Luke Thomas

[Bert]

8 hours ago, GingerrrFox said:

Brendan clearly rates him, we haven’t got an injury crisis, he could quite easily have played Albrighton or Pereira tonight but he played Luke because he’s good enough to play. Football is a game of

opinions and your entitled to yours but I’d dare say you’ve called it wrong on this one.

This and your last post about him are spot on. He’s composed, brings balance and is intelligent. 2/3 things that Chilwell never really had or has. 

[Jimothy]

17 minutes ago, Heymister2015 said:

I noticed Rodgers having a very good chat with Jeff schlupp! Isn’t he free this season?? I always thought he looked decent lb/LWB! Deffo need a free agent with Fuchs gone and Justin first choice. Bertrand or schlupp 

If Schlupp is the answer, I'm not sure I want to know the question 

[HighPeakFox]

The return of Schlupp would make me very happy - probably irrationally so.

[Jimbo]

Welcome to foxestalk

 

A place where we cry out for our own youth to get a chance when they're not being used

 

A place where when we give youth a chance we slate the young players for not playing well

 

Luke Thomas is 19 years old. He's not even a man yet. He misplaced 2 crosses and suddenly he's not ready??

 

I agree, he's got some way to go to be 1st choice left back, and I'm sure he knows this. But he's 19!!! The only thing lacking from his game as far as I can see is a little physicality, a touch of confidence and just lack of experience. Of course, this will all improve over time, the more he plays. He has all the attributes to be a very, very good modern day full back. 

 

He's not ever going to be ready if he doesn't get the chance to develop. Loans are not always the answer, not every player reacts well to a loan. One thing we surely cannot question is Brendan Rodgers ability to man manage, if Brendan doesn't feel a loan is suitable for Luke then I'm going to back that decision, if Brendan feels that Luke is good enough for the odd appearance then that's good by me.

 

Make no mistake, last night was a big game for us and it was always going to be tough, yet Brendan trusted Luke enough to perform. How can we sit here and question the lad when he's played his part in 2 must win games and won both 

[An Sionnach]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Welcome to foxestalk

 

A place where we cry out for our own youth to get a chance when they're not being used

 

A place where when we give youth a chance we slate the young players for not playing well

 

Luke Thomas is 19 years old. He's not even a man yet. He misplaced 2 crosses and suddenly he's not ready??

 

I agree, he's got some way to go to be 1st choice left back, and I'm sure he knows this. But he's 19!!! The only thing lacking from his game as far as I can see is a little physicality, a touch of confidence and just lack of experience. Of course, this will all improve over time, the more he plays. He has all the attributes to be a very, very good modern day full back. 

 

He's not ever going to be ready if he doesn't get the chance to develop. Loans are not always the answer, not every player reacts well to a loan. One thing we surely cannot question is Brendan Rodgers ability to man manage, if Brendan doesn't feel a loan is suitable for Luke then I'm going to back that decision, if Brendan feels that Luke is good enough for the odd appearance then that's good by me.

 

Make no mistake, last night was a big game for us and it was always going to be tough, yet Brendan trusted Luke enough to perform. How can we sit here and question the lad when he's played his part in 2 must win games and won both 

Barnes got too much criticism on here, Hamza does , Chilwell regularly got slaughtered. Do we have a real problem with our home grown players. Amazingly Paulo Maldini had bad matches. Luke is already a highly competent player and is going to get much better and that is great news for us.

[Ric Flair]

I've read the same dross here as we had to with Harvey Barnes. Trust the process.

 

We are 3rd in the league and 90% of when he has played for us he has done well. Go and watch the Leeds, Braga home and away, AEK home game and Brentford games again and you'll see some very good performances from him. 

 

His link up play with Barnes is borderline telepathic, something him and Chilwell sadly struggled with. What's funny is, there was a perception Thomas wasn't defensively good enough to play at left back and needed to be LWB with 3 CB's as protection but now he's supposedly not good enough going forward but good enough defensively and therefore shouldn't play LWB. 

 

I don't see why he has to play well every game to be classed as good enough and not need a loan move, its moronic.  

[fox_up_north]

I was a bit annoyed with the throw in last night but I also accept he'll make mistakes. He's 19 and, while not being fantastic, is showing he can do a job at LB/LWB.

 

Although I thought Brendan should have made changes at half time, we've seen - via Nacho- what happens to a player if their confidence gets knocked.

 

Let's not forget Brendan brought Raheem Sterling through and some other young Liverpool players. 

[Ric Flair]

20 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

I was a bit annoyed with the throw in last night but I also accept he'll make mistakes. He's 19 and, while not being fantastic, is showing he can do a job at LB/LWB.

 

Although I thought Brendan should have made changes at half time, we've seen - via Nacho- what happens to a player if their confidence gets knocked.

