Lukaku

[ProZ]

I dont know whether to bring out some "I told you so" quotes or cry at the fact we have spent 28M (near enough our whole budget) on a striker who cant trap or control the ball, and has average at best technique? Help please.

Some will still try and make excuses though as they just don't want to face the facts sadly.

 

[applecrumble]

I dont know whether to bring out some "Itold you so" quotes or cry at the fact we have spent 28M (near enough our whooe budget) on a striker who cant trap or control the ball, and has average at best technique? Help please.

Neither if the lad scores as many as he has in the past he's worth it - what you should cry about is our defensive predicament and the complete lack of forethought that saw Hibbert offered a new contract and no strengthening in the summer.

 

[NEC]

Shall I quote some of the usual replies to my criticism of him rather than state them.?

He's only 21, he scores 1 in 2. Yadda yadda yadda.

Just think in 2 years when he still cant control and pass we will be able to say he's only 23/24.

 

[Khalekan]

I know this sounds ridiculous but Rom is turning out to be the Samson of Everton.

Since he cut the dreads off he hasn't been half the player he was before.

 

[DuncanDuncanFerguson]

Lukaku...

Terrible first touch, offside or miles away from the play today and in many other games recently too. I mean, why isn't he in the box all the time, he's our centre forward for gods sake. Wide left or wide right isn't the place he should be playing, he's technically not good enough in those areas.

 

[EFCPaul]

Is he costing us goals with amateurish mistakes? No.
Is he getting service to run at goal and score goals? No.
Is he being left on his own against to CBs too often? Yes.

The lad is not going to charge around the pitch like a lion on the hunt all game. He's not a CF, he'a ST. He wants the ball at his feet, in and around the box. Stop hoofing it too him and expecting him to win the ball and then hold it up, he's not Duncan Ferguson.

It's the defence and goalkeeper that deserve our wrath, not the attack.

 

[nsno-chris]

I'd actually like to see a game where we play a ball in between the defence and allow lukaku to run onto it, which hasn't happened for a long time.

if we know his touch is a bit pants then so should the coaching staff, so why play the same way week in week out

 

[DuncanDuncanFerguson]

He's got to offer more to us than he has done all season is all I'm saying, our Defence and Goalkeeper are having problems yes, but our CF or ST as you say isn't performing brilliantly either is he.

 

[dannyboy]

He looks absolutely bereft of confidence right now, should take him out of the firing line and bring him on in the latter stages.

Let's be honest, for £28m he needs to be offering a lot more. It's all well and good pointing to what potential he has but we need him right now. We're Everton, we can't afford to splash that amount of money on what he might be like in two years time.

 

[Craig]

Gash. First touch is rubbish. Why does he keep drifting to the wing.

 

[Klinker]

I think a lot of people being harsh on Lukaku and ignoring some basic facts.

1. Is he dominating matches and putting the attack on his back? No he isn't but not many strikers are and Lukaku may still be a few years off of being able to do that, if he ever can get there.

2. He gets a lot of stick for being a 28 million pound striker. I would bet anything we aren't paying anything close to that amount.

3. This kind of goes back to point one but we knew going into this match what his weaknesses are. His first touch can be poor and his passing is nothing special. He is not going to beat people off the dribble with trickery. Only power and pace. Without Mirallas and Barkley we aren't a counter attacking team. Naismith can't run at people and he also has a very poor first touch so when he gets the ball played into him it almost goes careening 2 yards in front of whatever direction he is facing.

4. Without Barkley or Mirallas there is no one else for defenses to key on to and open space for Lukaku. His strength is power and being a very good finisher when on the break or open in the box. For a guy with his size his contested heading needs improving. If Barkley is gliding past midfielders and pushing the rush then the CBs have to leave lukaku and create more space. Now it will be Osman or Naismith pushing the attack in the middle and there is minimal threat with that.

5. So with him being our only big threat up top he is constantly doubled in the box. A lot of people see Naismith getting goals and E'too scoring and claiming they should be starting and Lukaku, but when you look at E'too's goal vs Krasnodor and Naismith against Chelsea not many people are pointing out how the space is opened up because two defenders are shading over and focusing on Lukaku. Even when he isn't playing well he still receives all of the focus and causes space for others.

