching and to hint that he shouldn't have let him go although it was his choice is really really really really really really stupid.

[iceboy 992]

ChelsTransferGossip ‏@ChelsTransfer6m

Romelu Lukaku would consider leaving Chelsea to stay at Everton (BBC) #CFC #EFC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25158153

[Henrique 9,133]

As usual, people are making this a way bigger deal than it really is.

I see Mourinho's comments as nothing more than a friendly reminder to Lukaku that he should think twice about what he says to the media. In the past, even before Jose's arrival and the Everton loan, Lukaku has occasionally been a bit immature and naive with the way he has spoken to the media, making a lot of fans and maybe even some people in the club's boardroom question his attitude so now Mourinho has given him a clear message that he needs to cut the bullshit and grow up if he wants to return to Chelsea one day. If Lukaku is a top professional like I've always considered him to be he will not get butthurt over Mourinho's comments and instead tries to learn something from this. If it works and Lukaku learns his lesson, Mourinho has done the right thing here but if it doesn't and Lukaku starts to resent Mourinho so easily then he really is still an immature kid who maybe isn't ready to lead the line for us after all, which is something Mourinho will be happy to know when making his plans for next season.

I agree with most part of your post...but, come one, friendly?

[The only place to be 11,313]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2515830/Jose-Mourinho-hits-Romelu-Lukaku-revealed-Chelsea-striker-demanded-UEFA-Super-Cup-final-loss-Bayern-Munich.html

For fucks sake.

[Blue Gino 377]

After seeing his interview with the BBC about wanting to return to Everton next season on loan or permanently should they make the top 4 is sickening. He would still have a roster spot with Belgium for the WC just like DeBruyne despite Kevin's lack of club appearances. But he wanted to be "the man" imo and refused to compete and fight for his place. He's still got a lot of work to do in his all round game, despite all the praise for his goals, he makes a lot of mistakes. The loan was the right move but to talk about moving to Everton again next season should they make the top 4 pisses me off.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Belgian players sure come with a lot of drama.

[Barbara 15,149]

So much was said about the match against Liverpool that I had to watch it. The things I wanted to see improvement on his part were still shocking if not worse than I remember them. He can score goals, that's always been a fact, the thing is scoring goals in certain situations are more difficult than in others (the team he plays for will dictate how other teams approach the matches against his team, and that alone is an influence). His linkup play, his ball control, his first touch were all still terrible imo. Torres, for example, would be crucified here if he had showed so much unfamiliarity with treating the ball well (as we'd say in Brazil). Still he was at the right place, at the right time and scored his two goals. I wonder if he was better in those things I've just mentioned if Everton wouldn't have won the match...

Lukaku works in many teams with his qualities, I just don't know if he'd work easily for us. It's been a while since Torres missed a sitter (this season) and it's been a while since he's scored (but there was the injury so he wasn't playing) and he hasn't scored enough which means the service isn't good because if the service was good he was either scoring as Lukaku is or missing sitters right and left, none happened. The goals our strikers did score (except the ones where they fooled the goalkeeper, ) as far as I remember (and I don't remember them all) weren't easy goals to score. It wasn't about them being at the right place, at the right time, receiving a great assist and using one or two touches to score. I guess our service is worse, because teams are way more tight against us than against Everton, our midfield doesn't serve our attacking midfielders properly, we play too narrow and when we don't Ivanovic can't cross for his life and Hazard will mostly cut in, among many others reasons. So at the end of the day we rely much more on the individual technical quality of our strikers and I think Lukaku has glimpses of that in some moments limited to situations that suit his style while he completely lacks it in all other situations.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

It's good for us he's scoring against our opponents (the dailymail link above gives us confirmation that this was part of José's plans all along: send him to a good side so he'd score important goals against our rivals, but not against us), he's scoring all around so he's gaining confidence, but something seems seriously wrong in his motivations... it seems he isn't looking forward to become a better player, it seems he just wants to prove Mourinho he was wrong by trusting more experienced players than he trusted him, it's like he wants to prove he's better than the strikers we do have (many of his quotes can show that, the most direct being when he said he wants to end the season scoring more than Chelsea's strikers). If the kid is there with the wrong motivation, he'll come back to us next season and will be send away again because this isn't about his personal vendetta, bitterness or whatever he feels against the club or Mourinho for the decision to let him go. This should be about him trying to improve, focusing on himself as a player and getting better, but I all I get from his words and actions on the pitch is that he wants to outscore our strikers to prove to everyone else, but especially to Chelsea that loaning him was a huge mistake.

