Sam wants to see the real Luque

[Guest Gemmill]

Maybe we should play two central midfielders up front? That way, unlike Martins and Luque they could tackle, run, pass, offer aggression and track back like no one's business!

 

ok we'd lose 1-0 but think of the work rate!

 

You use the words "tackle, run, pass, offer aggression and track back" as if it's normal for front players to be oblivious to these concepts.

[Guest Knightrider]

I repeat, had we just signed him, people would be licking their lips today and hailing his "debut" as promising.

 

That's stupid even for you tbh.   Would I have got away with that sort of cobblers on the odd occasion that Titus Bramble had a good game?  "Yeah but just imagine that's his debut.  Yeah?  See?  You're drooling!"

 

Just making a point, you know as well as I do if that was his debut having just signed him, people would be licking their lips and considering his performance very promising for the season ahead. I'm not trying to build him up BTW, I think I was fair in my appraisal of his performance, that's just the way I'm personally looking at things, as if he's a new signing so was trying to draw comparison, in short he gets a clean slate from me and fingers crossed what he did against Celtic, he can improve on and be of some use to us.

[TRon]

Maybe we should play two central midfielders up front? That way, unlike Martins and Luque they could tackle, run, pass, offer aggression and track back like no one's business!

 

ok we'd lose 1-0 but think of the work rate!

 

You use the words "tackle, run, pass, offer aggression and track back" as if it's normal for front players to be oblivious to these concepts.

 

Obviously you want players to have these attributes, but the flip side to this view is that a forward needs to score goals first and foremost. So I would think the reason Allardyce is still making relatively positive noises about Luque is that he'll look at his plusses as well as the negatives.

 

Far prefer that approach to Roeder's tbh.

[Dokko]

Luque has been one thing since he came here, a talking point, and he hasn't disappointed again.

 

The man should go down as a NUFC legend for that simple reason. 

[ohmelads]

Good to see Luque bag a couple of goals, he really needed that. Allardyce seems to have a lot of common sense, something which Roeder and Souness were desperately lacking. To get Luque performing will take some patience and common sense IMO, I don't think he's a lost cause.

 

I think Sam'll look to introduce Luque when the circumstances are favourable, to boost his confidence and cut him some slack with the fans, I think once the player sees he's got a shot at the first team he'll be a lot easier to motivate and the manager knows this. The way Roeder dealth with him was like a perfect example of how not to handle a struggling player. He brought him on for a few minutes in games we were losing where the crowd was hostile. He'd give him a start once in a blue moon, and if he scored we wouldn't see him for ages. When he scored twice in his first reserve game, it was decided that he won't play in reserve games either. It was very strange behaviour from Roeder, yet everyone assumed the problem was at Luque's end. I think the two of them clearly had a personal problem which Roeder was not prepared to put aside for the good of the club.

 

To get Luque playing well again will require hard work, patience and cooperation from the manager and the player. If either isn't committed then it won't succeed. Roeder wasn't committed to that and perhaps Luque wasn't either, but in Sam we have a manager prepared to meet the player half way, and that's a start. It's up to Luque now, I'm confident Sam will give him the chance that Roeder never gave him.

[Rebellious]

Luque did lose the ball a few times and failed to get it back, but he also won it a few times and impressed in the air and with his back to goal once or twice I thought, which was surprising - he's quite decent up top. His game isn't there yet, i.e. in general play he's doing nothing eye catching or anything remotely close to the player he was in Spain, but the effort and commitment was there. He made some very good runs too and stretched their defence, switching from left to right and then playing through the middle. Believe me, his performance although poor in general, was a lot better than what we've seen of him to date, especially work rate and commitment wise. He also looked quicker and sharper, though still lacks the strength. I repeat, had we just signed him, people would be licking their lips today and hailing his "debut" as promising. Lets hope this is a turning point for him.

 

As did Martins all night and all last season.  Quite a few of our players dwell on the ball too much waiting for someone to actually get into some space. Luque is the type of player that will always be in the right place for the right pass and finish which he has proven not just last night.

 

He has not fucking proven that whilst at Newcastle!

