Romelu Lukaku back to Chelsea - and gone again!

[axman2526]

16 minutes ago, haviet1 said:

Will be very interesting when he returns to the lineup.

7 attackers fighting for 3 spots

Should be 6 for 2 as long as CHO keeps going as he is.

[ElTerrible]

Simply not a good fit for the team. It´s hilarious how good Tuchel is at understanding how to pick a systen and form the best team from a given squad, even re-defining the role of some players, but he´s truly awful identifying players from the outside that would suit that same system.

Between playing Lukaku, Mount, Werner, Havertz, Pulisic, CHO or Ziyech, I´d only have to think about Lukaku or Ziyech. Lukaku could be a useful super-sub, when teams sit deep and are getting tired, but he really should not start, even if his transfer fee kind of demands it. 

Should have just waited for Haaland.  

 

 

[ducavis]

8 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Be shocked if he gets a start in the next couple of games, we are playing much fluid and creative football without him.  The target man role he was playing before the injury did not suit him or the team, expect some kind of change soon. I think it will be him and Havertz as strike partners, or a front 3 with him starting on the left and Havertz the false 9. Sometime you get need a big signing to get the rest of the team work harder and improve, in a funny way Lukaku is doing that during his absence.

Issue is you stick him on the left, and 4 of Werner, Pulisic, CHO, Mount, Ziyech will be on the bench. Agree we are more fluid with Havertz up top, will be interesting to see how he solves it.  Tuchel asked for a “9” in the summer and got a £90m+ one, you just don’t bench your big signing.

[Argo]

12 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Issue is you stick him on the left, and 4 of Werner, Pulisic, CHO, Mount, Ziyech will be on the bench. Agree we are more fluid with Havertz up top, will be interesting to see how he solves it.  Tuchel asked for a “9” in the summer and got a £90m+ one, you just don’t bench your big signing.

City rotate Grealish in and out, Arsenal bench Pepe. If we perform like yesterday and Burnley most weeks I doubt anyone (apart from Rom) will care. 

[comtrend]

31 minutes ago, Argo said:

City rotate Grealish in and out, Arsenal bench Pepe. If we perform like yesterday and Burnley most weeks I doubt anyone (apart from Rom) will care. 

Lukaku was overplayed until he got his injury, there was even talk of that just before it happened. Tuchel just needs to rotate him a bit more, keep him fresh and with a point to prove.

Tuchel got it spot on against Leicester by choosing 3 attackers that can maintain a high press + Kante and the rest of the team. Leicester went straight for that trap by trying to play out from the back, they were also very open by trying to do the same to us, but failing. Against Burnley however we could have used a finisher like Lukaku to convert all those chances.

I think Lukaku, if 100% fit, should be used against a Manchester United team without Maguire. 

[Argo]

1 hour ago, comtrend said:

Lukaku was overplayed until he got his injury, there was even talk of that just before it happened. Tuchel just needs to rotate him a bit more, keep him fresh and with a point to prove.

Tuchel got it spot on against Leicester by choosing 3 attackers that can maintain a high press + Kante and the rest of the team. Leicester went straight for that trap by trying to play out from the back, they were also very open by trying to do the same to us, but failing. Against Burnley however we could have used a finisher like Lukaku to convert all those chances.

I think Lukaku, if 100% fit, should be used against a Manchester United team without Maguire. 

But do we create that much with Rom up top? The reason we create so much in those type of games is because we have everyone so heavily involved in both the build up and the press. 

It's well known I wouldn't have signed him but I can accept he does have his plus points. All I ask for is he's used in the games his pros outweigh his cons and is left out when it's the opposite.

[axman2526]

Comes back on the bench for me, as all players suffering injury lay off should do. If he is fit for the bench for Juve then great, if not then maybe United.

Either way he will start some games at least and we just need to figure out how to use him best, for me that would have him play deeper which he can do, use his pace and strength.

[comtrend]

3 hours ago, Argo said:

But do we create that much with Rom up top? The reason we create so much in those type of games is because we have everyone so heavily involved in both the build up and the press. 