 

Let's not forget Brendan brought Raheem Sterling through and some other young Liverpool players. 

Most of our fans have been complaining that neither Ricardo or Castagne are good enough on the left and it's causing an imbalance. We bring Thomas in, move Castagne to the right who assists and scores for the first time in months and we win both matches and yet fans have moaned still.

 

What on earth do they want now?

[Webbo]

Are we not allowed to discuss a players pros and cons anymore? 

 

Saying someone would benefit from a loan isn't the same as hating the lad.

 

Some people on here are ridiculously touchy. 

[davieG]

4 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Are we not allowed to discuss a players pros and cons anymore? 

 

Saying someone would benefit from a loan isn't the same as hating the lad.

 

Some people on here are ridiculously touchy. 

Sure but when you pick out individual mistakes to justify it it gets a bit tiring, no one seems to mention all the mistakes and bad passes the regular team players make.

 

He may well need a loan I'm sure the club know what's planned for him but it wont be because he messed up a throw in or missed placed a couple of crosses.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

It was this time last year when James Justin was getting slated by some on here as “not good enough.”

 

Players need to play and make mistakes to progress. 

[ARM1968]

Evans misplaces passes 4 or 5 times a game. Is anyone skating him or saying he’d benefit from a loan?  Err, no.  He is an amazing CB, proper Rolls Royce, and he makes mistakes. 
 

All Thomas needs is consistent game time to gain the experience and confidence. He’s better than Chillwell in my opinion. I firmly believe he will become a top class LB and is already a very good LB. 

Edited 27 April 2021 by ARM1968

[Ric Flair]

20 minutes ago, Webbo said:

Are we not allowed to discuss a players pros and cons anymore? 

 

Saying someone would benefit from a loan isn't the same as hating the lad.

 

Some people on here are ridiculously touchy. 

There's a percentage of our fan base who have very little tolerance for the process in which young players, mainly academy go through in order to reach their potential. Fans seem to think this is only achieved out on loan, it wasn't long ago there were genuinely fans abusing Harvey Barnes. They've seemingly scurried off and will soon be back for Thomas no doubt.

 

Trust the process. He's played well more than he's looked out of his depth and I use that term because every off performance seems to mean he's not ready and every good performance isn't talked about by some. Yet an established player doesn't get the same appraisal. 

 

If we had 2 proper left backs then yes get him out on loan but only because a player of his talent needs to be playing at least 10-15 games a season. We don't have 2 players better than him on the left and that's why he will stay and will make 20+ appearances a season, which is enough for him to keep progressing.

 

I come back to Harvey Barnes, he had 3 loan spells, all of which were progressive and his last loan move he was arguably the best attacking midfielder in the Championship, better than Grealish and Mount. Yet he was still heavily criticised by some of our fans and has taken a further 18 months to 2 years to be accepted. So that's why loan moves aren't the be all and end all, Thomas is getting PL games and by and large doing a good job and that will do his game more in the long run than playing at an inferior level. He's being coached by one of the best in the country, that counts for something.

[Jimothy]

3 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

There's a percentage of our fan base who have very little tolerance for the process in which young players, mainly academy go through in order to reach their potential. Fans seem to think this is only achieved out on loan, it wasn't long ago there were genuinely fans abusing Harvey Barnes. They've seemingly scurried off and will soon be back for Thomas no doubt.

 

Trust the process. He's played well more than he's looked out of his depth and I use that term because every off performance seems to mean he's not ready and every good performance isn't talked about by some. Yet an established player doesn't get the same appraisal. 

 

If we had 2 proper left backs then yes get him out on loan but only because a player of his talent needs to be playing at least 10-15 games a season. We don't have 2 players better than him on the left and that's why he will stay and will make 20+ appearances a season, which is enough for him to keep progressing.

 

I come back to Harvey Barnes, he had 3 loan spells, all of which were progressive and his last loan move he was arguably the best attacking midfielder in the league, better than Grealish and Mount. Yet he was still heavily criticised by some of our fans and has taken a further 18 months to 2 years to be accepted. So that's why loan moves aren't the be all and end all, Thomas is getting PL games and by and large doing a good job and that will do his game more in the long run than playing at an inferior level. He's being coached by one of the best in the country, that counts for something.

I'd also add to that he's training with some very good full backs in Ricardo, Castagne and Justin, and of course for the moment Fuchs, all of whom will be giving him invaluable pointers. I remember Justin saying how much Ricardo helped him whilst Ricardo was injured and look how much he improved in a relatively short space of time.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Struggled last night but that's expected of a young lad occasionally. Not sure it was Brendan's brightest idea to put him up against some of the units that Palace have but it's all part of his development. 