 

13 starts 5 goals isn`t bad.  I havn`t seen him miss too many sitters compared to alot of players.  I think he is more of a finisher than a type of player that goes to find the ball, tackle, run past 5 players and put it in the top corner.

[Mick]

Good to see Luque bag a couple of goals, he really needed that. Allardyce seems to have a lot of common sense, something which Roeder and Souness were desperately lacking. To get Luque performing will take some patience and common sense IMO, I don't think he's a lost cause.

 

I think Sam'll look to introduce Luque when the circumstances are favourable, to boost his confidence and cut him some slack with the fans, I think once the player sees he's got a shot at the first team he'll be a lot easier to motivate and the manager knows this. The way Roeder dealth with him was like a perfect example of how not to handle a struggling player. He brought him on for a few minutes in games we were losing where the crowd was hostile. He'd give him a start once in a blue moon, and if he scored we wouldn't see him for ages. When he scored twice in his first reserve game, it was decided that he won't play in reserve games either. It was very strange behaviour from Roeder, yet everyone assumed the problem was at Luque's end. I think the two of them clearly had a personal problem which Roeder was not prepared to put aside for the good of the club.

 

To get Luque playing well again will require hard work, patience and cooperation from the manager and the player. If either isn't committed then it won't succeed. Roeder wasn't committed to that and perhaps Luque wasn't either, but in Sam we have a manager prepared to meet the player half way, and that's a start. It's up to Luque now, I'm confident Sam will give him the chance that Roeder never gave him.

 

Roeder wasn't committed to getting the best out of Luque because Roeder wasn't a good enough coach to do it, he'd prefer to let a £10 million player twiddle his thumbs while kids were playing poorly, Roeder was never a manager or coach, he was driven by events and just went with the flow.

[Guest]

Although Luque did himself no favours whatsoever, it's obvious Roeder took the easy option last season when he selected O'Brien & Pattison ahead of him.

[Mr. Snrub]

Good to see Luque bag a couple of goals, he really needed that. Allardyce seems to have a lot of common sense, something which Roeder and Souness were desperately lacking. To get Luque performing will take some patience and common sense IMO, I don't think he's a lost cause.

 

I think Sam'll look to introduce Luque when the circumstances are favourable, to boost his confidence and cut him some slack with the fans, I think once the player sees he's got a shot at the first team he'll be a lot easier to motivate and the manager knows this. The way Roeder dealth with him was like a perfect example of how not to handle a struggling player. He brought him on for a few minutes in games we were losing where the crowd was hostile. He'd give him a start once in a blue moon, and if he scored we wouldn't see him for ages. When he scored twice in his first reserve game, it was decided that he won't play in reserve games either. It was very strange behaviour from Roeder, yet everyone assumed the problem was at Luque's end. I think the two of them clearly had a personal problem which Roeder was not prepared to put aside for the good of the club.

 

To get Luque playing well again will require hard work, patience and cooperation from the manager and the player. If either isn't committed then it won't succeed. Roeder wasn't committed to that and perhaps Luque wasn't either, but in Sam we have a manager prepared to meet the player half way, and that's a start. It's up to Luque now, I'm confident Sam will give him the chance that Roeder never gave him.

 

Roeder wasn't committed to getting the best out of Luque because Roeder wasn't a good enough coach to do it, he'd prefer to let a £10 million player twiddle his thumbs while kids were playing poorly, Roeder was never a manager or coach, he was driven by events and just went with the flow.

 

QFT.

 

It's almost as if he knew trying to get the best out of a player was above him, so he just avoided the situation entirely.

[Yorkie]

love to see Luque do well. The goal against Palermo should have convinced Roeder to give him a start in the premiership, but it never came

 

The fact that Luque didn't get a second of football in the Carling Cup game at Watford after that, for me goes down as one of Roeder's most senile individual decisions.

[Mr. Snrub]

love to see Luque do well. The goal against Palermo should have convinced Roeder to give him a start in the premiership, but it never came

 

The fact that Luque didn't get a second of football in the Carling Cup game at Watford after that, for me goes down as one of Roeder's most senile individual decisions.

 

It's what started the Luque thread.  Was a complete disgrace.