Luke Thomas

[Analysethis]

He made very few errors today, took up an advanced position which gave us plenty of options but at this stage of his development he hasnt quite got the level to be a real attacking threat in the final third. I think it will come in time. To be fair to him, Im not sure I would have subbed him today as he at least gave us balance whilst many of his team mates were so under par.

[Fox92]

I see Thomas in space all the time but the ball never goes his way. When it does he ends up having two men on him because he's got not support. Maddison is never nowhere near him.

[happy85]

41 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

I see Thomas in space all the time but the ball never goes his way. When it does he ends up having two men on him because he's got not support. Maddison is never nowhere near him.

Yep I’ve notice players not playing the ball to him 

[Ricey]

50 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

I see Thomas in space all the time but the ball never goes his way. When it does he ends up having two men on him because he's got not support. Maddison is never nowhere near him.

Same used to happen to Chilwell at times and like Thomas Chilwell wasn’t great at running with the ball from deep.

 

Even after moving to four at the back Thomas was still isolated. He either had to come off or we needed someone to play in front of him, as Perez was doing on the right.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

When he first came in he was much more direct and positive than he's been recently. Maybe he's overthinking it or feeling the pressure.

[Mark]

6 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

When he first came in he was much more direct and positive than he's been recently. Maybe he's overthinking it or feeling the pressure.

He did have Barnes in front of him though. As it is now there’s little chance of combining or overlapping. He doesn’t have a skillset that’s hard to defend against as he himself appears more of a defender and that’s the issue we have we’re asking him to play further forward than he’s used to, at the highest level.

[NewquayFox]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

I see Thomas in space all the time but the ball never goes his way. When it does he ends up having two men on him because he's got not support. Maddison is never nowhere near him.

Perfectly put, the times I’ve shouted at the telly pass the ball to him but they keep giving to Maddison (who usually loses it or passes it backwards) or it bounces back off Vardy’s/Iheanachos shin, Thomas is decent in the air as well and wins most of his headers, I’m not sure Castagne or Ricardo play as well at left back/left wing back as they do on the right.
Give Thomas a longer run in the team... 

[happy85]

11 minutes ago, NewquayFox said:

Perfectly put, the times I’ve shouted at the telly pass the ball to him but they keep giving to Maddison (who usually loses it or passes it backwards) or it bounces back off Vardy’s/Iheanachos shin, Thomas is decent in the air as well and wins most of his headers, I’m not sure Castagne or Ricardo play as well at left back/left wing back as they do on the right.
Give Thomas a longer run in the team... 

Give Thomas a longer run in the team.
 

wow. I don’t think you understand what at stake here 

 

Putting Thomas in our team neglect by Brendan 

[Facecloth]

2 hours ago, happy85 said:

Give Thomas a longer run in the team.
 

wow. I don’t think you understand what at stake here 

 

Putting Thomas in our team neglect by Brendan 

Thomas has started 9 league games this season and come on as a sub in another. 

 

Of those 9 games, we've won 5, drawn 2 and lost 2. One of the loses incidentally was Arsenal at home where we seemed to fall apart as a team when Barnes got injured (not that that's an excuse). His one sub appearance was West Ham away. We were losing 3-0 at ht when he came on, it ended up 3-2. 

 

Maybe he's not such detrimental to the team as you think.

Edited 1 May 2021 by Facecloth

[filbertway]

1 hour ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

When he first came in he was much more direct and positive than he's been recently. Maybe he's overthinking it or feeling the pressure.

He's very decent in a 4 2 3 1. He's got his winger in front of them and he works the partnership brilliantly. He's not really equipped for the wing back role atm so he doesn't really serve much of a purpose. He doesn't look out of place, but you don't think "get the ball to Thomas, he'll make something happen"

[Sol thewall Bamba]

10 minutes ago, Mark said:

He did have Barnes in front of him though. As it is now there’s little chance of combining or overlapping. He doesn’t have a skillset that’s hard to defend against as he himself appears more of a defender and that’s the issue we have we’re asking him to play further forward than he’s used to, at the highest level.

Yeah that's a good point I'd forgotten how good he link up with Barnes was.

[matty98]

He's just not suited to the wingback position imo. He doesn't have that natural athleticism and pace to get up and down the wing constantly. He needs a winger in front of him who he can link up with.

[sdb]

Obviously a good player but not quite good enough for us, yet. That's understandable obviously, but doesn't hide from the fact that there's a clear weak link in our current side.

