Longest Thread For Drivel (or the Romelu Lukaku thread)

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

Lukaku doesn't have all round ability never mind being the second best! Aguero isn't the best all round striker either IMO... sanchez is.

 

Aguero, Kane, giroud, Sanchez, firminho, Costa,zlatan, king, llorente - all far more rounded players.

 

 

How can you call lukaku rounded? His control of a football is a lottery and he passes it to an opponent more than a team mate in many games.

 

Hes a goal scorer... a great finisher. Stop trying to paint him as something more. Alexis Sanchez has 9 assists. 33% more than Rom. Kane has the same in far less games. So does costa.

 

The most concerning stat is lukaku has a 66% pass completion this season... the lowest by far of any out field player.

 

Kone 96%, schneiderlin 90%, lookman 89%, gueye 86%, mirallas 83%, Valencia 81%.

 

His nemesis Harry Kane has a 73% pass completion so does Sanchez and they have a longer average pass length too (isolation my arse)

 

 

 

Hes only won 46% of his aerial duels. Jags won 67%.... little iddrissa gueye won 53% of his! Inexcusable for a 6ft 4 'beast'.

 

 

So let's stop trying to make out that poor Rom is a one man band. Goal stats aside it paints the picture of a player who is just a finisher. His team mates deserve a lot of credit for getting the ball to him in the box.

 

These stats are pretty cutting. When he takes his ego and attitude to a club he feels is big enough for him... he's in for a rude awakening.

 

Its amazing how you come up with all these stats to try and prove your point yet the totally ignore the most important stats of all ( goals & assists )

 

Lukaku is not just a good finisher, give him the right service and he is unplayable

[Hafnia]

The fact is, as already stated by Moshiri etc, is that money is not an issue any more. Okay, if a ridiculous bid comes in say £80m+ then that's just business sense but to seek to sell him is necessary this summer. We'll still get £40m+ next summer but by that time his goals could have helped use secure Champions League football or even a trophy. Defoe is a bloody good poacher but he needs to play with or as back-up to Lukaku - Lukaku may not be anywhere near Drogba in terms of using this physical attributes and hold up play but he can often take the attentions of 2 even 3 opposition players - something you won't get from Defoe.

 

The way I see Lukaku's future is he either goes this summer for £80m+ or he signs a deal once the transfer window closes with a release clause based on Champions League status.

I must be missing something.....

 

We can't just go and blow £60m on players - financial fair play.

 

We don't need to sell to survive - yes I get that. But we can't go and buy the players that we need to move on...

 

Michael Keane £25m... a goalkeeper £15m... gylfi £18m+.... that's before we even get to buying a perm replacement for valencia, jags plus a winger.

[Hafnia]

 

Its amazing how you come up with all these stats to try and prove your point yet the totally ignore the most important stats of all ( goals & assists )

 

Lukaku is not just a good finisher, give him the right service and he is unplayable

hes not just a good finisher.... he just needs people to put the ball on a plate for him to prove how good he is?

 

Errrr ok.... I think that kinda proves my point.

 

Don't expect him to win headers... dont expect him to play with his back to goal, dont expect him to link up play and do intricate passing. Give him the ball in front of him and he will prove hes not just a finisher?

 

Dunc..... I haven't doubted his goalscoring stats. As for his assists 6 is the same number as Kane with many more games. A third less than Sanchez....

[c1982]

I must be missing something.....

 

We can't just go and blow £60m on players - financial fair play.

 

We don't need to sell to survive - yes I get that. But we can't go and buy the players that we need to move on...

 

Michael Keane £25m... a goalkeeper £15m... gylfi £18m+.... that's before we even get to buying a perm replacement for valencia, jags plus a winger.

I'm fully aware of FFP and I'm sure our hierarchy know the ins and outs of it in far much more detail than you and I. If they're saying we don't need to sell Lukaku then I'll listen to them rather than read on a forum that we need to sell him before we can spend.