Maybe I'm completely misinterpreting his words to the media (and how much he focuses on our strikers, our manager instead of improving as a player, working with his current manager and his current team). When you compare his interviews to Piazon's you see the difference in the tone. Piazon WHEN he mentions Chelsea is in a light that he wants to improve as a player at Vitesse and come back at the end of season better than he left, so hopefully he can stay because he knows the competition for a spot in a club as big as Chelsea is high and big and that he hopes he improves to the point he can stay. Shouldn't all loaned players have the same mentality? Why does Lukaku seem so worried in doing better than Chelsea and Chelsea players? And if Everton finishes 4th does it mean they're as big as the size he thinks a club is worth of him, and therefore he doesn't need Chelsea anymore? I should probably break this post in two parts, as I'm talking about two different subjects and I don't people to mix them, so I'm adding a line of separators. Lukaku has two different problems imo: 1) he isn't technically as good as Chelsea needs him to be, because of his own deficiencies, and also Chelsea's deficiencies to provide him the service he needs to be provided otherwise he won't score as much; 2) his motivations seem to be way off target (I'm not stating they are, I'm interpreting them) if he simply wants to do better than Chelsea to prove a point.

About the #2 I also have something else to say: he isn't bigger than Chelsea and he won't ever be (no player will), if he thinks he's too good for us or so awesome that we should have kept him and played him 50% of the matches, he can stay at Everton or wherever else for as long as he wants.

[Shogun 721]

I love this boy, most players who come to Everton gain some sort of attachment to the club for the rest of their careers and coming off the back of a thrilling Merseyside derby with Goodison Park booming, it really is no surprise he could see himself at Everton. Of course, Chelsea fans have absolutely nothing to worry about as there is zero chance of that happening for financial reasons just for starters.

Let's be honest though, the loan is all about his progression as a player and his understanding of the game. No one should really care about what is going to happen after the season at this point.

I've not done any updates on him so I'll start from the top.

West Ham 2-3 Everton - Lukaku came on at half time and changed the game around (along with the free kicks from Baines). His whole game was perfect in that half with his movement, his passing, his energy and physicality and it totally changed the complexion of the game. Perhaps coming on for someone as woeful as Jelavic made him stand out more. Of course, it took great courage to header in the winning goal as well. 8/10

Everton 3-2 Newcastle - His link up play and his understanding in the first half with Ross Barkley was emphatic. They were finding each other with every pass. He slotted a sweet finish for his first goal before providing a superb through ball for Barkley's second goal and kept his compusure for the third to get it over Krul and trick Coloccini on the line to tap it in. Second half he was very poor and barely found a teammate whilst looking completely tired. 8/10

Manchester City 3-1 Everton - There isn't a lot to say about this match as from 17 minutes we were dominated by the home side and Lukaku didn't have much of a sniff but overall he played ok and latched on to a ball over the top from Jagielka really well with a good touch to run on to the ball and another decent enough finish. Same problems with energy levels and fatigue in the second half. 6/10

Everton 2-1 Hull - He struggled in this one, got a few scraps of the ball but he was totally dominated by Curtis Davies for the majority of the match, still won a fair few aerial battles but overall not much to write home about. 4/10

Aston Villa 0-2 Everton - He looked a bit better in this game, we were completely dominated in the first half and Around about the half hour mark Lukaku had a great header saved by Guzan. Second half came and for the first time this season he probably kept his energy levels to an adequate amount and slotted home yet another goal from the edge of the box to break the deadlock. 7/10

Everton 0-0 Tottenham - I missed the first half but Everton were apparently awful all together so it probably wasn't him to blame. There weren't many chances in this match and he didn't play much of a part and only really had one half chance IIRC. Quiet game. 3/10

Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton - Couldn't do anything to make a difference really, he was getting no service or options when he did rarely get the ball. I'd give him a free pass on this game because we were generally woeful. 4/10

Everton 3-3 Liverpool - Up until his goal(s), this was his worst match for us! His touch was absolutely dreadful and he couldn't pass a fart. I think this was the case throughout the match but fortunately he bagged two goals which is the main thing I'd want out of a striker. He was pretty poor otherwise. 7/10 (Without the goals 2/10)

Overall, his finishing is wonderful. He hasn't had a shot and missed where I've though "Even Kojo could have scored that". He has a lot to work on with his energy levels as far too often he has tired in the second half which has left us a bit disjointed at times and he needs to learn how to use his physicality to bully defenders more than he does. His passing is very hit and miss, some days it's great but other times it's very poor, there isn't an inbetween. His attitude is flawless as is his determination. He still has plenty to wok on but as long as he scores goals, I don't really care to be perfectly honest.

