Luque break
First he stunned Liverpool with a breathtaking pair of goals and now he's only gone and done it in the Nou Camp in a passionate Catalan-Basque derby in an energy charged 2-2 draw.
It may have only been the reserves last week against a strong Liverpool side at Wrexham and the charity game in his native Barcelona was hardly the World Cup finals but Luque is once again a man in form - well kind of.
I looked at Albert Luque's goals on YouTube and was mightly impressed!
The Albert Luque story at St James' Park has so far been a bit of a soap opera.
There's been more lows than highs and at ã9.5million Toon fans have had every right to ask for more.
His career started slowly after he picked up a hamstring injury and took time to adapt to the English language and lifestyle.
And when Graeme Souness was sacked - just 24 hours after Luque left the field following the 3-0 defeat at Man City laughing and joking with Kiki Musampa while the long faced Alan Shearer and Lee Clark trudged off either side off him - questions were raised over his dedication to the cause.
In came Glenn Roeder and when Luque wasn't named in his first XI he asked to leave the stadium for the 2-0 win over Pompey.
Then came the moment we'd all been waiting for when Luque eventually scored his first goal against doomed Sunderland in a 4-1 win, that certainly didn't do him any harm.
A volley at Gallowgate in Shearer's farewell game and a couple of goals in pre-season in the Inter'toto Cup and friendly against PSV suggested he was in for a better season.
But so far it hasn't worked out like that.
And a total breakdown in communication at Old Trafford saw Luque warming up to come on for 10 minutes despite the fact United had made all three subs!
That left the Toon Army baffled and while the Spaniard will have one eye on the transfer window in January his latest goals are simply a frustrating reminder of what he can do.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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I'm stumped by NUFC's approach to Luque this season. Where Mourinho has vowed to keep playing Shevchenko until he scores, Roeder has continued the alienation of Albert and has refused to allow him anywhere near the first team.
I'm sure with our lack of options up front we should be playing Luque for at least 5 or 6 games and see how he gets on. It just seems as though we've never given hima fair chance.
The message on his chest was a get well soon to Eto'o as they are mates.
Never mind Owen then Albat!
I agree with Ian, Luque hasn't been given a fair chance to gel with anybody in the first team.Dont forget Shearer had a couple of barren spells and was he dropped and forgoten? Was he heckers like. Ferguson like him or loath him is sticking with Rooney, Mourinio with Sheva, Benetez stuck with Crouch, the list is almost endless. I think Glenn should give Luque every first team start from now till the end of Xmas alongside Martins and wait and see what happens. If he doesn't score enough then ok at least you gave him a fair chance.What other option has he got upfront its not as if there's a lot of competition for striker places is it?
with SA hip problems you think it would be an ideal time to link luque with martins,but i have to be honest on the few occassions he has gotten onto the pitch to me his body language has been all wrong,and unless it's just me not understanding his style luque hasnt really put any effort in.However,wether some-one has had a little word in his shell like, or the penny has finally dropped for this obviously talented player,reading of his last 2 performances and goals to boot, GR should take advantage of this upsurge in confidence and give the lad a game,a good run in the team may show us the reason souy paid so much for the guy
Thanks Ian, good name by the way.
Problem is weebowie, Roeder hasn't exactly shown understanding of the power of confidence so far - he went and dropped Martins for one of our biggest games after he'd just bagged two great goals in Europe. D'oh.
I don't think Luque is going to be a top player for NUFC but as he is being paid his wages and we can't offload him we should be doing something with him. Is anyone going to take him off our hands or not I wonder ?
I'm glad people are starting to realise Luque is a great player, but the fact is he was never a poor one. He has been at the club for over a year and has NEVER had a run in the first team. As far as I can tell, the longest run GR has ever given him is 2 games. Wow, that's more than enough to judge him on, isn't it? You cannot judge a player until he has had a proper run in the first team and got himself fit and sharp. Luque will never adapt to the Premiership unless he plays in it.
When he took Liverpool's strong reserve side apart, he was made to feel important to the team - the youngsters looked up to him and respected him, and Luque responded with a tremendous performance.
As for his body language when he comes on as sub, how would you feel if you were him? Every few weeks he gets the joy of playing 10 minutes or so when the game is dead, playing in front of fans who he knows are constantly doubting him. He's hardly going to feel like he's part of the team, and it's not like he's full of confidence either. What do you want him to do, cartwheel onto the pitch and then metamorphasise into a clone of Alan Shearer? Wake up! We have a fantastic player - in his own right - who has proven over a number of years that he can create and score goals at the highest level. We might well have wasted ã10m on him, but it's hardly Luque's fault.
I think Luque is not going to be a good premiership player for Newcastle, and Roeder is doing the right thing in attempting to offload him. Maybe he will have to play a few games until then due to the clubs injury problems but long term he will be gone
i agree Luque has never been given a fair chance. im not saying he is a world beater but for god sake give him a run in the team, it was the same with chopra compare Shola MISSALOT.. he has played so many more games then chopra and luque put together and he continues to play infront of luque EVEN with a hip INJURY. Its a sad story... glen could come out and say look here we paid 10 million quid for a stiker that was being watched by Real and barcelona lets give him a chance and the fans could hardly argue !!
DO the RIGHT thing and GIVE him a run in the team GLEN !!
while i agree luque hasnt set the world on fire since his move from spain people forget he has been injured most of the time. give the guy a chance we might be surprise
I like your site
Just remember Viana, He was one of europes top young midfielders. However, newcastle never gave him a chance. A good example would be Cristiano Ronaldo, man yooooo stuck by him when he found it tough in the premiership. Newcastle should have done that with viana and now luque!
I think the toon should give Luque his chance, I have seen the type of player he was at Deportivo la Coruna, he was a Left winger and still scored goals for them. Roeder really does need to sort his head out and give Luque his chance, because we need him the most right now.