It's well known I wouldn't have signed him but I can accept he does have his plus points. All I ask for is he's used in the games his pros outweigh his cons and is left out when it's the opposite.

I would like to see how Lukaku does alongside CHO/Pulisic and Mount before I come to any conclusion. So far it's been Mount & Havertz in the opening games, where stats show Havertz with almost no passes to Lukaku. We have tried 3-5-2, with Lukaku and Werner in attack. Ziyech have also had some chances, but his performances and form have been below average at best.

[PhilH930]

Hard to drop anyone based on current form, but we must play the long game.  We've an abundance of options and need to play many of them into form.  Havertz movement is creating many chances, and Odoi continues to grow every single game.

Good problem for TT to have.  Is there a way to get Havertz and Lukaku in the same team, because I'd love to see that (I understand they have played together, but I mean start to build a true partnership, and have some pace running off them in Odoi, Werner or Pulisic - the options!).

Edited November 22, 2021 by PhilH930

[axman2526]

6 minutes ago, PhilH930 said:

Hard to drop anyone based on current form, but we must play the long game.  We've an abundance of options and need to play many of them into form.  Havertz movement is creating many chances, and Odoi continues to grow every single game.

Good problem for TT to have.  Is there a way to get Havertz and Lukaku in the same team, because I'd love to see that (I understand they have played together, but I mean start to build a true partnership, and have some pace running off them in Odoi, Werner or Pulisic - the options!).

You alter the structure:

 

Mount

 

Lukaku---Havertz

 

Or 

 

Havertz

 

Lukaku---Pulisic 

 

Means the wingbacks stay wide or we loose width, or we leave that to the wide cbs to provide.

[ForeverCarefree]

As soon as he's fit he's back in the starting XI. 

Havertz has done okay leading the line but his goals and assists during an extended run of starts hasn't made him a nailed on starter. 

Lukaku will come in and be the focal point and I think will look a lot better now that the team as a whole is playing better. 

[Argo]

52 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

As soon as he's fit he's back in the starting XI. 

Havertz has done okay leading the line but his goals and assists during an extended run of starts hasn't made him a nailed on starter. 

Lukaku will come in and be the focal point and I think will look a lot better now that the team as a whole is playing better. 

We of all supporters should know the guy up top can be important without padding up the stats. 

I remember watching him at Bayer post lockdown and commenting that he'd be the dream Firmino successor for Liverpool, he's having a similar impact for us in recent weeks which I feel we will realise further if/when he's taken out or shoehorned further back to accommodate Rom's return.

If the latter absolutely has to be thrown straight back in I would rather he plays in the half space RF area he often does for Belgium, if he's put straight back upfront I fear all the progress we've made (team performance wise) in the last few weeks will be squandered. 

[axman2526]

Hopefully both TT and Rom realize that we need him to play the same role he does for Belgium when he returns and not just be an Andy Carroll type player.

[The Don Antonio]

On 22/11/2021 at 02:52, ForeverCarefree said:

As soon as he's fit he's back in the starting XI. 

Havertz has done okay leading the line but his goals and assists during an extended run of starts hasn't made him a nailed on starter. 

Lukaku will come in and be the focal point and I think will look a lot better now that the team as a whole is playing better. 

May be just may be we are playing better because he is not in the line up. We won the UCL last season with a false 9 and always looked suspect when Tammy or Giroud started. Allegri explained it best in his pre match press conference when he said we have more speed in attack without Lukaku.

It is easy to pinpoint the focal point with a number 9 and just get your centrebacks to get physical with him just like Man city and Juve did to Lukaku. I think Lukaku can still be a great signing for us but he will have to adapt his game by making more runs on offense instead of asking for the ball to feet and most importantly he has to get involved in our press when we lose the ball Instead of being an Andy Caroll typed play like @axman2526 so eloquently put.

[axman2526]

11 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

May be just may be we are playing better because he is not in the line up. We won the UCL last season with a false 9 and always looked suspect when Tammy or Giroud started. Allegri explained it best in his pre match press conference when he said we have more speed in attack without Lukaku.