[robsblubot 3,228]

So much was said about the match against Liverpool that I had to watch it. The things I wanted to see improvement on his part were still shocking if not worse than I remember them. He can score goals, that's always been a fact, the thing is scoring goals in certain situations are more difficult than in others (the team he plays for will dictate how other teams approach the matches against his team, and that alone is an influence). His linkup play, his ball control, his first touch were all still terrible imo. Torres, for example, would be crucified here if he had showed so much unfamiliarity with treating the ball well (as we'd say in Brazil). Still he was at the right place, at the right time and scored his two goals. I wonder if he was better in those things I've just mentioned if Everton wouldn't have won the match...

Lukaku works in many teams with his qualities, I just don't know if he'd work easily for us. It's been a while since Torres missed a sitter (this season) and it's been a while since he's scored (but there was the injury so he wasn't playing) and he hasn't scored enough which means the service isn't good because if the service was good he was either scoring as Lukaku is or missing sitters right and left, none happened. The goals our strikers did score (except the ones where they fooled the goalkeeper, ) as far as I remember (and I don't remember them all) weren't easy goals to score. It wasn't about them being at the right place, at the right time, receiving a great assist and using one or two touches to score. I guess our service is worse, because teams are way more tight against us than against Everton, our midfield doesn't serve our attacking midfielders properly, we play too narrow and when we don't Ivanovic can't cross for his life and Hazard will mostly cut in, among many others reasons. So at the end of the day we rely much more on the individual technical quality of our strikers and I think Lukaku has glimpses of that in some moments limited to situations that suit his style while he completely lacks it in all other situations.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

It's good for us he's scoring against our opponents (the dailymail link above gives us confirmation that this was part of José's plans all along: send him to a good side so he'd score important goals against our rivals, but not against us), he's scoring all around so he's gaining confidence, but something seems seriously wrong in his motivations... it seems he isn't looking forward to become a better player, it seems he just wants to prove Mourinho he was wrong by trusting more experienced players than he trusted him, it's like he wants to prove he's better than the strikers we do have (many of his quotes can show that, the most direct being when he said he wants to end the season scoring more than Chelsea's strikers). If the kid is there with the wrong motivation, he'll come back to us next season and will be send away again because this isn't about his personal vendetta, bitterness or whatever he feels against the club or Mourinho for the decision to let him go. This should be about him trying to improve, focusing on himself as a player and getting better, but I all I get from his words and actions on the pitch is that he wants to outscore our strikers to prove to everyone else, but especially to Chelsea that loaning him was a huge mistake.

Maybe I'm completely misinterpreting his words to the media (and how much he focuses on our strikers, our manager instead of improving as a player, working with his current manager and his current team). When you compare his interviews to Piazon's you see the difference in the tone. Piazon WHEN he mentions Chelsea is in a light that he wants to improve as a player at Vitesse and come back at the end of season better than he left, so hopefully he can stay because he knows the competition for a spot in a club as big as Chelsea is high and big and that he hopes he improves to the point he can stay. Shouldn't all loaned players have the same mentality? Why does Lukaku seem so worried in doing better than Chelsea and Chelsea players? And if Everton finishes 4th does it mean they're as big as the size he thinks a club is worth of him, and therefore he doesn't need Chelsea anymore? I should probably break this post in two parts, as I'm talking about two different subjects and I don't people to mix them, so I'm adding a line of separators. Lukaku has two different problems imo: 1) he isn't technically as good as Chelsea needs him to be, because of his own deficiencies, and also Chelsea's deficiencies to provide him the service he needs to be provided otherwise he won't score as much; 2) his motivations seem to be way off target (I'm not stating they are, I'm interpreting them) if he simply wants to do better than Chelsea to prove a point.

About the #2 I also have something else to say: he isn't bigger than Chelsea and he won't ever be (no player will), if he thinks he's too good for us or so awesome that we should have kept him and played him 50% of the matches, he can stay at Everton or wherever else for as long as he wants.

No lukaku needs to learn how to speak without saying much because right now he likes to talk and he says lots of shit.

[Stats 6,982]

Why is he at Everton?

Because you sent him on loan, José. I don't understand what he's trying to say here. The decision to loan someone out lies with the manager.

If he had plans for Lukaku this loan deal would have never happened, even if he asked for a loan himself.

Agree. Many seem to agree with Mourinho on this forum however on the article on skysports news the majority of people seem to disagree with Mourinho. Just look at all the likes that are given compared to the dislikes on how Mourinho is in the wrong: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9048809/romelu-lukaku-made-a-transfer-request-at-chelsea-before-his-everton-loan

Yes, Lukaku may have asked for a loan but in the end of the day, Jose is manager. Gary Cahill may have asked for a loan because he thought it would be tough competing for a place with Luiz and Terry but does that mean Mourinho would let him go? Of course not. Mourinho is the manager and ultimately the decision lies with him. While I am happy to see Lukaku scoring at Everton, like I knew he would, it was Mourinho's decision to let him go. He is the manager and he would have had the final say. If Mourinho envisaged him being a key part of our team he would not have let him go however he did so IMO, Lukaku does not need to explain himself.

