Lacina Traore

[roydo]

At what point did I say he was crap? As the saying goes, "don't assume..."

He shielded the ball. For someone of his size, I'd expect him to do that without effort. He passed to Barry. Any footballer anywhere near Sunday league standard should be able to pass along the ground when there is no chance of interception, let alone PL standard.

Traore looks better because he seems to do things other than shield the ball and sometimes lose it.

Fair enough. You said his control was dreadful. I would have agreed with you a few weeks back, but it has clearly improved.

As his control of a high ball demonstrated last week.

 

[sheedys left foot]

He's out injured till next month so realistically we'll only have him playing for about 3 months and he's not exactly going to be playing for a contract or anything unlike super kev at the time. Signing him could go either way.

 

[Jxg]

Bollocks. More times than not he just isn't given the ball by our midfielders in decent positions. It's clear for all to see, and his frustration at times is telling when he doesn't receive it in time.

You're not going to get the ball if you aren't making the runs. He's improving but he still has a long, long way to go. That's why he's on loan.

 

[Hangleton]

It's not a myth, mate. I've been saying it since we signed him. Had a good start with us because teams weren't sure how he'd play under Martinez. Once he played a few games, he was figured out. Place a defender or two on his shoulder, mark him tightly so that he is facing away from goal when he receives the ball. He either loses it or passes it back and nothing is gained from the move. When was the last time you saw him latch on to a through ball and score? He doesn't make the runs to do that. He still tries to have it played into his feet but can't adapt to being marked heavily because he doesn't have the technique, so all he's useful for right now is holding the ball up. However, because we're playing a more patient game, that isn't much use.

He is fantastic when running onto through balls - defenders bounce off him and he always seems to get his shot on target. He is great at heading the ball too. One day he will fit into the Drogba role really well. Let’s hope Mourinho decides he doesn’t want that anymore.

 

[TheBear]

Traore would be good for us, the corners would be more exciting haha.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

You're not going to get the ball if you aren't making the runs. He's improving but he still has a long, long way to go. That's why he's on loan.

Garbage that. He's constantly making great runs, but he's rarely picked out, as we've not got someone who plays with their head up enough in the centre of the park. With someone like Mata behind him he'd have a field day.

 

[143BLUE]

I'm going against the grain.

Really don't like him. Seen him quite a few times during the European games for Anzhi, has limited technical ability, he may as well remove his right leg because its barely used. He' still young so he may well have improved, he's scored a bag load of goals but so did Jo in the Russian League.

No mate there are a few with this view.
You look at Jo` on that CSKA you-tube clip, looked world class and Citeh then spent £19m on him, for him to be a bit average.
I hope he does well if he comes in, is it a gamble? Yes and No, he arrives as back up, comes on for 20min a game and scores a few great, loan player did his job. However, he gets some game time, stinks the place out and misses some sitters due to lack of PL experience and cost us some points? Don`t relay on YouTube, i suspect there aint many on here who have watched him for a full 90mins.
The jury is out.

 

[AaronTheBlue]

Anyone who doubts Lukakus ability or potential needs there heads testing.

Works his arse off, constantly makes runs that should be getting passes to (but don't)

Great finisher.

Best striker we've had at the club for many years.

 

[Eggs]

...lets not forget we were critical last year because we lost momentum at this time. This boy could be just the type that makes an impression.

 

[ah11984]

Seen him about 3/4 times, not overly impressed from those games. A big lump who's not actually good in the area is not the best combination. But, I guess Monaco must have seen something in him to sign him with all the money they have at their disposal.

 

[ijjysmith]

Anyone who doubts Lukakus ability or potential needs there heads testing.

Works his arse off, constantly makes runs that should be getting passes to (but don't)

Great finisher.

Best striker we've had at the club for many years.

Agree mate.

People will realise how lucky we were to have him next season.

Best striker we've had in many years.

 

[royalblue66]

Anyone who doubts Lukakus ability or potential needs there heads testing.

Works his arse off, constantly makes runs that should be getting passes to (but don't)

Great finisher.

Best striker we've had at the club for many years.

As all the attributes to be a top top striker in another 12 months or so, going to be awesome I M O

 

[nsno-chris]

Garbage that. He's constantly making great runs, but he's rarely picked out, as we've not got someone who plays with their head up enough in the centre of the park. With someone like Mata behind him he'd have a field day.

This absolute spot on; how people cannot see the runs Lukaku makes highlights a real lack of footballing knowledge.

When we break, instead of people watching the player on the ball, just take time to watch Lukaku and how he pulls of the defender and looks for the ball in-between the centre back and full back; a true visual, creative player (Barkley in a few years maybe) would have lukaku's shots per game through the roof.

The reason Lukaku was so tired over the xmas break was the constant running and looking for space

 

[AaronTheBlue]

Usually the people who doubt him talk about him as if he is a twenty five year old, who has bags of experience in the prem.

He isn't, he's twenty. He's the same age as Ross Barkley. Just because he has all the physical attributes of someone who has been in the prem for years doesn't mean he is that player.

He's going to be inconsistent yeah, but i'd rather have an inconsistent Lukaku than over half the people in the prem. He's still got 9 goals in 18 games, which is a good return.

The lad will go on a run of scoring quite a few goals again soon, if we had given him better service he would be on around 15 goals already.

We're asking him to play a very specific role at the club, as the striker he is used to bring others into the game. He's playing a role that usually goes hand in hand with having great experience in the premier league and in top flight football. He's giving it his best shot and doing quite well considering we're asking him to change his game considerably to do so. It is why he hasn't had as many goals in the past few games also.

If we are going to get into europe he will be one of the biggest reasons as to why we do it.

 

[hoogs]

Agree mate.

People will realise how lucky we were to have him next season.

Best striker we've had in many years.

Agree also