Still Lukaku isn't playing well and there are some things that are frustrating and he needs to improve on, namely his runs which result in him being offside. Granted our midfielders aren't seeing them quickly but there are so many times where he is needlessly offsides and if he flattened his runs he could stay on and still have a head start on the defender.

 

[Carlito]

Lukaku was better coming off the bench as an impact sub for West Brom. He isn't up to the task he's been set at Everton.

The blame lies with Martinez. Everton aren't good enough to play with an off the shoulder striker, so I don't know why he saw fit to spend vast majority of the transfer budget on one.

At least things should pick up when Barkley comes back.

 

[dannyboy]

I think a lot of people being harsh on Lukaku and ignoring some basic facts.

1. Is he dominating matches and putting the attack on his back? No he isn't but not many strikers are and Lukaku may still be a few years off of being able to do that, if he ever can get there.

2. He gets a lot of stick for being a 28 million pound striker. I would bet anything we aren't paying anything close to that amount.

3. This kind of goes back to point one but we knew going into this match what his weaknesses are. His first touch can be poor and his passing is nothing special. He is not going to beat people off the dribble with trickery. Only power and pace. Without Mirallas and Barkley we aren't a counter attacking team. Naismith can't run at people and he also has a very poor first touch so when he gets the ball played into him it almost goes careening 2 yards in front of whatever direction he is facing.

4. Without Barkley or Mirallas there is no one else for defenses to key on to and open space for Lukaku. His strength is power and being a very good finisher when on the break or open in the box. For a guy with his size his contested heading needs improving. If Barkley is gliding past midfielders and pushing the rush then the CBs have to leave lukaku and create more space. Now it will be Osman or Naismith pushing the attack in the middle and there is minimal threat with that.

5. So with him being our only big threat up top he is constantly doubled in the box. A lot of people see Naismith getting goals and E'too scoring and claiming they should be starting and Lukaku, but when you look at E'too's goal vs Krasnodor and Naismith against Chelsea not many people are pointing out how the space is opened up because two defenders are shading over and focusing on Lukaku. Even when he isn't playing well he still receives all of the focus and causes space for others.

Still Lukaku isn't playing well and there are some things that are frustrating and he needs to improve on, namely his runs which result in him being offside. Granted our midfielders aren't seeing them quickly but there are so many times where he is needlessly offsides and if he flattened his runs he could stay on and still have a head start on the defender.

The fact is we have/will pay £28m and we've paid it because we needed a striker to do exactly that. The other strikers who aren't dominating defences cost a fraction of that, we bought Lukaku on the premise he'll give us world class performances.

 

[Stonesy]

He suffers by not being played as the central focus of attack. Buy a £28M player to run the channels for Naismith.

FFS., what's Martinez playing at, the dope.

The mind boggles. Lukaku doesn't run the channels, he doesn't run anything. He ambles without the ball and painfully lumbers with it. We shoved him out onto the wing where his one-footedness isn't so exposed. He can bumble his way forward holding off the fullback and if we're very lucky manage to eventually look up and shank a pass to a blue shirt. In the middle the sequence went like this, without fail: every time he received the ball, if he didn't miscontrol it he'd turn and if he didn't turn like a tanker he'd manage a pass, and if it was one of his 10% of accurate passes it found a teammate. Most of the time I saw him struggling with ever more basic fundamentals of football the hobby never mind the professional sport. He looked completely useless. I say looked...he was. He was awful at nearly everything he did despite receiving a fair whack of the ball in either a good position or with time & space to make one.

We improved immensely and actually scored hwen we put Naismith upfront. He's playing so far beyond Lukaku's level currently that there shouldn't even be a debate, Naismith is #1 until such time as Lukaku, through tentative substitute appearences, can demonstrate a minimum level of ability in the basiscs before we can even consider him starting before Naismith. He had 45 minutes as our central attack and have you seen a more toothless attacking display than that 1st half showing? Tony Hibbert looked more dangerous in the box.

 

[ImKoneKoneKoneKone]

Turned up past two seasons cause he wanted to prove something to Mourinho.
We buy him, only forward Bob wont drop, nothing to prove.