Would you pay £24m for Lukaku?

[Little Ralphy]

What "everything else"? I'm just asking him to learn how to trap a ball and give a simple five yard pass, not turn into a footballing supergod.

That could also be levelled at Naismith. Personally I think when Naismith plays, Lukaku suffers. Even last night, Naismith fired that ball across the box instead of passing it for Lukaku to attack. Then basic 5 yard balls he was bouncing up to Lukaku's knees. Not the easiest to control when holding off the defenders as well and you’re expecting it to feet. Naismith also takes up a lot of the space and makes runs in to the channels that Lukaku would normally.


Naismith does a lot of work defensively though and last night we probably did need that energy he brings to the side to get people going. But if we want the best from Lukaku I think we need a different option than Naismith behind him, or we need to channel the ball from the wide areas instead. McGeady doesn’t offer much but he can knock a decent ball in, and when Mirallas isn’t trying to do everything himself, he can link up quite nicely as well. With Barkley in the role he was in last night, we saw he was willing to play an early ball in behind if the run was there, so I think with a slight change to the system we could get more from Lukaku.


Let’s face it, he hasn’t missed many chances so far, and when we have put the ball in the box for him, he’s been lethal. Given his age and the money invested, I think the side should be set up to get the best out of him, as he’ll win you more games than Naismith would.

 

[Professor Toffee]

He played a nice one two with Barkley for the goal and it isn't the first time this season he's done that.

He finds it harder when the defender is tight and whenever there's no one close to flick it to. Hopefully that will come because I don't think it's ability but rather the desire to throw his weight around.

Im not disagreeing with you or others but I think he needs to lead from the front by being the old fashioned holding up centre forward.
If he doesnt then the ball comes back at us
It may very well be a component of the reasons why we are playing so slowly in that his "touch" while never good has deserted him so we cant rely on him to hold it up
Naismith does this job well but closer to our goal
I think 7 goals is not a bad return but he needs to be capable of a lot more than netting given hes such a big man
Hes not Clive Allen who did nothing but score goals, literally nothing but he was bagging 25 to 30 league goals for a fast paced Spurs team

 

[bluegirl]

He has scored goals this season, he has had a few shockers and could have scored more BUT he is scoring. Us getting on his back isn't helping him at all, give him the chance and he'll score goals. Last night and Spurs he hasn't been given chances.

 

[Joey66]

He will come good with the right service - end off!

 

[joey_macmo]

apart from sunderland away i cant think of a chance he's missed.

if it was him instead of Kone for that half chance at the end he would have got in front of his man and put it away

 

[toffeejack]

we never seem to play through balls in this league. wolfsburg away for example, scored from two one on ones, we've barely scored a one on one all season in the league. rom's at home vs palace?

the thing is, he didn't even get a chance to score last night, we play it too slowly and lack a playmaker. it's not even that that's the problem though, we're too scared to just put it in the box - we have defined "trying to walk it in" this season.

there was virtually nothing of lukaku's performance yesterday to deserve any criticism. as for people saying he doesn't win flick-ons; where's he meant to flick them on to? pointless winning them because we don't really have players (1 max) running past him anyway. so stop lumping it up to him.

 

[EverBlue86]

Stick Naismith behind bony and sigurdsson behind lukaku and see who looks better

 

[ijjysmith]

Well we've paid however many tons of money for a striker we don't let strike.

Brilliant.

 

[bag a yoko]

That backwards header straight at our box was pretty bizarre.

 

[Tree13]

Stick Naismith behind bony and sigurdsson behind lukaku and see who looks better

Said it at the time, and several times since - I hope we at least TRIED to get Sigurdsson.

 

[Tree13]

That could also be levelled at Naismith. Personally I think when Naismith plays, Lukaku suffers. Even last night, Naismith fired that ball across the box instead of passing it for Lukaku to attack. Then basic 5 yard balls he was bouncing up to Lukaku's knees. Not the easiest to control when holding off the defenders as well and you’re expecting it to feet. Naismith also takes up a lot of the space and makes runs in to the channels that Lukaku would normally.


Naismith does a lot of work defensively though and last night we probably did need that energy he brings to the side to get people going. But if we want the best from Lukaku I think we need a different option than Naismith behind him, or we need to channel the ball from the wide areas instead. McGeady doesn’t offer much but he can knock a decent ball in, and when Mirallas isn’t trying to do everything himself, he can link up quite nicely as well. With Barkley in the role he was in last night, we saw he was willing to play an early ball in behind if the run was there, so I think with a slight change to the system we could get more from Lukaku.


Let’s face it, he hasn’t missed many chances so far, and when we have put the ball in the box for him, he’s been lethal. Given his age and the money invested, I think the side should be set up to get the best out of him, as he’ll win you more games than Naismith would.

Lots of sense here.

It always seems to me as if Lukaku links up better with Barkley in the no.10 role than with Naismith there - given that the two of them are different players, with different abilities, who play the same position in different ways, it's not surprising.

 

[ah11984]

A bit of aggression wouldn't go amiss, the size of him he should be bouncing defenders off.

 

[Furey1878]

A bit of aggression wouldn't go amiss, the size of him he should be bouncing defenders off.

Maybe if he tried controlling the defenders at his feet then they'd bounce off, it's certainly the case with a ball.




















*side note - I think Lukaku's boss.

 

[Eggs]

....we have wanted and needed his type for a long time. I'm really not bothered what we paid, in my mind we swapped him for Fellaini. He is far from finished article but scores goals regardless. I'm critical of performances like last night where he played lethargically. He wont always play well but he should always be on his toes and put in a shift.

There was a moment when we defended a corner and he stood and watched the melee. It epitomised his performance. Saying that, I like him.

 

[AlE]

If you think about it though lads, he's young and scores goals.

Sounds ideal, right?