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Longest Thread For Drivel (or the Romelu Lukaku thread)


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Why oh why are we judging his goals and assists because of his age??? The average 20 year old striker is still growing, is likely to be 6-8kg shy of optimum lean muscle weight and therefore needs nurturing.

 

Lukaku is physically fully developed, let's not use his age as an excuse or justification to go and blow £20m on someone who for me raises too many concerns regarding fundamental footballing attributes.

 

Because of his early maturity you are likely to see early peaking of his abilities.

 

 

End of the day it's up to Bob, but I've highlighted my concerns regarding the value.

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Why oh why are we judging his goals and assists because of his age??? The average 20 year old striker is still growing, is likely to be 6-8kg shy of optimum lean muscle weight and therefore needs nurturing.

 

Lukaku is physically fully developed, let's not use his age as an excuse or justification to go and blow £20m on someone who for me raises too many concerns regarding fundamental footballing attributes.

 

Because of his early maturity you are likely to see early peaking of his abilities.

 

 

End of the day it's up to Bob, but I've highlighted my concerns regarding the value.

So in your opinion he is in his prime at 20?

 

Do you think it's beyond the realms of possibility that a player could mature and develop with experience ?

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Why oh why are we judging his goals and assists because of his age??? The average 20 year old striker is still growing, is likely to be 6-8kg shy of optimum lean muscle weight and therefore needs nurturing.

 

Lukaku is physically fully developed, let's not use his age as an excuse or justification to go and blow £20m on someone who for me raises too many concerns regarding fundamental footballing attributes.

 

Because of his early maturity you are likely to see early peaking of his abilities.

 

 

End of the day it's up to Bob, but I've highlighted my concerns regarding the value.

 

20 million is a joke I agree, however physically, yes he has peaked, mentally he is nowhere near.

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So in your opinion he is in his prime at 20?

 

Do you think it's beyond the realms of possibility that a player could mature and develop with experience ?

Don't know where I said he's at his prime... It's because I didn't. I stated that physically he is developed, he isn't going to get stronger or quicker so with that regard he's already at potential.

 

The only area that he could improve is decision making which isn't a weakness anyway. It's his technical abilities that are his let down.

 

Wenger rightly in my opinion believes that player development is 4 stages...

 

Technical

Physical

Tactical

Mental

 

Basically the technical skills you see at 12-14 years old are pretty much a key indication of where that player will end up.

 

My guess is lukaku was so physically superior to his peers that his lack of ability controlling a football meant he could hold the player off and get to the ball anyway. At premier league level his advantage has been nullified, his poor touches are penalised.

 

Some people remember goals, shots et and think we are going to lose out if we don't get him, I see a player who if he had worked harder on the technical aspect of his game could have been a George Weah.

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People forget that Lukaku has been playing at the top level for 4 years or more.

 

He was playing Uefa Cup football at 16 with Anderlecht. I'm not saying he won't improve technically. But he's been around long enough to have shown signs of improvement.

 

I don't think his technical ability has improved as much as it should.

 

We should sign Lukaku. He is good enough for Everton. But he needs real competition and I don't think we can afford 2 £15m+ players.

 

However we'd be in the same situation with another striker. For me we must try our upmost to make it permanent and look for a loan of similar ability.

Edited by MiguelCotto
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People forget that Lukaku has been playing at the top level for 4 years or more.

 

He was playing Uefa Cup football at 16 with Anderlecht. I'm not saying he won't improve technically. But he's been around long enough to have shown signs of improvement.

 

I don't think his technical ability has improved as much as it should.

 

We should sign Lukaku. He is good enough for Everton. But he needs real competition and I don't think we can afford 2 £15m+ players.

 

However we'd be in the same situation with another striker. For me we must try our upmost to make it permanent and look for a loan of similar ability.

 

It's not really as simple as that. Because he's been launched into first team football from the age of 16, his development was actually halted for a large part. He didn't finish all the youth catagories and he said that he regrets that.

