04 Aug 2021 11:39:26
ED001 As it looks like we will be closing a deal for Lukaku. What are you thoughts on him as a player and how or whether he will suit us.

Asking you as you seem to understand the game more then most pundits on internet.

Thanks.

{Ed001's Note - he has come on in leaps and bounds since leaving English football, but his first touch is still loose, that can be punished up against packed defences. If you are in the lead and the opponents are chasing the game, or they come out to play, Lukaku is ideal as there is space for him to use and his loose touch can just be more of a knock down for him to run onto and smash the ball at goal.

He does hit a ball very well, with power and pace, making it difficult for keepers to react in time, though it can mean he can be inaccurate due to going for power at times. It is difficult to control when putting your laces through it, so to speak.

Looking at the way you were playing last season under Tuchel, he is ideal for that, he is not a Drogba, who can hold the ball up and bring others into the game. Though that aspect of his game is much improved, it takes away from his goalscoring as he needs to be moving onto the ball, just as Werner and Havertz were last season, to really be effective.

With his power and pace, you aren't going to knock him off the ball, so there is little that can stop him when he goes on the run, in the modern game anyway. Basically, and please don't tell Ed77 or Ed004 this as we were winding them up about the comparison the other day on the editor's widget, he is very similar in his play to Haaland. Though I would say Haaland certainly has the potential to be better, maybe even already is, the fact Lukaku is wanting to play for Chelsea would, to me, make him a better choice.

I have never been his biggest fan, there are a lot of weaknesses to his game, particularly his touch, but also his ability in the air leaves a lot to be desired. He just never seems to be looking to get on the end of headers enough for my liking. But, and it is a big but, the pluses outweigh the bad now after his work with Conte. With a manager like Tuchel, I think Lukaku will be a very good choice, as he will be used in a way that emphasises his positives. With him and Werner breaking forward and Havertz sliding balls through to them, it looks, on paper anyway, a very potent attack.}

1.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 13:29:28
Thanks Ed001.

{Ed001's Note - very welcome other Ed!}

2.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 13:48:05
I have the feeling If he signs it’ll be like when shevchenko signed, we were expecting shevchenko to be the main goalscorer but in fact him playing with drogba helped drogba get more goals snd finish top goalscorer, I think werner up top with lukaku will get timo more goals,

3.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 14:03:29
Well Matt that is one of the worst observations I’ve ever read.

4.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 14:20:08
Why, drogba was better with a partner, shevchenko / Anelka, I think timo will be too,

5.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 15:06:19
Thank you so much for your reply. Hopefully he can score 30+ goals and lead us to the title.

6.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 18:24:17
Good work Ed001 a very thorough and fair summary of Lukaku.

{Ed001's Note - thank you. I did actually (surprisingly) put a lot of thought into it before writing it. With a player like this, it is easy to get caught up in what he can't do and forget about what he can do. Or the other way round.}

7.) 04 Aug 2021
04 Aug 2021 18:38:24
There is nothing fair about još Lukaku summary.