Ruben Loftus-Cheek

[Puliiszola 519]

He has gone under the radar since his return. But I think he has been good. 

Yesterday too, the movement was good. That last touch (pass to Alonso) was just brilliant. Overall, a much better return when compared to CHO's. 

[killer1257 3,282]

He has gone under the radar since his return. But I think he has been good. 
Yesterday too, the movement was good. That last touch (pass to Alonso) was just brilliant. Overall, a much better return when compared to CHO's. 

He is getting to his best step by step. I do not even remember him misplacing a pass. The only thing I did not like was that he was positioning himself as a second striker couple of times, which may be Lampards instructions.
Overall decent

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[Vesper 28,832]

1 hour ago, killer1257 said:

He is getting to his best step by step. I do not even remember him misplacing a pass. The only thing I did not like was that he was positioning himself as a second striker couple of times, which may be Lampards instructions.
Overall decent

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Agree and so many in the game chat were trashing him, extremely unfairly IMHO (and we all know I am a huge basher if a player is having a shitter)

[MoroccanBlue 5,303]

All he did last night was play it safe in a game where we desperately needed points. Like it was just a game of possession for him and his endless backwards passing. 

He needs to do a lot more. 

[Jase 43,479]

Ruben Loftus-Cheek: I did not consider myself a Chelsea player when we last won the FA Cup

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/07/17/ruben-loftus-cheek-did-not-consider-chelsea-player-last-won/

Ruben Loftus-Cheek knows exactly how it feels to be stuck on the sofa, watching his team at Wembley, as Chelsea prepare for their behind-closed doors FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United.

It is perhaps not surprising that Loftus-Cheek did not consider himself a Chelsea player when the club last won the FA Cup two years ago and decided to watch from home instead of the Wembley stands.

He celebrated the victory over United like any other fan, but there was no feeling of involvement or affinity with the 2018 winning team, as the midfielder had finished a season in which he had made 24 Premier League appearances on loan at Crystal Palace - two more than he had managed in his entire Chelsea career up to that point.

“When I was at Palace I saw myself as a Palace player and part of that team,” said Loftus-Cheek. “I wasn’t jealous of what the Chelsea team achieved in that year. I was at Palace doing my time at Palace. I was a Palace player. I watched the final on the TV.”

But since that Wembley final, Loftus-Cheek has become very much a Chelsea player. He last season broke into Maurizio Sarri’s team and equalled the number of Premier League appearances he had managed at Palace before suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon that kept him out for over a year.

The injury did not stop Loftus-Cheek signing a five-year contract last summer and, having missed the Europa League final, he has returned in time to play a key part in Chelsea’s attempt to secure Champions League qualification and win a second FA Cup in three years.

Just as Loftus-Cheek watched on television two years ago, Chelsea’s supporters must cheer on their team from their sofas on Sunday due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.

“I’d love for there to be fans at Wembley,” said Loftus-Cheek. “It’s going to be even more eerie because it’s such a big stadium. This far into a competition, this is the business end and this is when you want the fans to be involved, and to feel the energy and adrenaline in the stadium. The situation is very different right now, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We have to try to play the same football and have the same motivation to want to win a game.

“Now I’m back at Chelsea, I’m a Chelsea player and I want to win titles with Chelsea. There’s no added motivation because the team won it [the FA Cup] when I was away. Not at all.”

Aged 24, Loftus-Cheek does not consider himself to be among Chelsea’s group of youngsters and did not commit his future to the club because of the arrival of head coach Frank Lampard and the attached promise of opportunities for the youth.

“I don’t see myself as a young player any more,” said Loftus-Cheek. “Frank was coming in, but I was always thinking of signing for Chelsea before he came in. Frank coming in didn’t change my opinion to stay even more. I was happy at Chelsea and my plan was to stay here.

“I was injured at the time, but I came off the back of a good season with Chelsea when Sarri was here. It was my highest scoring season. I played a lot more games and I felt like a Chelsea player who had contributed to the winnings in that season.

“So to get injured was a blow and to be honest I didn’t think I would be injured for so long. I didn’t think it would take a year for me to come back. That was in my thoughts when I was signing my contract, but it obviously didn’t happen like that. I’m devoted to Chelsea. I’ve been here since I was seven years old. After the season with Sarri, there was no reason for me to leave Chelsea.”

Injuries have delayed Loftus-Cheek’s progress since making his senior debut in 2014. He admits he has no idea why his ruptured Achilles took seven months longer than that of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who suffered the same injury last season, and he took no issue with Sarri’s assessment that he might have to manage back problems for his entire career.

Asked why his Achilles injury took a year to heal, Loftus-Cheek replied: “I’d like to know that as well! Callum’s was quicker than mine. It was the same injury, but different bodies react in different ways. Some take longer to heal. Some are quicker to heal. Mine was just a longer process.