 

Koeman has already cleared a lot out in the last 2 windows (Gibson, Cleverley, Oviedo, etc), has potential deals set up for McGeady and Niasse and has Kone's contract and maybe even Jagielka's (although I think he may get 1 more year) freeing up millions. Personally, I'd rather sell McCarthy and Mori to appease FFP rules - that's if there's any worry in the first place!

[Aidan]

Lukaku doesn't have all round ability never mind being the second best! Aguero isn't the best all round striker either IMO... sanchez is.

 

Aguero, Kane, giroud, Sanchez, firminho, Costa,zlatan, king, llorente - all far more rounded players.

 

 

How can you call lukaku rounded? His control of a football is a lottery and he passes it to an opponent more than a team mate in many games.

 

Hes a goal scorer... a great finisher. Stop trying to paint him as something more. Alexis Sanchez has 9 assists. 33% more than Rom. Kane has the same in far less games. So does costa.

 

The most concerning stat is lukaku has a 66% pass completion this season... the lowest by far of any out field player.

 

Kone 96%, schneiderlin 90%, lookman 89%, gueye 86%, mirallas 83%, Valencia 81%.

 

His nemesis Harry Kane has a 73% pass completion so does Sanchez and they have a longer average pass length too (isolation my arse)

 

 

 

Hes only won 46% of his aerial duels. Jags won 67%.... little iddrissa gueye won 53% of his! Inexcusable for a 6ft 4 'beast'.

 

 

So let's stop trying to make out that poor Rom is a one man band. Goal stats aside it paints the picture of a player who is just a finisher. His team mates deserve a lot of credit for getting the ball to him in the box.

 

These stats are pretty cutting. When he takes his ego and attitude to a club he feels is big enough for him... he's in for a rude awakening.

I never meant he's rounded, far from it. But Rom has contributed to 30 goals this season half of all our goals.

 

I just don't think he's all round game is as bad as you make out haf.

 

You're not looking at the bigger picture with pass %. Your pass % will be lower if you're more isolated, Rom is at times the most isolated player in the league.

 

I can't be bothered finding it but I posted some stats a few months back comparing this season's pass % to last (where he'd have more players around him in attack) and the figures were amongst the best in the league for strikers. He even had the second most key passes a game after Sanchez. So naturally this season (especially pre Xmas) his pass accuracy will have decreased as he has had less options.

 

Tottenham dominate games. Kane will have more options on the ball therefore a better accuracy.

 

As for aerial duels Lukaku wins 3.6 a game, more than Giroud (3.5), ibrahimovic (3.1), Kane (1.6), Diego Costa (1.4), Josh King (1.2).

 

As for the "done it in less games" argument, although a ratio of most goals to games is nice, natural fitness is a attribute of a player in itself. Rom doesn't get injured because he's fitter in most cases, so his ratios might not be as good but you have to be "in it to win it".

 

Stop trying to play him down.

Edited April 29, 2017 by AidanLewis

[Matt]

We had snow yesterday, but today is glorious sunshine. Might take the little one for a walk in the mountains.

[Cornish Steve]

Not every player is supposedly worth £80m or is wanting to move.

 

My argument for selling lukaku is that we can use the money.

 

At the very very least we could get Defoe in as a "finisher"... you can argue that they are extremely similar. Forget the stature difference... they are similar. Defoe isn't the solution but nor is having a striker supposedly worth £80m who loses the ball a lot.

 

Forget the pipe dreams that his size etc will make him the next drogba - he hasn't got the fire in his belly to be that type of player.

 

Yes... most players have some weaknesses. If lukaku wasn't a finisher he would be No where near a premier league team. The fact that he's a finisher but is very rough in other regards is why he will not play for the elite level team he craves.