It is easy to pinpoint the focal point with a number 9 and just get your centrebacks to get physical with him just like Man city and Juve did to Lukaku. I think Lukaku can still be a great signing for us but he will have to adapt his game by making more runs on offense instead of asking for the ball to feet and most importantly he has to get involved in our press when we lose the ball Instead of being an Andy Caroll typed play like @axman2526 so eloquently put.

In the current system the forwards often  swap places, they are all over the pitch. 

Next time Lukaku starts I woild tell him he needs work his socks off for the side and I would start him as the right of the 3.

 

Lukaku

Havertz

CHO

 

Or

 

Lukaku

Werner

CHO

 

So far the only forward who is doing well enough to be undisputed as a start is CHO. Rest need to step up no matter where they are asked to play.

Ziyech did better yesterday. Pulisic needs to do more. Dame goes for Werner, Mount, Lukaku and Havertz. Decent in small spells, not consistent enough. Need to do better.

Edited November 24, 2021 by axman2526

[Bob stark]

18 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Hopefully both TT and Rom realize that we need him to play the same role he does for Belgium when he returns and not just be an Andy Carroll type player.

Yup this is something that I don't get. For some reason we play Lukaku like he is Giroud. 

[Bob stark]

14 hours ago, axman2526 said:

In the current system the forwards often  swap places, they are all over the pitch. 

Next time Lukaku starts I woild tell him he needs work his socks off for the side and I would start him as the right of the 3.

 

Lukaku

Havertz

CHO

 

Or

 

Lukaku

Werner

CHO

 

So far the only forward who is doing well enough to be undisputed as a start is CHO. Rest need to step up no matter where they are asked to play.

Ziyech did better yesterday. Pulisic needs to do more. Dame goes for Werner, Mount, Lukaku and Havertz. Decent in small spells, not consistent enough. Need to do better.

Completely agree CHO arguably has been our best attacker. He has basically played Mount role of last year. Somebody who can feed our forward without us having to do any fancy stuff. Just clear some space and give him the ball.

[icecoolguy22]

Lukaku will be the plan B for a few games at least, although with the heavy schedule he could be back in starting line up sooner than expected. He needs to be more mobile , instead of being the focus and outlet of our attack. Right now, teams are having a nightmare defending against us, just not sure which players to mark, Lukaku could potentially make things easier for them if he doesn't follow the script.

[axman2526]

5 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Yup this is something that I don't get. For some reason we play Lukaku like he is Giroud. 

He is a poor man's Giroud when you compare them in that specific role. Giroud works harder, has better technique, better team link up and better in the air. 

Keep playing Lukaku as Giroud and we will look a very poor side.

You would get just as much success from Rom being Giroud as you woild asking him to be Zola.

Edited November 25, 2021 by axman2526

[Bob stark]

18 hours ago, axman2526 said:

He is a poor man's Giroud when you compare them in that specific role. Giroud works harder, has better technique, better team link up and better in the air. 

Keep playing Lukaku as Giroud and we will look a very poor side.

You would get just as much success from Rom being Giroud as you woild asking him to be Zola.

That is one thing that I don't get so far. The idea of having lukaku is to have a st who can do both. But so far he is playing like a target man although I recall he said that he prefer to face the goal and run at people

[Zeta]

Perhaps still a bit rusty from lack of games, but he just offers so little. When you look at our main rivials, they have players like Salah who will score out of nothing. Don't ever feel confident going into a game that Lukaku (or any of our strikers for that matter) are going to score.

[coco]

We could have put a cardboard box up front and looked no worse.

[Deino]

That was my last straw with him. There's no greater shame for a striker coming in during a game the team is winning to not only do nothing but proceed to lose it as well. 

[Term_X]

In our system he’s just a diversion, man-marked by 3 defenders and there just to create space for the others. He’s overweight again now too.

[TheSage]

He offers Ronaldo and Messi levels of effort without the productivity to match. We should have looked for a cheaper up and coming striker rather than spending 100M on another big name striker who a lot of people did not rate.  His $0 replacement is not looking any worse than he did at Inter. He really needs to step up but at his age, I doubt he will improve much.  We really are terrible at signing strikers