Ruben Loftus-Cheek

[Unionjack 7,531]

We have to start wondering whether 'the OK season' was purely a purple patch.

Its got to piss more peeps off than me that he seemingly does have some skills that would be really good for us yet gets selective memory when hes got to use the,/'

Would another year away help? Or hope he picks up on the vibe from new players?

[Vesper 28,832]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

Not writing him off just yet because of obvious reasons but at the same time, think it's fair to ask how long should we wait for him to rediscover his form and/or fulfill his potential? He is already 24 years old, not 18 or 19 anymore and TBH, apart from the run he had under Sarri, he's never really shown any consistency in his career so far. He's only showed flashes of brilliance here and there and that is not good enough. It's fair that he should be given a bit more time but again at the same time, he also needs to do more to justify that. Okay, he didn't play in his best position on Monday but he was so bad at doing what's supposed to be the basics - e.g. passing the ball, making the right choices, tracking back. And then there's also the question whether Loftus-Cheek is basically a system player, someone who only fits into 4-3-3 and nothing else. If that is the case, then that is a potential issue as well. 

I am all in on the sell him ASAP train

I think he is perma-damaged goods

pretty much there with CHO too, but not quite

also on that train for Emerson after his multiple chances, he is damaged goods as well

I just posted the article for discussion purposes

 

[Unionjack 7,531]

CHO needs a loan. Give him a year to get his head straight. I think thats HIS problem not skills. Then hope if he does come good we can use hi, but if hes got a strop on and wants to leave we can at least make some money on him.

[Jype 6,398]

7 hours ago, Jason said:

Not writing him off just yet because of obvious reasons but at the same time, think it's fair to ask how long should we wait for him to rediscover his form and/or fulfill his potential? 

I'd give him a full season post-injury. It was always going to be a long and difficult road fully recovering from the achilles problem and he's played what, 300-400 minutes?

Last season was a total write-off for Ruben because even though he managed to sneak in a few sub appearances and a couple starts after the restart, those were him taking his first steps towards a return after more than a year without football so he was never going to be good immediately. And he's still clearly not there and severely lacking match fitness. Should also be noted that against Brighton it was not only him who was bad, many others looked rusty as well although not so much as Ruben. If only there was a normal full pre-season with many friendlies, RLC could have really benefited from that coming into the new season.

So this season I'd use him in a rotational role in the league and a starter in the domestic cups to see if he gets any better. Chances are he'll never fulfill his potential because of so many injuries but that doesn't mean he can't still be at least a decent squad player for the team. And he has a good fighting mentality, under Sarri he was restricted to a backup role but eventually forced his way into the starting lineup through hard work. Not saying he's likely to do that now with the likes of Mount and Havertz competing for the same positions but if he shows the same mentality now, he'll not be happy with his own performances either and try to work harder to improve.

Wouldn't play him against Liverpool in this form but next week's league cup game should be a good opportunity for him.

If by the end of the season we've not seen enough improvement a move can be considered, especially if Gallagher has played for WBA and needs to be included in the squad.

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 hour ago, Jype said:

I'd give him a full season post-injury. It was always going to be a long and difficult road fully recovering from the achilles problem and he's played what, 300-400 minutes?

Last season was a total write-off for Ruben because even though he managed to sneak in a few sub appearances and a couple starts after the restart, those were him taking his first steps towards a return after more than a year without football so he was never going to be good immediately. And he's still clearly not there and severely lacking match fitness. Should also be noted that against Brighton it was not only him who was bad, many others looked rusty as well although not so much as Ruben. If only there was a normal full pre-season with many friendlies, RLC could have really benefited from that coming into the new season.

So this season I'd use him in a rotational role in the league and a starter in the domestic cups to see if he gets any better. Chances are he'll never fulfill his potential because of so many injuries but that doesn't mean he can't still be at least a decent squad player for the team. And he has a good fighting mentality, under Sarri he was restricted to a backup role but eventually forced his way into the starting lineup through hard work. Not saying he's likely to do that now with the likes of Mount and Havertz competing for the same positions but if he shows the same mentality now, he'll not be happy with his own performances either and try to work harder to improve.

Wouldn't play him against Liverpool in this form but next week's league cup game should be a good opportunity for him.

If by the end of the season we've not seen enough improvement a move can be considered, especially if Gallagher has played for WBA and needs to be included in the squad.

I dont see his problem now being fitness. Hes got the Yips. He doesn't want to get injured again so shys away and doesn't get stuck in. Hes a big strong boy. His majot wkill was he got into tank mode. If he cant do that its a problem. Give him a year away and hope.

[communicate 2,703]

3 hours ago, Jype said:

I'd give him a full season post-injury. It was always going to be a long and difficult road fully recovering from the achilles problem and he's played what, 300-400 minutes?

Last season was a total write-off for Ruben because even though he managed to sneak in a few sub appearances and a couple starts after the restart, those were him taking his first steps towards a return after more than a year without football so he was never going to be good immediately. And he's still clearly not there and severely lacking match fitness. Should also be noted that against Brighton it was not only him who was bad, many others looked rusty as well although not so much as Ruben. If only there was a normal full pre-season with many friendlies, RLC could have really benefited from that coming into the new season.

So this season I'd use him in a rotational role in the league and a starter in the domestic cups to see if he gets any better. Chances are he'll never fulfill his potential because of so many injuries but that doesn't mean he can't still be at least a decent squad player for the team. And he has a good fighting mentality, under Sarri he was restricted to a backup role but eventually forced his way into the starting lineup through hard work. Not saying he's likely to do that now with the likes of Mount and Havertz competing for the same positions but if he shows the same mentality now, he'll not be happy with his own performances either and try to work harder to improve.