 

Simple as that really. If we never had lukaku but had £80m to spend.... there is no way whatsoever that i would want to sign him. £30m? Yeah fine but that would be on the proviso that the rest of the money or a chunk of it was used to buy a complimentary player.... essentially someone who can do the team work of two men.

 

Sometimes, this thread blows my mind. We want to replace the league's leading scorer with a player from the bottom team? That's an improvement?

[Hafnia]

I never meant he's rounded, far from it. But Rom has contributed to 30 goals this season half of all our goals.

 

I just don't think he's all round game is as bad as you make out haf.

 

You're not looking at the bigger picture with pass %. Your pass % will be lower if you're more isolated, Rom is at times the most isolated player in the league.

 

I can't be bothered finding it but I posted some stats a few months back comparing this season's pass % to last (where he'd have more players around him in attack) and the figures were amongst the best in the league for strikers. He even had the second most key passes a game after Sanchez. So naturally this season (especially pre Xmas) his pass accuracy will have decreased as he has had less options.

 

Tottenham dominate games. Kane will have more options on the ball therefore a better accuracy.

 

As for aerial duels Lukaku wins 3.6 a game, more than Giroud (3.5), ibrahimovic (3.1), Kane (1.6), Diego Costa (1.4), Josh King (1.2).

 

As for the "done it in less games" argument, although a ratio of most goals to games is nice, natural fitness is a attribute of a player in itself. Rom doesn't get injured because he's fitter in most cases, so his ratios might not be as good but you have to be "in it to win it".

 

Stop trying to play him down.

Ive already covered the isolation bit ... his average pass length is shorter than that of Sanchez and Kane. Isolation?

 

Besides that... I didn't need stats.. the amount of times he plays the ball into an opponents legs is baffling. Followed by a wave of the arms and trot.

 

 

Whether it's 3.6 8.6 or 12.6. He loses more headers than he wins. He's one of the biggest players in the league.

 

Are you actually telling me that he's ok in the air? Did you watch him last week? I couldn't believe my eyes - he was h3ading fresh air.

 

Stop trying to play him up.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Hafnia

[Lowensda]

Going to see Guardians. Excitement is kill8ng me.

[Cornish Steve]

Lukaku doesn't have all round ability never mind being the second best! Aguero isn't the best all round striker either IMO... sanchez is.

 

Aguero, Kane, giroud, Sanchez, firminho, Costa,zlatan, king, llorente - all far more rounded players.

 

 

How can you call lukaku rounded? His control of a football is a lottery and he passes it to an opponent more than a team mate in many games.

 

Hes a goal scorer... a great finisher. Stop trying to paint him as something more. Alexis Sanchez has 9 assists. 33% more than Rom. Kane has the same in far less games. So does costa.

 

The most concerning stat is lukaku has a 66% pass completion this season... the lowest by far of any out field player.

 

Kone 96%, schneiderlin 90%, lookman 89%, gueye 86%, mirallas 83%, Valencia 81%.

 

His nemesis Harry Kane has a 73% pass completion so does Sanchez and they have a longer average pass length too (isolation my arse)

 

 

 

Hes only won 46% of his aerial duels. Jags won 67%.... little iddrissa gueye won 53% of his! Inexcusable for a 6ft 4 'beast'.

 

 

So let's stop trying to make out that poor Rom is a one man band. Goal stats aside it paints the picture of a player who is just a finisher. His team mates deserve a lot of credit for getting the ball to him in the box.

 

These stats are pretty cutting. When he takes his ego and attitude to a club he feels is big enough for him... he's in for a rude awakening.

 

You're not comparing apples to apples. An aerial duel in midfield or defence is very different from an aerial duel in the opponents' penalty box. A sideways pass under no pressure in midfield bears no relation to a quickfire attempted pass, under immense pressure, in their penalty box. While I believe in statistics, you can't compare apples to oranges.

 

The statistic that counts the most is goals scored (excluding penalties), full stop. Next is number of assists. Lukaku leads where it matters.

