7 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Lukaku does not want to be here, he made that perfectly clear in many ways and is probably still sulking Kai got the glory in the CWC final while he got subbed.

Anyone on here who can honestly, hand on heart say, they believe Rom wants to be here and wants to play for his "boyhood club"? Anyone?

I'm convinced he never supported us, it had all the makings of a clear PR stunt that has unfortunately worked a treat.

Edited February 20, 20224 yr by Argo

6 minutes ago, Argo said:

I'm convinced he never supported us, it had all the makings of a clear PR stunt that has unfortunately worked a treat.

Yeah and now we are stuck like this for 4 and a half fricken years, unless we either somehow get rid of him, which is near impossible, or we sack TT and find someone who can work magic.

 

Maybe @wizardous he has a magical name.

3 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

He may have inherited someone else's side but the players he has are hardly sh*te. The French and German leagues can't be compared to the EPL in terms of intensity.  Look at the attacking riches he has, and he still hasn't got a tune out of either of them a year later. Is that bad management or unexplainably all our attacking players are out of form all at the same time...that is hard to believe.  The talent we have is the envy of many teams yet we struggle to break down teams or play with any creativity in the final 3rd which is where it counts.  Winning trophies is one thing, boring the f**k out of fans is another.  

Did you not follow us last year? Or when Chilly and James were healthy? We played some scintillating football. And I don't buy this "talent envy of others". I doubt anyone is seriously bothered about Werner or Pulisic not being on their teams. Lukaku is not the only problem. But if a vital focul point of the attack is static, the whole attack breaks down. We looked pretty good when he was injured but we have an issue with finishers. That's a separate problem. Either Lukaku steps up or we start playing riskier football which will leave us exposed to attacks. Think back to Lampard's last few months.

7 hours ago, The Don Antonio said:

Did we lose to Lille Already

People argue that there are financial incentives to play Lukaku, when there are not. Winning makes the most money. Other teams are not stupid. You think they are like: Well normally we´d only pay 30M for Lukaku, but since he played every game for Chelsea (like crap), we give you 50M instead. That´s United/Ed Woodward level of stupid, who keeps extending the likes of Phil Jones and Juan Mata on stupid wages, because he thinks one day he´ll generate a transfer fee. Like all these teams are glamoring to sign them on a paid transfer, when nobody bothers to chase them on a free transfer. Cut your losses. You f***** up. Just don´t double down. Bring back Broja and go back to the 11 men workhorse unit that was nearly unbreakable in cup competitions.

8 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

We just going to overlook the fact that he has 261 career goals in 536 appearances?

Goals are great. We love goals. But in the modern game, they do not trump the greater good of the team.

Alex Ferguson sold one of the greatest pure goal scorers in the premier league (Ruud Van N) because he offered nothing else to the team other than finishing.

Lukaku is offering nothing to the team, not even the goals.

One of my favourite goal scorers who played for us was JFH. But as good as he was at hammering the ball into the net, he also wouldn't get in this current team because he offered very little else.

Lukaku's performance yesterday is up there with the very worst I have ever seen. Until now I always thought the bottom of the barrel was Bakayoko against Watford, but the big lump made me reassess that yesterday. 

 

Edited February 20, 20224 yr by nonotnowjim

The slack that some are cutting this fraud is baffling.

Last season, there was so many on here calling for the head of Werner. Our current system arguably suits Timo even less than it should suit Lukaku. Timo thrives on the quick ball in behind to run onto, and we simply don't play that way. 
 

Despite the system not suiting him at all, he busted a gut, Timo ran himself into the ground and never stopped trying. He won us goals, assists and pens. 26 goals/assists in total....yet very few on here were advocating for us to change the way we play to suit his preferred style.

This year, The big lump doesn't try. doesn't run.  doesn't score. doesn't win pens. doesn't assist and looks like he doesn't want to be here..... yet, there are people saying we should change the way we play to suit him.

Utter madness.

 

2 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

The slack that some are cutting this fraud is baffling.

Last season, there was so many on here calling for the head of Werner. Our current system arguably suits Timo even less than it should suit Lukaku. Timo thrives on the quick ball in behind to run onto, and we simply don't play that way. 
 

Despite the system not suiting him at all, he busted a gut, Timo ran himself into the ground and never stopped trying. He won us goals, assists and pens. 26 goals/assists in total....yet very few on here were advocating for us to change the way we play to suit his preferred style.

This year, The big lump doesn't try. doesn't run.  doesn't score. doesn't win pens. doesn't assist and looks like he doesn't want to be here..... yet, there are people saying we should change the way we play to suit him.

Utter madness.

 

Exactly this. Somehow we have to revamp the whole team to suit a striker that has only won 1 title in his career in a weaker league. 

If this was a Lewandowski or Suarez or Benzema, I would somewhat understand

The other players have difficulty passing to him because he's either hiding behind opponents or too slow/lazy to move to get on the end of those passes. Unless you think a striker should just be static and the ball should be played straight to his feet on all occasions. By the way, he's still losing every aerial duel (yesterday he was owned by Andersen), so that route is not working either if you have Lukaku as your CF.