Some people believe he will come a better player at Chelsea because of his loan but I don't necessarily agree with this view. He certainly will have more goals there as eh is guaranteed more minutes however it would of been beneficial playing with a better team, competing for major trophies as well. Just needed a bit of time which he did not get so I am not surprised he asked for a move. Torres is looking better this season but still does not convince but anyway when he first came it took ages for him to come and make an impact. Eto'o who is impressing me more in recent weeks, also needed a few games to get ticking and that is what Lukaku needed.

Look, to sum it up I am happy he is enjoying his football at Everton but I also think at the same time, Mourinho does not need to switch the spotlight on Lukaku for him to explain himself. He is the player, Mourinho is the manager and obviously the question should ultimately be pointed towards Mourinho because if he really wanted him he would not have let him go, simply and regardless if Lukaku comes out and states that he did ask for the move, the responsibility does not lie with him.

I don't apply this to all, but I am sure had this been Benitez loaning him out, many would be calling for his head but let's just hope this is a situation sort of being over-hyped by the media and comes back next year a more mature player and ready to lead our line.

[Barbara 15,149]

So the kid asks for a loan because he wants to play because he wants to take part of the WC and José - knowing he wouldn't give too much play time with him while we had 4 strikers - agrees to let him go, not only so Lukaku can accomplish his personal goals but because he thinks it'll benefit the player and consequently Chelsea in the long term and now José is being judged by that? So José should have kept him and allowed him play time inferior to Mata... Oh no, that's not true because people think he could easily emulate what he does at Everton for us, despite our bad service and his not impressive individual technical qualities? Because our history with strikers prove just that, right? How many strikers came here and played equally well or even better then before joining us? The only exception I can think now is Drogba, all other strikers flourished here which is why is fair to think Lukaku (who isn't even technically gifted) would too, at age 20

And @Stats, I can't talk about others, but the reasons I badmouth Benitez is because of how BLOODY DISRESPECTFUL he was towards Chelsea FOR NO REASON AT ALL when he was at Liverpool. It has little to do with his limitations as a manager (and he has plenty of them). And your words aren't even fair, mate as this thread was a pandemonium when the loan was confirmed with people against José and the club. Then it was clarified by everyone involved that Lukaku requested to leave (although some poster who is close to Lukaku agent or family I don't remember insisted in a completely different story) it toned down a little, but I still feel like most people that post in this thread disapproves the loan, so what's your point with the Benitez comparison because Mourinho gets (and got) a lot of stick for this loan.

I have to confess I'm a little fed up with the Benitez comparison I read in every thread these days. It's not only about his mediocre work here, because maybe I could overlook that - although I don't miss losing both domestic cups, finishing 14 points behind the champions (nearly 10 points added during his spell) nor did I enjoy us struggling to win against second level teams in EL (but hey, at least he played Mata while doing all that, right?). So while none of this makes me miss him and therefore I wouldn't understand why people keep going back to him what shocks me the most is how people forget this good for nothing, disrespectful guy, who lacks any class, badmouthed this club and its supporters for no reason, completely gratuitously. I will never forget what he said about my club and about me as a Chelsea fan while he showed his true colors. Maybe his words didn't offend some people? Because I feel deeply offended and disrespected by that piece of spanish mierda for the things he said about us.

[Reddish-Blue 2,225]

And @Stats, I can't talk about others, but the reasons I badmouth Benitez is because of how BLOODY DISRESPECTFUL he was towards Chelsea FOR NO REASON AT ALL when he was at Liverpool. It has little to do with his limitations as a manager (and he has plenty of them). And your words aren't even fair, mate as this thread was a pandemonium when the loan was confirmed with people against José and the club.

I have to confess I'm a little fed up with the Benitez comparison I read in every thread these days. It's not only about his mediocre work here, because maybe I could overlook that - although I don't miss losing both domestic cups, finishing 14 points behind the champions (nearly 10 points added during his spell) nor did I enjoy us struggling to win against second level teams in EL (but hey, at least he played Mata while doing all that, right?). I will never forget what he said about my club and about me as a Chelsea fan while he showed his true colors. Maybe his words didn't offend some people? Because I feel deeply offended and disrespected by that piece of spanish mierda for the things he said about us.

What's all this fuss about Benitez?

Sure, he said some awful things about Chelsea whilst he was the Liverpool manager...but that's in the past

He got the caretaker job at Chelsea, helped the players win the Europa League, gave Aké a taste of first team football and then moved on with his managerial career at Napoli.