[Hafnia]

 

You're not comparing apples to apples. An aerial duel in midfield or defence is very different from an aerial duel in the opponents' penalty box. A sideways pass under no pressure in midfield bears no relation to a quickfire attempted pass, under immense pressure, in their penalty box. While I believe in statistics, you can't compare apples to oranges.

 

The statistic that counts the most is goals scored (excluding penalties), full stop. Next is number of assists. Lukaku leads where it matters.

Ive argued that one before and can't be arsed doing it all over again...

[Shukes]

Don't take that much notice of names to be brutally honest. But I can say that Pad is one that defends him vehemently along with at least five others.

Surprised you needed to ask to be fair.

[StevO]

Haf wouldn't sign Lukaku for £80m but he would sign him for £30m!

 

?

 

We signed him for £28m and all you've done is moan about it since. You cheer me up sometimes mate.

[StevO]

Can't wait for the big fight tonight

[Hafnia]

Haf wouldn't sign Lukaku for £80m but he would sign him for £30m!

 

?

 

We signed him for £28m and all you've done is moan about it since. You cheer me up sometimes mate.

Read it again.... If we had £80m I wouldn't spend it on him. Id spend £30m on him in today's market - But supplement his works by ways.

 

So essentially I'm saying I don't think he's worth the money we are asking for him.

[Hafnia]

 

Sometimes, this thread blows my mind. We want to replace the league's leading scorer with a player from the bottom team? That's an improvement?

Replacing a finisher with a finisher and having £70m+ to spend is mind blowing...

 

Tell me why Defoe is such a bad idea? He's banged in 14 goals for a truly shite team.... and I mean truly shite.

 

Id argue that Defoe would have scored 18 goals+ for us

[Paddock]

Don't take that much notice of names to be brutally honest. But I can say that Pad is one that defends him vehemently along with at least five others.

Surprised you needed to ask to be fair.

Jesus Shukes- how many times!!! I don't defend him at all, I defend the completely unfair critisism and relentless slaughtering of him no matter what he does. I've said on numerous occasions he's not the most graceful, he needs to work on his all round game , he can be lazy at times and a lot more. I always critisise him when it's deserved but Haf will pull holes in him regardless of what he does for nothing more than he can't accept he's wrong about him.

 

The only time I'll defend him vehemently is when he gets critisised unfairly - which is all the time by Haf. I agree with many assumptions on him- he's not perfect but shouts of he doesn't even try or Troy Deeney is better is just plain stupid.

[Paddock]

Replacing a finisher with a finisher and having £70m+ to spend is mind blowing...

 

Tell me why Defoe is such a bad idea? He's banged in 14 goals for a truly shite team.... and I mean truly shite.

 

Id argue that Defoe would have scored 18 goals+ for us

Because he's 35 and too old. Filling a hole with a plug wont work.

[MikeO]

Filling a hole with a plug wont work.

Unless it's a plughole.

[Paddock]

Unless it's a plughole.

True but it wont fix a hole that shouldn't be there properly

Edited April 29, 2017 by Paddock

[Shukes]

Jesus Shukes- how many times!!! I don't defend him at all, I defend the completely unfair critisism and relentless slaughtering of him no matter what he does. I've said on numerous occasions he's not the most graceful, he needs to work on his all round game , he can be lazy at times and a lot more. I always critisise him when it's deserved but Haf will pull holes in him regardless of what he does for nothing more than he can't accept he's wrong about him.

 

The only time I'll defend him vehemently is when he gets critisised unfairly - which is all the time by Haf. I agree with many assumptions on him- he's not perfect but shouts of he doesn't even try or Troy Deeney is better is just plain stupid.

Mate it's just the way I see it.... it's different from yours that's all.

 

To me your one of a group that does defend him whatever.

I just don't know why people get so upset when a few people critisice him that's all. It seems they take it personal.