The 'playing to his strengths' argument is ridiculous. He's a very limited footballer even when he's fit and motivated (like at Inter), when he's not, he makes his team significantly worse. Giroud and Tammy for all their faults could offer much more than the current version of Lukaku., who virtually offers nothing.

I have a horrible feeling the fat ass is confident he can outlast the manager and that's why he isn't really bothered. His transfer fee/contract makes him virtually unmovable, he knows that, the club knows that, the manager knows that.

Well done, Chelsea. We had some bad deals in the past but this one takes the cake. Literally and figuratively.

At least I can see him forcing a move away this summer. Fingers crossed he does.

2 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

At least I can see him forcing a move away this summer. Fingers crossed he does.

I don't think we would even get £50m for him.

His reputation is falling fast.

 

38 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I don't think we would even get £50m for him.

His reputation is falling fast.

 

Exactly. Nobody needs such a player. We're probably stuck for the next 4 and a half years.

Spurs will want him if Kane moves on next season, if not I'm sure an Italian team would snap him up.

The guy needs to do far more than he does. I get that he doesn't always get the ball, but that also comes down to team mate confidence in you.

The best we could hope for is a loan back to Serie A with us picking up a lion share of his wages but that would be a huge blow to both our pocket and pride.

Personally, I'd get rid by any means necessary but I'm not sure we can absorb such a huge financial hit, given the current financial climate. Which makes the whole decision to sign him in the first place even more infuriating. 

10 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

They also played in a different era of the game. An era of two strikers, an era where having strikers was a necessity to win major titles. They can't seem to comprehend that by trying to adapt to Lukaku's game, it is hurting the players around him more, which hurts the team overall. They don't get it because they have an outdated viewpoint. I say talk to somebody like Fabregas, let's see what he would say about Lukaku, a modern viewpoint of the modern game.

This is why I don't watch MOTD anymore. It's an outdated show with outdated opinions. The likes of Lineker, Shearer and Wright still talk about the game like we are in the 90's. 

But the game is still the same, when they show countless balls that can be played it’s very obvious they play to a strict game plan, or they don’t trust him?

5 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Goals are great. We love goals. But in the modern game, they do not trump the greater good of the team.

 

We of all supporters should look beyond stat padding given we've enjoyed player's like Gudjohnsen, Drogba and Hazard.

I was watching his Inter goals and about a third came from penalties, a third seemed to be headers and about a third were from shots in the box.

With the shots in the box it didn't appear to be against packed defences.

His heading is quite good and we saw an example of that when we played in the World Club Championship with CHO's cross, Generally CHO tries to find him yet didn't play yesterday.

From the right side, Ziyech rarely delivers crosses down the line, more cutting in and at a steeper angles into areas do not favour Lukaku though Giroud might have fashioned something.

If Azpi plays they should work on deliveries into areas where Lukaku and have an impact.  

 

 

Just now, strider6004 said:

I was watching his Inter goals and about a third came from penalties, a third seemed to be headers and about a third were from shots in the box.

With the shots in the box it didn't appear to be against packed defences.

His heading is quite good and we saw an example of that when we played in the World Club Championship with CHO's cross, Generally CHO tries to find him yet didn't play yesterday.

From the right side, Ziyech rarely delivers crosses down the line, more cutting in and at a steeper angles into areas do not favour Lukaku though Giroud might have fashioned something.

If Azpi plays they should work on deliveries into areas where Lukaku and have an impact.  

 

 

I don't give a damn about his goals. When we signed Lukaku I thought we signed a forward who can do multiple things but right now it is like he is only playing as targetman. I really don't understand it. 2nd half against Palmeiras, finally I saw we play 2 up top and  Lukaku got the ball on the right side and run at people,next game we are back with bald giroud.

Not read the match thread so apologies if this has been covered in that.

You can't totally excuse Lukaku for his performance yesterday and he merits a lot of criticism which he is getting. But so does the service to him. Yesterday in particular it was diabolical but it has also regularly been that in many games over the past couple of months. 

The amount of fannying about that the likes of Havertz,  Odoi  and Pulisic do before they finally decide to put a ball into the middle is ridiculous. I doubt any centre forward would be getting much joy playing for us just now. 

All that said there is no excuse for downing tools and yesterday really looked like that was the case for Lukaku. 

3 hours ago, abramovich said:

The other players have difficulty passing to him because he's either hiding behind opponents or too slow/lazy to move to get on the end of those passes. Unless you think a striker should just be static and the ball should be played straight to his feet on all occasions. By the way, he's still losing every aerial duel (yesterday he was owned by Andersen), so that route is not working either if you have Lukaku as your CF.

The 'playing to his strengths' argument is ridiculous. He's a very limited footballer even when he's fit and motivated (like at Inter), when he's not, he makes his team significantly worse. Giroud and Tammy for all their faults could offer much more than the current version of Lukaku., who virtually offers nothing.