[filbertway]

23 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

I'd also add to that he's training with some very good full backs in Ricardo, Castagne and Justin, and of course for the moment Fuchs, all of whom will be giving him invaluable pointers. I remember Justin saying how much Ricardo helped him whilst Ricardo was injured and look how much he improved in a relatively short space of time.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that him playing at a high level twice a week helped him improve massively. I'm sure he appreciated Ricardo talking to him but it would have played a very very verrrry small role in his development.

[Jimothy]

4 minutes ago, filbertway said:

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that him playing at a high level twice a week helped him improve massively. I'm sure he appreciated Ricardo talking to him but it would have played a very very verrrry small role in his development.

I think your downplaying what happens in training. There's a reason the are out there everyday working on their game and it's not just fitness. Justin is quoted as saying Ricardo has been a huge help pointing to areas he could improve.

[Bert]

What people should see is that Chilwell needed the loan to get used to playing. Thomas has slotted in with absolute ease playing premier league football. Even after Chilwell’s loan, he still wasn’t fully involved for us until Puel came in and was still developing then. 
 

Thomas now doesn’t look out of place at all whereas Chilwell would’ve done at the same stage of his career that Thomas is at. Thomas will make mistakes, even seasoned pro’s still make errors right up until their last playing day. I guess that’s one of the beauty’s about us playing 3 centre halves - mistakes can be quickly mopped up. 
 

Rodgers clearly trusts him to do a job. This is the business end of the season, real pressure, real high stakes stuff for us yet he’s still getting game time even though the internet gaffers know better. 

[filbertway]

3 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

I think your downplaying what happens in training. There's a reason the are out there everyday working on their game and it's not just fitness. Justin is quoted as saying Ricardo has been a huge help pointing to areas he could improve.

I think you're overplaying it

 

If you think Justin would be anywhere near the player he was before his injury by only playing the odd game and training with other good players, then fair play. You'll never convince me of that though.

[Jimothy]

1 minute ago, filbertway said:

I think you're overplaying it

 

If you think Justin would be anywhere near the player he was before his injury by only playing the odd game and training with other good players, then fair play. You'll never convince me of that though.

Did I say playing didn't help? No, what I'm saying is that it all helps, that why I said I would add the comment to Ric's post.

[AKCJ]

1 hour ago, Ric Flair said:

I've read the same dross here as we had to with Harvey Barnes. Trust the process.

 

We are 3rd in the league and 90% of when he has played for us he has done well. Go and watch the Leeds, Braga home and away, AEK home game and Brentford games again and you'll see some very good performances from him. 

 

His link up play with Barnes is borderline telepathic, something him and Chilwell sadly struggled with. What's funny is, there was a perception Thomas wasn't defensively good enough to play at left back and needed to be LWB with 3 CB's as protection but now he's supposedly not good enough going forward but good enough defensively and therefore shouldn't play LWB. 

 

I don't see why he has to play well every game to be classed as good enough and not need a loan move, its moronic.  

In England we seem to have a desperation to send kids out on loan.

 

Pep Guardiola had no end of stick with Foden from the Media who were desperate to see him go to play with thugs in the lower leagues as opposed to training with the likes of De Bruyne and Silva.

 

Thomas is absolutely fine here. 

[mikey_b]

unreal he is getting stick, i think given he has never had the opportunity to cut his teeth elsewhere on loan and is starting for a top3 team in the premier league he is doing an amazing job. Yes he has a mistake in him...who doesn't at that stage of their career?

 

I am quite happy to see his name on the team sheet each week, keep it up Luke.

[Foxaholic ME]

5 hours ago, Ric Flair said:

Most of our fans have been complaining that neither Ricardo or Castagne are good enough on the left and it's causing an imbalance. We bring Thomas in, move Castagne to the right who assists and scores for the first time in months and we win both matches and yet fans have moaned still.

 

What on earth do they want now?

Lets face it we always seem to improve when Allbrighton comes on as replacement

[lcfc sheff]

I’d certainly keep starting him, I see no reason to rush Ricardo back; this is a great opportunity for him to get game time + Ricardo recover properly.

[Incognito]

Thomas for me should be kept here. Potentially four competitions next season (five if you're pedantic and include the Community Shield) so rotation will be needed. As others have said, I'd rather see him play 15-20 games against a very good standard of opposition rather than a full season in the Championship or below. Also, the top facilities we now have as well as the calibre of player he's training alongside, it all goes into the melting pot of realising his high potential.

 

On last night's performance, it was typical of a kid learning his trade in my eyes. I did notice a couple of occasions he's receiving the ball from the midfield side on, looking to pass to where Barnes would normally be, but then having to pop it off back to Tielemans or a centre half. Can see he wants to play give and goes and get beyond the opposition defender.