 

Lukaku has his faults. A few people go on about them too much.... but no different from yourself and others in the opposite corner. It's all swings and roundabouts to me.

 

I see his strengths but I also see his weakness's .

If he plays like he did last week then I feel the right to critisice him. Same as if he plays well I feel the right to applaud him.

 

I'm not gonna get upset if Haf doesn't say he played great. And to be fair I agree with on a lot of points.

He is lazy.

He isn't a great player.

He has the touch of a rapist.

And he is a bit of a pussy for a big lad.

 

But I also see that he is a very good finisher, one of the best.

He is a good member of the squad.

He is a valued commodity.

He is one of our top assets.

 

I admit to biting when he is defended all the time and I am going to make a conscious effort not to.

[EFC-Paul]

Mate it's just the way I see it.... it's different from yours that's all.

 

To me your one of a group that does defend him whatever.

I just don't know why people get so upset when a few people critisice him that's all. It seems they take it personal.

 

Lukaku has his faults. A few people go on about them too much.... but no different from yourself and others in the opposite corner. It's all swings and roundabouts to me.

 

I see his strengths but I also see his weakness's .

If he plays like he did last week then I feel the right to critisice him. Same as if he plays well I feel the right to applaud him.

 

I'm not gonna get upset if Haf doesn't say he played great. And to be fair I agree with on a lot of points.

He is lazy.

He isn't a great player.

He has the touch of a rapist.

And he is a bit of a pussy for a big lad.

 

But I also see that he is a very good finisher, one of the best.

He is a good member of the squad.

He is a valued commodity.

He is one of our top assets.

 

I admit to biting when he is defended all the time and I am going to make a conscious effort not to.

Spot on

[Hafnia]

Mate it's just the way I see it.... it's different from yours that's all.

 

To me your one of a group that does defend him whatever.

I just don't know why people get so upset when a few people critisice him that's all. It seems they take it personal.

 

Lukaku has his faults. A few people go on about them too much.... but no different from yourself and others in the opposite corner. It's all swings and roundabouts to me.

 

I see his strengths but I also see his weakness's .

If he plays like he did last week then I feel the right to critisice him. Same as if he plays well I feel the right to applaud him.

 

I'm not gonna get upset if Haf doesn't say he played great. And to be fair I agree with on a lot of points.

He is lazy.

He isn't a great player.

He has the touch of a rapist.

And he is a bit of a pussy for a big lad.

 

But I also see that he is a very good finisher, one of the best.

He is a good member of the squad.

He is a valued commodity.

He is one of our top assets.

 

I admit to biting when he is defended all the time and I am going to make a conscious effort not to.

Excellent post.

 

It may get forgotten that a few months back I was actually full of praise for the way he was applying himself.... unfortunately he went on to prove how indifferent to consistent effort he is.

 

His last 3 away games have been awful. Id actually go as far to say that since he started talking about transfers his attitude has been shit.

 

Maybe I need to quote them..

[Hafnia]

You say that as if he has always played like he is doing this season.

 

This season has seen him bar 1 or 2 games become more team orientated - more able on the ball. His best season by a long stretch and I'm not talking about goals - talking about the stuff I have wanted to see for the last few years that I was told 'wasn't important'. His ball retention was the biggest issue and that has improved.

 

It's not important when he's not doing it but when he is - it gets brought up....

 

Long may his maturity continue to blossom and his attitude grow. It has way to go but he is showing me that he can.

Hmmm.

[Hafnia]

"If" he can bring those 5/10 performances up to a 7/10 he will be one of the most effective players in the league. If not the most effective.

 

It's in his power to be a 7/10 performer every single week as a minimum because quite honestly his physical and athletic attributes can give that alone.

 

When everything else clicks like it did on Saturday....well there you go.

Hmmmm

[Hafnia]

Just watched the full game... really watched Rom.

 

Outstanding. If i had never seen the lad play before you would say £100m. That's not an exaggeration.