Wouldn't play him against Liverpool in this form but next week's league cup game should be a good opportunity for him.

If by the end of the season we've not seen enough improvement a move can be considered, especially if Gallagher has played for WBA and needs to be included in the squad.

It is difficult to find playing time for ruben in this team, we have so many attacker, even Barkley right now is so much better than ruben. Unless we have injury crisis, It is hard to see ruben get enough playing time to get his mojo back

[Jype 6,398]

29 minutes ago, communicate said:

It is difficult to find playing time for ruben in this team, we have so many attacker, even Barkley right now is so much better than ruben. Unless we have injury crisis, It is hard to see ruben get enough playing time to get his mojo back

Yeah, it's certainly not an ideal situation for him. He needs minutes to even have a chance of getting back to his best but then again in most games the team can't afford to play someone who's so out of form at the moment.

It's really sad how unlucky he's been. Last season would've been perfect for him to build on his 2018/19 good form and really start cementing his place in the team but then he went and missed the whole year to the injury and is still very much playing catch-up on others competing for the same places.

I wouldn't give up on him just yet but let's see how it goes. For now he should only start in cup games and maybe play a sub role in some comfortable league games to get back some match fitness and confidence. If he starts getting better, his role can be increased later on. 

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Tomo 21,733]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

 

Not aimed at you but these headlines will be excruciating this season. We've got a massive squad which means players won't make the bench.

 The last time we had a squad with this much depth was Mou 1.0, pick any random game from that era and you'll notice a big abscense or 2 from the matchday squad.

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, Tomo said:

Not aimed at you but these headlines will be excruciating this season. We've got a massive squad which means players won't make the bench.

 The last time we had a squad with this much depth was Mou 1.0, pick any random game from that era and you'll notice a big abscense or 2 from the matchday squad.

But in the case of our midfield, it is quite bloated to be honest.

1. Jorginho

2. Kante

3. Kovacic

4. Barkley

5. Gilmour

6. Mount

7. Havertz

8. Loftus-Cheek

If we play 4-3-3, then Mount and Havertz could be counted as options for the midfield and that would mean we have 8 players for that area, which is A LOT. Even if we take those two out, 6 for 3 positions is a lot and if we play 4-2-3-1, then it is SERIOUSLY TOO MANY players for the midfield area.

[killer1257 3,282]

Loan him out

Gesendet von meinem VOG-L29 mit Tapatalk

[Costa19 858]

Another strange one from Frank. He starts vs Brighton and now left out completely. Only Mountnaldo is safe around Franky..

[NikkiCFC 7,953]

With Havertz here one of RLC or Barkley was always extra. We thought Barkley would be sold but Frank rates him and RLC did not used his chances.

[Atomiswave 6,072]

RLC needs a loan this window, injuries and lack of playing time have fucked him up.

[Jase 43,479]

Aston Villa reportedly interested in Loftus-Cheek...

 

[Jype 6,398]

18 minutes ago, Jason said:

Aston Villa reportedly interested in Loftus-Cheek...

 

Would be a decent move for him I think.

I haven't given up on him at all, but in this current moment I can't see him getting enough games to fully overcome his problems if he stays this season. A year out on loan at a PL side could do him a lot of good and depending on how he gets on, there might still be a place for him to return next year. 

Barkley has been playing decently in the first few games this season and is clearly ahead of RLC in Lampard's books at the moment. Ruben was mysteriously missing from the lineup altogether tonight despite the League Cup being one of the best opportunities for him to gain match sharpness so I think there might be some truth to this rumor.

Zouma got his act together out on loan after his bad injury and made a return so I don't see any reason why RLC couldn't as well. 

[King Kante 1,481]

For me if RLC was sold I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. The guy is pushing 25 and has yet to prove he can keep himself fit for more than six months, still does zero work off the ball and continues to dine off the hype that he built up 7 years ago. 

For sure, Barkley is similar but I do not really see much difference as whilst RLC has a little more quality on the ball at least you know Barkley can stay fit.

[Jype 6,398]

10 minutes ago, King Kante said:

For me if RLC was sold I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. The guy is pushing 25 and has yet to prove he can keep himself fit for more than six months, still does zero work off the ball and continues to dine off the hype that he built up 7 years ago. 

For sure, Barkley is similar but I do not really see much difference as whilst RLC has a little more quality on the ball at least you know Barkley can stay fit.

Thing is though, RLC at his best is/was a much better player than Barkley has ever shown to be.

But he needs game time and a continued period without injuries to have any chance of making it. He won't do that at Chelsea atm but if he was loaned out there's a chance he might get there elsewhere.

Under no circumstance would I sell him on a permanent deal now and I don't think there'd be anyone willing to pay good money for him right now anyway due to his achilles problem. He's under contract till 2024 and has no transfer fee amortisation value hanging over his head so a loan should be relatively straightforward to sort out because the loaning club would only need to pay his wages, so for a club like Aston Villa it'd be a low-risk high-reward deal. If he can't get regain his pre-injury level out on loan, a more permanent solution can be found in another year or two but if he were to get back to his best level he would most certainly still be an asset to the club and could take a place in the squad again next year when some changes in midfield are bound to happen (some question marks over Jorginho, Kante, Barkley).

Of course there's a concrete chance he would never return again with younger prospects like Gallagher, Gilmour trying their best to break through but still a loan deal would be 1000x better than selling now. I don't think Lampard has given up on him either.