“I did everything I could to speed that up. I felt like I got back as quickly as possible. There were ups and downs, but I felt like I did the time I needed to. I didn’t rush it, but, anyway, that’s the past and I’m back now.”

[ahmedou 128]

 

[Special Juan 27,429]

Terrible, just terrible, this lad is no wonder kid, he is more like a Wonder Woman.

[Magic Lamps 11,654]

2 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Terrible, just terrible, this lad is no wonder kid, he is more like a Wonder Woman.

Isn’t Wonder Woman like strong or can fly lol? (Idk never seen or read that stuff) 

The injury took his pace, his touch and confidence. Now all he has left is his big strong body. maybe he can be molded into a defensive midfielder. But surely done on the top level

[Special Juan 27,429]

3 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

Isn’t Wonder Woman like strong or can fly lol? (Idk never seen or read that stuff) 

The injury took his pace, his touch and confidence. Now all he has left is his big strong body. maybe he can be molded into a defensive midfielder. But surely done on the top level

He was like Wonder woman cape, he just flapped in the wind without any relevance.

[Jase 43,479]

Said it in the match thread, it feels like Loftus-Cheek is a system player. If we don't play 4-3-3 and put him in the midfield, there's no place for him in the side. 

Also, I know he only came back from a serious injury last season but how long can we keep using that as an excuse? It's forgivable to an extent if he's not at his best right now but the least he could do is, do the basics properly, show intent and desire. But he doesn't do that. He's a total passenger without the ball.

[Special Juan 27,429]

Sell him, so unbelievably over rated and lazy.

[bohops 7]

21 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

Sell him, so unbelievably over rated and lazy

 

His best quality is carrying the ball from deep, but no manager will play him there because he's a liability on D. 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Down the Shelvey path.

[DANILA 290]

He was so good under Sarri  Feel like he needs the right manager and system and he can excel

[Puliiszola 519]

5 hours ago, DANILA said:

He was so good under Sarri  Feel like he needs the right manager and system and he can excel

With Puli and Ziyech back, we will definitely revert to a 4-3-3. And formation and system will get the best out of him. I still have faith that RLC will come good.

Definitely wont judge him off a game where he was played as a 2nd striker whose main purpose was to win aerial balls and knock them down for werner. 

[Jase 43,479]

27 minutes ago, Puliiszola said:

With Puli and Ziyech back, we will definitely revert to a 4-3-3. And formation and system will get the best out of him. I still have faith that RLC will come good.

Definitely wont judge him off a game where he was played as a 2nd striker whose main purpose was to win aerial balls and knock them down for werner. 

Am not sure if there's any guarantee we will play 4-3-3 in the long run. Lampard already has a penchant of constantly changing formation. 

He could have easily played 4-3-3 yesterday for example - had the players for it despite some absentees - but chose not to and went with 4-2-3-1 instead.

[Puliiszola 519]

47 minutes ago, Jason said:

Am not sure if there's any guarantee we will play 4-3-3 in the long run. Lampard already has a penchant of constantly changing formation. 

He could have easily played 4-3-3 yesterday for example - had the players for it despite some absentees - but chose not to and went with 4-2-3-1 instead.

I think the 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4 rather might have had to do with having jorgi and alonso on the pitch at the same time. If we played 4-3-3 with Kante pushing up ahead and jorgi having to deal with troussard's pace while alonso against lamptey, we would have been burned. It would have been a case of "did not we learn anything from last season". RLC himself is not that good a defender (as a CM). I think 4-3-3 will be our primary formation, and RLC will come good (and this is based on nothing but faith - bordering on blind faith as he just has not shown anything to support that argument).

[Jase 43,479]

14 minutes ago, Puliiszola said:

I think the 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4 rather might have had to do with having jorgi and alonso on the pitch at the same time. If we played 4-3-3 with Kante pushing up ahead and jorgi having to deal with troussard's pace while alonso against lamptey, we would have been burned. It would have been a case of "did not we learn anything from last season". RLC himself is not that good a defender (as a CM). I think 4-3-3 will be our primary formation, and RLC will come good (and this is based on nothing but faith - bordering on blind faith as he just has not shown anything to support that argument).

If everyone is fit and available, will Loftus-Cheek even be in the starting XI, even if we play 4-3-3? This is not on you but rather making a general point - I know he came back from a serious injury last season but that was some months ago already. At what point do we say "he has to perform now or he can't be in the XI"? I don't think he has done anything whatsoever since he returned to suggest "yeah, he needs to be in the starting XI". Last night's formation may not have helped his cause, for example, but he was totally useless off the ball, barely tracked back, and did zilch when he had the ball. Even Havertz, who is hardly known for his workrate, showed more desire and actually did more to track back. Also starting to wonder that managers must have had (have in Lampard's case) a good reason to constantly shift Loftus-Cheek around and/or not play him in midfield in the past.