 

Did I think he could play like that? Yeah... that's what pisses me off about him. It was a perfect storm for him. He was up for it, the team were and he had a team who were intimidated by him.

 

Even if the other factors that he can't control aren't there- he should be an effective player every single game. His size, athleticism should mean he causes defences headaches every single game.

 

His 4th goal - typified what he should be doing every game. Just bounced the defenders.... he used measured aggression.

 

I'm going to get into the nitty gritty of what I seen on Saturday vs Wednesday. SPECIFIC EXAMPLES.

 

ISOLATION:- absolute bullshit to suggest it's other players that isolate him. He actually does isolate himself. I called out that he doesn't have intelligence of movement - that's incorrect. On Saturday he showed he does. Wednesday he was just not arsed. It was as if he was happy to let defenders get in front of him... just odd. Like he is hiding and I do not get it

 

Saturday he dropped into pockets to link play - wednesday he just stood on the shoulder of his man and moaned when the ball never got to him. When he dropped into pockets on Saturday he was devastating.... really really good. Shearer esquire forward play - lay offs and movement for the return. Something I've been screaming for from him.

 

BODYLANGUAGE:-

 

Look at him on Wednesday vs Saturday. On Wednesday he looked like his arms were pulling his huge shoulders into the floor. They were drooped. His legs looked like they had no life in them. No sprints just trots... sulky grid.

 

Saturday? Wow. Like he had taken a shot of adrenaline. Carried himself like a warrior. Shoulders back - chest out. On his toes- his eyes alert to anything. And it showed.

 

Not tiredness... just attitude. He picks the right attitude and he puts me in the biggest vault there is.

 

I honestly think he needs a sports shrink. Steve Peters for example. It's night and day the difference.

I should pin this one...

[c1982]

Mate it's just the way I see it.... it's different from yours that's all.

 

To me your one of a group that does defend him whatever.

I just don't know why people get so upset when a few people critisice him that's all. It seems they take it personal.

 

Lukaku has his faults. A few people go on about them too much.... but no different from yourself and others in the opposite corner. It's all swings and roundabouts to me.

 

I see his strengths but I also see his weakness's .

If he plays like he did last week then I feel the right to critisice him. Same as if he plays well I feel the right to applaud him.

 

I'm not gonna get upset if Haf doesn't say he played great. And to be fair I agree with on a lot of points.

He is lazy.

He isn't a great player.

He has the touch of a rapist.

And he is a bit of a pussy for a big lad.

 

But I also see that he is a very good finisher, one of the best.

He is a good member of the squad.

He is a valued commodity.

He is one of our top assets.

 

I admit to biting when he is defended all the time and I am going to make a conscious effort not to.

This is spot on regarding the assessment of Lukaku but the whole point why I think many feel they need to defend him so adamantly is that Haf (mainly but others too) picks up on every negative game by game. You don't go into the Mori thread and see hundreds of posts about his poor positional play and distribution, the Gana thread about his misplaced passes on the edge of our area, the Barkley thread how he often takes all of the momentum out of attacks by slowing it down and holding onto the ball for too long. You will see these posts in each thread, and correctly so, but no one else has the obsession that Haf has with Lukaku - that's why this thread is the longest on the whole of the forum and that's why so many lose it on here.

 

Not one Everton fan would deny any of the attributes you've mentioned above bar the laziness (lacks desire at times would probably be a better way to put it) but at the same time not many people who know anything about football could deny that Romelu Lukaku is a massively important part of Everton FC.

[c1982]

Just checked numbers on posts in this thread and Haf's posted 1878 comments about Lukaku - what a perfect number to end on in this thread... don't spoil it Haf!

[Shukes]

That's class haha! Absolute brilliance!

[Matt]

Just checked numbers on posts in this thread and Haf's posted 1878 comments about Lukaku - what a perfect number to end on in this thread... don't spoil it Haf!