I have a horrible feeling the fat ass is confident he can outlast the manager and that's why he isn't really bothered. His transfer fee/contract makes him virtually unmovable, he knows that, the club knows that, the manager knows that.

Well done, Chelsea. We had some bad deals in the past but this one takes the cake. Literally and figuratively.

You mean well done Tuchel. This transfer is on the manager, not a mythical meddling board.

4 minutes ago, loz said:

Not read the match thread so apologies if this has been covered in that.

You can't totally excuse Lukaku for his performance yesterday and he merits a lot of criticism which he is getting. But so does the service to him. Yesterday in particular it was diabolical but it has also regularly been that in many games over the past couple of months. 

The amount of fannying about that the likes of Havertz,  Odoi  and Pulisic do before they finally decide to put a ball into the middle is ridiculous. I doubt any centre forward would be getting much joy playing for us just now. 

All that said there is no excuse for downing tools and yesterday really looked like that was the case for Lukaku. 

We most definitely need to stop hesitating to get the ball into the box, but that is not the problem with Lukaku, it's way more than that Loz. The guy is either taking the piss out of the club/fans, or he is committing one of the biggest frauds in modern football. Tuchel/Club should be contacting the police or serious crime squad, we have been done like a kipper. This guy wouldn't even hold down a place in the Championship at the moment.

The Palace mascot had more touches of the ball than Lukaku and from what I saw had a better first touch.

13 minutes ago, coco said:

We most definitely need to stop hesitating to get the ball into the box, but that is not the problem with Lukaku, it's way more than that Loz. The guy is either taking the piss out of the club/fans, or he is committing one of the biggest frauds in modern football. Tuchel/Club should be contacting the police or serious crime squad, we have been done like a kipper. This guy wouldn't even hold down a place in the Championship at the moment.

I do think that is partly the issue Coco, quicker balls into the box from widemen who actually look up before playing it in would, I think, create more chances for Lukaku to get on the end of.

Don't get me wrong, I'd bench him and give Werner a run of at least 5 or 6 games as he can't be any worse and the current option clearly isn't working.

Probably the only positive things bring said about Lukaku are coming from his mum and possibly the RSPCA as Zouma's cat looks to reestablish the luxurious life which it had become accustomed to.

Lukaku is not playing well. No point in trying to gloss over that and the stats from yesterday's game is an obvious stick to beat him with.

But let's not pretend who he's surrounded by isn't a massive issue. He would have scored a sh*tload of goals for City. 

Havertz for example seems to be escaping all criticism despite him being our record signing until Lukaku arrived. The lad doesn't have an ounce of passing, creativity or dribbling in his body and I literally think he'd struggle to find a place in any PL-team the way he's looked for us in the league the past two years. Right now he's living off his name completely and if he was called McNair from Ireland he wouldn't be anywhere near this team. Had SEVERAL chances to find Lukaku in top positions yesterday but decided to take his usual touch and proceed to play it backwards. Not the only culprit, Kante in particular was poor yesterday too and Pulisic likewise. 

Kovacic came on and immediately proved why he's our best and most important midfielder as he can actually find Romelu, despite the marginal offside.

So Lukaku isn't performing but he's not got the right conditions to perform at a top level now either. Palace doubling up on him is what opened up the room for Ziyech to score as well so in that sense he did contribute to the goal as well.

31 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Lukaku is not playing well. No point in trying to gloss over that and the stats from yesterday's game is an obvious stick to beat him with.

But let's not pretend who he's surrounded by isn't a massive issue. He would have scored a sh*tload of goals for City. 

Havertz for example seems to be escaping all criticism despite him being our record signing until Lukaku arrived. The lad doesn't have an ounce of passing, creativity or dribbling in his body and I literally think he'd struggle to find a place in any PL-team the way he's looked for us in the league the past two years. Right now he's living off his name completely and if he was called McNair from Ireland he wouldn't be anywhere near this team. Had SEVERAL chances to find Lukaku in top positions yesterday but decided to take his usual touch and proceed to play it backwards. Not the only culprit, Kante in particular was poor yesterday too and Pulisic likewise. 

 

 

Let's be honest here if Lukaku nets next week against Liverpool even in defeat he'll be protected from criticism for months, never mind if he scores a winner in the UCL final.

Kai is not escaping it where it counts though, its very possible if not highly likely he's played his way out of the Lillie and Cup final lineup (despite his record in finals), whereas we know full well Lukaku will get rewarded with starts in both despite the fact he has no track record in the UCL knockout rounds and has never scored against Klopp's Liverpool. 

Ziyech has responded to criticism and a spell out of the team the only way a footballer should, by right Lukaku should be dropped from Lillie and Liverpool and if he had anything about him he'd come back in the team chomping at the bit with a point to prove but we know it won't happen, if he thought playing back up to prime Diego Costa at 20 was beneath him he'll cause a riot if he's dropped for these.

Edited February 20, 20224 yr by Argo

I’m sorry at this point just cut losses and start again like we did with Morata. Did well playing in transition at Inter, has he ever done anything at a team that dominates games?