 

Then at Chelsea, he didn't get a lot of time on the pitch, but managed to develop himself further in training. This showed at WBA, where he showed a lot of effectiveness scoring 17 goals. His first touch was bad though and his passing wasn't great.

 

The next season, this one, at EFC, his passes became a lot more decisive. In many games, I saw a strong improvement in the sense that he was at times playing as a playmaker up front, giving decisive passes, assists and one-two's. He has had a strong upwards curve in England. First he learnt how to score goals in England at WBA, then he learnt how to play good attacking combination football at EFC.

 

Where the likes of Hafnia would get the opinion that Lukaku doesn't show any improvement is a mystery to me...

Edited by Mirallas
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Don't know where I said he's at his prime... It's because I didn't. I stated that physically he is developed, he isn't going to get stronger or quicker so with that regard he's already at potential.

 

The only area that he could improve is decision making which isn't a weakness anyway. It's his technical abilities that are his let down.

 

Wenger rightly in my opinion believes that player development is 4 stages...

 

Technical

Physical

Tactical

Mental

 

Basically the technical skills you see at 12-14 years old are pretty much a key indication of where that player will end up.

 

My guess is lukaku was so physically superior to his peers that his lack of ability controlling a football meant he could hold the player off and get to the ball anyway. At premier league level his advantage has been nullified, his poor touches are penalised.

 

Some people remember goals, shots et and think we are going to lose out if we don't get him, I see a player who if he had worked harder on the technical aspect of his game could have been a George Weah.

 

 

So would you agree that he still has time to develop as a player?

 

If so you have answered your own question as to why people are judging his goals and assists by his age

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Guest blueboy122

Good article.

 

It's the speculate to accumulate at 20M+ that's the questioning point for most fans.

 

As Matt said though if he had a better x y z we would have no chance of signing him and would be Chelsea's top forward earning £200k a week.

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Good article.

 

It's the speculate to accumulate at 20M+ that's the questioning point for most fans.

 

As Matt said though if he had a better x y z we would have no chance of signing him and would be Chelsea's top forward earning £200k a week.

If only we had the investment and this wasnt a concern. But we dont have and unfortunately its a legitimate one.

 

There is a perfect phrase in the title of that article; 'rough diamond'. Like any diamond, you invest in its potential without knowing its true value in advance. Potentially you can make a loss on your investment, but if it shines up well.... Then you hit the lottery. Personally, I play for the lottery rather than being put off by a potential loss, but it is a gamble, and the worry is can we afford it if we lose. Honestly, I think we can...

Edited by Matt
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So would you agree that he still has time to develop as a player?

 

If so you have answered your own question as to why people are judging his goals and assists by his age

Either my posts aren't clear enough or you skim read and miss important bits.

 

Technically he is not going to improve much more than what you see now. Given his biggest weaknesses are technical that means his margin for improvement is small. So to answer your question, what we would be buying is pretty much the finished article. Which in my mind is a £12m player.

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Either my posts aren't clear enough or you skim read and miss important bits.

 

Technically he is not going to improve much more than what you see now. Given his biggest weaknesses are technical that means his margin for improvement is small. So to answer your question, what we would be buying is pretty much the finished article. Which in my mind is a £12m player.

 

He may not improve a lot more technically but he will improve, and the most important factor for strikers is the experience.

I would encourage you to see the performances of "the stars of today" when they were 18. Most of them were quite poor.

 

Some goalscorers were plain awful -a clear example: Higuain (5 goal season and booed, Real Madrid paid €20M when he was 17 and unproven)- other were only decent and some peaked early in their careers.

 

Lukaku can improve, he must learn how to use his huge body to outpower opponents, how to get involved into play and how to get into the right positions at the right time, etc.

No one can't predict if he will be the next Drogba, but we can remember that Drogba was not that great in the early stages of his career. Negredo (another powerful striker) couldn't get a game when he was 20 as he was technically raw.

