We can add "professional soccer dad" to the lexicon. It ultimately says more about the father than the son.
Ha - I’m not a Chelsea or United fan. Blech. We were talking about LUKAKU - during his time at United he seemed to underwhelm.
The obvious pick would be Pochettino if/when PSG lets him go. I don’t know how much longer Tuchel will last, but he’s definitely not going anywhere this summer.
Role player for 100m? I’m not buying that and it’s worth noting Pep didn’t seem to want Lukaku. Regardless, I think Pep would also have expected more production out of Grealish. 2 goals and 2 assists with that many minutes on that team is pretty poor.
Since working his way back from covid, he has started 9 of the last 10 league games. The one match he didn't start was a rotation due to games a few days before and after. He subbed on for 30 in that one. Before covid he was nearly always a starter in the league. The most he has gone without starting in the league when healthy is two games (9/25 and 10/2). He started a CL match and went 90 at Juventus between those two non-starts in the league. So I think there is pretty convincing evidence that Tuchel views him as a guy that only misses starting games due to injury/illness/fatigue.
Sorry I think maybe I was confused in one of the games - he came out at halftime? I am personally less convinced that Havertz has outright won the job but he has certainly been more likely of late as the least bad option.
He came out of HT of a game that they were dominating. Pulisic came in for him. So Tuchel rested his starter once the game was a blowout. And I apparently replied to the wrong post of yours. For those not paying close attention, I intended to reply to the Havertz post.
"Pulisic, Lukaku and many others are unhappy with the current situation.""Maybe [the summer] could be an opportunity for [Pulisic] to leave Chelsea..." @FabrizioRomano on the USMNT star's options following a frustrating season with the Blues.— House of Champions (@ChampsHouseCBS) May 2, 2022
Any assessment of TT's use of Lukaku includes an implicit assessment of Lukaku's capabilities. I am pretty sure my sense of what he is capable of (in the EPL) is different from dark knight's. That's just two people drawing different inferences from the same info. I think of Lukaku as one of the top target CFs in the world right now--the kind of person off of whom a potent combination play attack could be organized. The kind of thing we saw at great moments with Giroud, only better.
It's not Tuchel, it's Chelsea. Chelsea has always had a reputation as a defensive team. Tuchel was not considered defensive in Germany or France. In fact Dortmund and PSG had some of the best seasons, scoring-wise, under Tuchel. Dortmund 15/16 +48 <-- 16/17 +32 ----> Tuchel out 17/18 +17 18/19 +37 19/20 +43 PSG: 18/19 +70 <-- 19/20 +51 ----> Tuchel out 20/21 +58 21/22 +45 (with 3 games left) If anything, he seems to benefit from the new manager bounce more than others.
I'd agree with that. But I also think Giroud was very underestimated. A great center forward is a very valuable thing!
Parents should leave their adult children alone to manage their professionally careers. Or at least, advise from behind the scene and stay away from the spotlight.
I will have to flip the script around and ask: Would KDB and Salah be the same players if they were playing for Chelsea? Werner, Havertz, and Lukaku were banging in goals on the regular before them come to Chelsea. What happened? They all stunk.
KDB and Salah are special players. I'm not sure anyone has a quicker release than Salah and KDB can score from anywhere. If Werner goes back to Bundesliga, he will score. Havertz would also score more in Bundesliga but I wouldn't give up on him. Lukaku would do better in Serie A but maybe there is more from him in the Prem.
Chelsea always been a mess of a club. When Pulisic first transferred there, they were a messed and sanctioned as well . And before even that it was a mess, even during the Hazard era. In fact, Eden always bailed Chelsea out, there was depencia for Hazard. And I'm pretty sure before that they were a mess. And where would Pulisic transfer to anyway? There are not many clubs that fit his play style. Maybe people thought he would have had the Hazard role. Chelsea was an attacking team during that period in the early 2010s.
I’m less arguing about Lukaku’s capabilities- although I’m probably less certain as you that he’s good enough to play for the best teams in the world - I’m saying I’m not convinced that TT is the biggest factor in his struggles, just one of many - not least of which is the lack of world class creativity on the team. There are valid questions about Ronaldo’s making United better, but the guy is still finding ways to score. The best players find a way and I’m surprised Lukaku hasn’t done more.
Conte knew how to use Lukaku and win. He’s a fine coach. Wins everywhere he goes and lots of silverware. He took Kulusevski from Juve- a questionable move- and transformed him as an attacker. I love his passion as well. I’ll defend Tuchel’s record but it’s just not fun to watch much of the time and Tuchel is annoying in many ways.