[Leicester_Loyal]

He's just like Barnes was 24 months ago, you can tell there's talent but we aren't going to reap the rewards for a while yet. He's still more than good enough to be a squad option and will definitely get minutes next season. Pointing out he's not up to the standard that we require at the minute is fine, but some reactions are a little over the top. It's also worth pointing out he's better in a 4 at the back rather than 5, seems to look more steady.

[NewquayFox]

36 minutes ago, matty98 said:

He's just not suited to the wingback position imo. He doesn't have that natural athleticism and pace to get up and down the wing constantly. He needs a winger in front of him who he can link up with.

Thomas & Barnes looked really good down our left side with a back 4, Chilwell & Barnes didn’t look or play half as well... 

[coolhandfox]

Young and learning, he's done fine.

 

Seem to have lost a little confidence, to often wants to play back and give responsibility to someone else.

 

I personally think he looks better in a four.

[GeorgeTheFox]

His link up and understanding with Barnes is what has made him succeed when he has. I agree that he's not suited to the wing back role but it really pisses me off how keen some people are to slag off a young local lad 

[Jimmy]

I mean Maddison did **** all in the match apart from take pot shots that never really looked like scoring but please focus your ire for our poor attacking performance on the left wing back.

 

Castagne btw offered even less than Thomas on the other flank but please just look at Thomas

[volpeazzurro]

4 hours ago, matty98 said:

He's just not suited to the wingback position imo. He doesn't have that natural athleticism and pace to get up and down the wing constantly. He needs a winger in front of him who he can link up with.

Agreed, as do Ricardo and Castagne ideally. 

[gerblod]

21 hours ago, Webbo said:

He wasnt to blame tonight, we don't need to single out individuals.

Certain posters appear to feel the need to single out individuals, but why Luke Thomas, is for me, indicative of something very negative about the general mood on this forum at this time. This season we've been hugely successful, in spite of injuries, yet I think the prospect of the prizes not materialising is causing a certain amount of insecurity and 'snappiness', but in his case that's hidden behind the faint praise - 'done ok, but he's not experienced enough' or 'he got found out in the Arsenal game'.

The thing is, whoever counters these flimsy criticisms might as well save their breath (or ink, or fingers) because it starts up again, like waves rolling up a beach. He got criticised for taking a free kick, ffs. It shows confidence and responsibility to do so and why, if he's so lightweight, didn't Madders or Tielemans do the job?

Unless he's misguided he won't be reading these posts. It's a war of words on here between the reactionaries and those who back the Rodgers philosophy of introducing youth as soon as it shows its ready.

I've admired the lad since he stepped up into the breach. He has a number of excellent attributes - and these way outweigh those aspects which the naysayers seem to believe are important - age and build. If you're good enough neither matter a toss. Think Pele contributing to a World Cup victory at the age of seventeen. And please don't say he was unique - there's plenty more examples.

In life I've found that kids are either encouraged or they're discouraged. You never get good results from stifling youth and the best teams are always a mixture of both. We've taken JJ, Wesley and Harvey B. to our collective bosom so what's so wrong about Luke? Or is it because it's risky to have a go at them while Thomas is not so invulnerable to criticism on here.

It doesn't matter to him or Rodgers what we write, but for some his presence in the team and the alacrity to get him out on loan or on the bench, in favour of less than optimum formations or personnel, seems almost vindictive. V. puzzling.

 

[gerblod]

7 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Seem to have lost a little confidence, to often wants to play back and give responsibility to someone else.

Maybe he has been reading this thread! Took responsibility for the free-kick though...and got criticised for that. The kid can't win - on here that is.

[gerblod]

11 hours ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

When he first came in he was much more direct and positive than he's been recently. Maybe he's overthinking it or feeling the pressure.

Maybe they're all overthinking and feeling the pressure. He's the one whose bound to be in the spotlight much more when the blame game starts, so maybe he's getting cautious. It hasn't stopped BR picking him and subbing him didn't bring anything more positive. It took a centre-back to claw a draw.

[gerblod]

12 hours ago, Ricey said:

Same used to happen to Chilwell at times and like Thomas Chilwell wasn’t great at running with the ball from deep.

I seem to recall that Chilwell was excellent at going forward the season before the boo-boys started their vendetta on him. He's not doing badly at Chelsea now, either.

[coolhandfox]

2 hours ago, gerblod said:

Maybe he has been reading this thread! Took responsibility for the free-kick though...and got criticised for that. The kid can't win - on here that is.

Its a football forum its hardly surprising 

[SixtiesFox]

Solid player with bags of potential and he certainly hasn't let us down, but he's not a game changer as yet. Ricardo is, and unless he's injured he should be in the starting 11 at this crucial time despite the fact that neither he nor Castagne look completely at home on the left side.