Romelu Lukaku

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

Here's the thing - as a professional footballer he's light years ahead of where Drogba was as the same age. But Drogba came to us as a 26 year old with good technique and presence.

As players arriving at this club, they're quite far apart in those terms. That comparison is probably weighing on people's perceptions of him, and maybe even his own opinion of his talents.

Is it inconceivable that he might not be ready to lead the line for this club until the next World Cup? Might he need that amount of time to mature?

Yes, but what are his options then? To keep getting loan after loan? To sit on the bench for most of the season and barely get better at all? Difficult situation.

Btw, I saw him celebrating like a madman after the winning goal yesterday, I think mentally he'll be fine to start against Russia.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

@choulo?

@specialjuan

@rmpr

@alex

@steve

@jim.

seriously!!!! this guy is still up and running!!1

Not anymore he ain't.

P.S. simply typing "@Alex" won't tag me in a post. If you type this:

[member='Alex']

It'll tag me!

[The only place to be 11,313]

Yes, but what are his options then? To keep getting loan after loan? To sit on the bench for most of the season and barely get better at all? Difficult situation.

Btw, I saw him celebrating like a madman after the winning goal yesterday, I think mentally he'll be fine to start against Russia.

A two-year loan similar to what Courtois had might be his best option if he wants to play here long-term because he doesn't seem happy with anything other than a starting role....and there's question marks over whether he's good enough.

Costa is a great player with space to run into, like Lukaku but better. Against packed defences with his back to goal, Lukaku is at best unproven although on the evidence of yesterday he doesn't seem capable of providing what we need as an option B. It's why I'd be happy if we did get someone like Mandzukic in because he has that good control in tight situations.

At the moment I'm not sure how Lukaku is most valuable to us.

[Fernando 6,453]

Yes, but what are his options then? To keep getting loan after loan? To sit on the bench for most of the season and barely get better at all? Difficult situation.

Btw, I saw him celebrating like a madman after the winning goal yesterday, I think mentally he'll be fine to start against Russia.

I recommend before that we give him a new contract and then loan him to Atlético for close to two seasons.

They play a similar system to us and with them selling costa to us they will take the deal.

Perhaps he goes and have a similar or greater impact then Thibaut.

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

See you're probably right, but yesterday is not a good indicator. You know how many good passes Lukaku got in the entire match? Absolutely zero. Was absolutely frustrating for him in my opinion. He was perfectly placed for the Hazard pass Chadli intercepted and ruined at the end of the first half. He might have scored if he got that one, we'll never know.

[Fernando 6,453]

See you're probably right, but yesterday is not a good indicator. You know how many good passes Lukaku got in the entire match? Absolutely zero. Was absolutely frustrating for him in my opinion. He was perfectly placed for the Hazard pass Chadli intercepted and ruined at the end of the first half. He might have scored if he got that one, we'll never know.

Because he was playing against a park bus.

We get that frequently at Chelsea, unlike Everton or west brom.

[The only place to be 11,313]

See you're probably right, but yesterday is not a good indicator. You know how many good passes Lukaku got in the entire match? Absolutely zero. Was absolutely frustrating for him in my opinion. He was perfectly placed for the Hazard pass Chadli intercepted and ruined at the end of the first half. He might have scored if he got that one, we'll never know.

That wasn't too different from what we play against a lot of the time though and I thought he was pretty poor. His movement was terrible and he'd sometimes come quite deep to pick up the ball, but just be two yards away from the guy in possession. The when he'd drop off to receive the ball his first touch would let him down.

Let's not forget he was injured very recently and it did show. He didn't look to be moving too freely which is why I think he was replaced.

[DH1988 1,273]

Time to stop talking Romelu :-)

[johnnythefirst 1,076]

That wasn't too different from what we play against a lot of the time though and I thought he was pretty poor. His movement was terrible and he'd sometimes come quite deep to pick up the ball, but just be two yards away from the guy in possession. The when he'd drop off to receive the ball his first touch would let him down.

Let's not forget he was injured very recently and it did show. He didn't look to be moving too freely which is why I think he was replaced.

My point was that the rest of the team sucked as well, and there was absolutely no distribution to him, which is why he had to come so deep to get a ball..

[manpe 10,861]

By "complete striker" did he mean complete as in peaked in ability, or complete as in having the necessary tools to be able to do everything a la Drogba and Ibrahimovic? Well, whatever it was, it was a poor choice of words.

Still rooting for Belgium and Lukaku though!

[EBH 283]

A striker's job is to score goals. Quibbling over 'all round contribution' is the sort of woolly thinking that justifies Fernando Torres' continued existence as a professional footballer. If they can do other things, then that's brilliant, but the primary attribute, especially in this age of the lone striker, absolutely has to be how well they can put away chances. Especially at a team like Chelsea, which has struggled in that department for a fairly long period now.

[MrBlueGuy 1,552]

i really want to see the stats.

So chicharito scored more than 17 goals + 15 goals those 2 past seasons?

Please give me the link

he scored 20, 12, 18 and 9 for the past 4 years. Do a quick Google search

[iseah100 5,612]

he scored 20, 12, 18 and 9 for the past 4 years. Do a quick Google search

This is true. If only he could get playing time:/

[lionsden 4,689]

In terms of poor technical ability and giving away possession , he's just as frustrating as they come however his positive outweighs his negative and there's room for him in the squad if he's willing to play second fiddle. We should accept him for what he is as he's never going to be a suarez for e.g. I blame those that scouted him and felt he's a right fit for the type of team we are building and also failed to take into account that the way 80 percent of teams we face set up against us renders Lukaku's attribute useless.

If people are expecting his technical ability to improve past this point and turn into zlatan they might as well believe in santa claus and tooth fairy.

[Fernando 6,453]

He kinda does reminds me of Heskey though.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

He kinda does reminds me of Heskey though.

Is that meant to be a good or bad thing?

[Fernando 6,453]

Is that meant to be a good or bad thing?

Kinda bad. Heskey also promised a lot but his first touches was always horrible.

They guy ain't good enough yet to be with us, and for second striker is okay but he needs more games to get better.

Thus is better to try to secure a loan to atlético. If he stays there for 2 years he might come back as a complete striker.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Kinda bad. Heskey also promised a lot but his first touches was always horrible.

They guy ain't good enough yet to be with us, and for second striker is okay but he needs more games to get better.

Thus is better to try to secure a loan to atlético. If he stays there for 2 years he might come back as a complete striker.

I would really not want to loan him out again. I think we should convince him to be the second striker and with a fair chance to win his place in the starting 11