 

I would say he's surprised me with the use and improvement of his weak foot this year and the first month he couldn't play more than 60 min per game. All in all, I wouldn't doubt for 12M, I would pay 20M only if a) there is no other option and B) the rest of the squad can be strengthen as well.

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Either my posts aren't clear enough or you skim read and miss important bits.

 

Technically he is not going to improve much more than what you see now. Given his biggest weaknesses are technical that means his margin for improvement is small. So to answer your question, what we would be buying is pretty much the finished article. Which in my mind is a £12m player.

Lol so we are back to where we started

 

Surely if he isn't going to develop any further then he is in his prime?

 

Better judges of a footballer than you or I seem to think he has the capacity to develop into a real player, Roberto being one of them, so I guess we will just have to wait and see how it pans out

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Just for the record, Lukaku (15) finished with just one less goal for the season than Giroud (16), Bony (16) and Dzeko (16), despite having played considerably fewer games. If he hadn't missed a good part of the season, he would have probably scored more than Rooney (17).

Edited by Cornish Steve
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Just for the record, Lukaku (15) finished with just one less goal for the season than Giroud (16), Bony (16) and Dzeko (16), despite having played considerably fewer games. If he hadn't missed a good part of the season, he would have probably scored more than Rooney (17).

Great point! I think what appears to put most people off is the fact that if he was a little more gifted technically he could score more...but he's not. But he still scores about as many as Giroud, Bony and Rooney and few would doubt their technical ability.

I feel a little more nurturing would pay huge dividends and Roberto is the man to do it. Remember too that Lukaku after two loan spells perhaps is still at the 18 year old stage and has had little in the way of permanency in his career in EPL. I would like to think Roberto would have been trying to get more out of him with coaching but I doubt if that was the case at The Hawthorns. Let's face it, he was always going to be a loaner there, but Roberto perhaps has spotted that the lad really would like to stay at Goodison because he has responded positively to the coaching staff.

Apart from the fact that returning to Chelsea wouldn't be a good career move...look at Torres', Ba's experiences.

I think he would be overjoyed to stay here, I just hope we can stump up the cash and Lukaku's agent doesn't screw it up for all concerned (apart from him of course!)

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I'm so torn on this. There have been times where his touch has made me yell at the tv screen and others where he has just made me yell for joy. Is he worth 20 million right now? Probably not. Will he be worth that amount of money in the future? I genuinely believe he will be and then some. Haf, I definitely agree that his touch will not improve much anymore, but everything else can still be developed extensively. He wasn't able to play the full 90 mins for about half the season but his fitness has definitely shot up now. He wasn't able to win any balls in the air but that has improved as well. Sadly, I don't see any way we'll be the highest bidders for him and that's the most disheartening part for me. Furthermore, while a forward is a priority for the squad, without knowing how much we actually have to reinforce, it's hard to splash that money and fall short everywhere else. Hope everything works out though and we somehow end up with him and he continues improving on his near 1:2 ratio :)

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Just for the record, Lukaku (15) finished with just one less goal for the season than Giroud (16), Bony (16) and Dzeko (16), despite having played considerably fewer games. If he hadn't missed a good part of the season, he would have probably scored more than Rooney (17).

Bony scored more in 2300 minutes, lukaku played 2900 minutes. Not comparing him to giroud as I don't want him, tidy player but slow and inconsistent.

 

In a better side bony would have really pushed on to 25 goals+

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Guest blueboy122

Apparently that Diego Costa guy has a buy out clause of £32M.

 

I cant see him going to Chelsea though especially if Athletico win the league.

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Atletico must sell every year to balance the books, in the past they heavily overspent and they are in huge debt with almost everyone (IRS included).

Reports everywhere say there's a deal with Chelsea for €40M. Atletico would want Lukaku, though, and Courtois on loan again.

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