Lukaku. Yes or no

[sd_1992]

It doesn't seem like you paid attention to his time at Inter and especially last season so instead of answering that I'm going to direct you to this helpful website: google.com

Yes i did. A flat truck bully who score a tonne in a poor league. Also watched him miss chance after chance against Seville in the Europa League final. Then watched him do naff all in the euros as soon as Belgium started to play decent teams.

Will probably score loads this season. But will never be the difference in the really big games against the top teams.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Yes i did. A flat truck bully who score a tonne in a poor league. Also watched him miss chance after chance against Seville in the Europa League final. Then watched him do naff all in the euros as soon as Belgium started to play decent teams.

Will probably score loads this season. But will never be the difference in the really big games against the top teams.

Yes i did. A flat truck bully who score a tonne in a poor league. Also watched him miss chance after chance against Seville in the Europa League final. Then watched him do naff all in the euros as soon as Belgium started to play decent teams.

Will probably score loads this season. But will never be the difference in the really big games against the top teams.

I don't know why I keep doing this. If you want to dismiss his accomplishments you can always find a way.

 

[HumbleWedbetters]

Mate we've already established you've not watched him since 2017

2017? Seen him regularly at United thanks watched him choke against Barca in the champs league game Vs their b side which inter needed to win to get to knock outs...... Then again in the final. OG and a sitter anyone?

Have you seen us win a trophy??? I keep asking this because I think it's relative.

Most fans I know who watched the Everton team of the 80s were not so enthralled by him. They seen us win 2 leagues in 3 years.

Interesting enough.... The year we didn't win anything we had a striker who was better than Lukaku but ultimately needed the team to indulge him...... We lost the double to Liverpool.

 

[YoboCopter]

He certinley divides opionin lol

 

[sageyefc]

 

[TheBigIguana]

Can the weirdos keep us up to date on which goals he scores count? Where does today fall?

 

[The binman chronicles]

Can the weirdos keep us up to date on which goals he scores count? Where does today fall?

Are Zenit a top tier team? Are they likely to get to a quarter final - even a knockout game? Answer those questions and you can work it out for yourself.

The 'weirdos' could equally be the ones that take to a thread to say he is so good after every time he scores when pretty much everyone agrees that Lukaku scores lots of goals - he just seems to struggle when it's a do or die game and/or the opponent features world class defenders.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Are Zenit a top tier team? Are they likely to get to a quarter final - even a knockout game? Answer those questions and you can work it out for yourself.

The 'weirdos' could equally be the ones that take to a thread to say he is so good after every time he scores when pretty much everyone agrees that Lukaku scores lots of goals - he just seems to struggle when it's a do or die game and/or the opponent features world class defenders.

Yeah if you ignore all the times he has done then you're right

 

[ilikecheese]

Has bouncy shins had a purple patch?

 

[The binman chronicles]

Yeah if you ignore all the times he has done then you're right

I've been in a stadium and seen him miss a load of chances that a schoolboy should score. He has the tools, ability and has shown a vast improvement while out in Italy but he needs to take the next step up again and deliver in those key games. All I have ever said is if he was as good as some say Belgium would have been in at least a final by now, he might have scored the winner into the right end during the Europa final and we would have played Crystal Palace in an FA Cup Final.

Go look at the results in the last 3 international tournaments and tell me if you can spot a pattern. It's not like he was marked out of these games either he could have had quite a few more goals to his name but fluffed his lines.

However past results doesn't mean he can't go on to do this in the future BUT I'm not going to get giddy over him scoring the winner against Zenit in a group game. That's what he does and always has done.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Screw it, I'm bored. Let's go through the Lukaku doesn't show up in big games narrative and put an end to it.

Let's start with his time here. First season we're chasing CL. Biggest game of the season is against Arsenal. He scores and is utterly dominant all game. He also scored in the FA Cup quarterfinal against the same opposition that season.

Second season we didn't really play any important league or cup games because we were terrible but he did score in every Europa League knockout game including a belter that with a competent backline would have maybe taken us through in Kiev.

Third year was the same story in the league, we were awful, but he scored in the fifth and sixth rounds of the FA Cup as well as the quarters and semis of the League Cup. I'll be fair and say he had a stinker in the semi-final but we aren't playing in that semi-final without him.

His final season it is tough to say which games are big games down the stretch of that year but he did score a lot of goals to get us into that sort of no man's land 7th that was nailed on by early April.

I think the biggest criticism you can have at Everton is the whole "he couldn't score against the best teams" thing. But think about where we were as a squad versus those teams. Goals don't just magically happen for strikers and if the ball isn't getting up the field they aren't likely to happen. The funny part is there were occasions when that didn't matter. He scored at the Etihad getting the ball on halfway and also dribbled the entire Chelsea team once.

Moving on to United which I'm obviously not going to remember as well so this is mostly just a reading his stats thing. First season he's scored in the Uefa Super Cup against Real Madrid and their only goal in the CL knockout round. His second year he was out of favor a whole lot but still managed to score twice in that wild game where they came back against PSG. Was that a big game? Who can possibly say.

Then Inter. He gets a lot of crap for the Europa League final his first year. And yeah that was a bad moment. But he also scored in every knockout game leading up to it. Did those matter?

Then last season he was the best player in Serie A. Milan finished second. He had two goals and an assist in the two matches. Also was the best player on the field in the second tie which was essentially the moment they seized the title race. Scored against Juve. Scored against Napoli. Scored against Roma. Two against Lazio. Every league game that mattered he was there. Late in the season when they needed to keep getting points he often found the goal. I watched a lot of these. He was excellent under huge title chasing pressure.

So my conclusion is this: his reputation for being a "big game failure" is based off of two games. The FA Cup semi for us against United when he missed chances left and right and that Europa League final. But guess what? That happens to players. All great players have big moments that they fall short in. Trying to define Rom by his limited failures fails to recognize the success of someone who has turned out to be an excellent player. And yes he had to leave our club to achieve some of this but he gave us a lot while he was here. Remember that fondly and enjoy a top footballer.

 

[TheBigIguana]

I've been in a stadium and seen him miss a load of chances that a schoolboy should score. He has the tools, ability and has shown a vast improvement while out in Italy but he needs to take the next step up again and deliver in those key games. All I have ever said is if he was as good as some say Belgium would have been in at least a final by now, he might have scored the winner into the right end during the Europa final and we would have played Crystal Palace in an FA Cup Final.

Go look at the results in the last 3 international tournaments and tell me if you can spot a pattern. It's not like he was marked out of these games either he could have had quite a few more goals to his name but fluffed his lines.

However past results doesn't mean he can't go on to do this in the future BUT I'm not going to get giddy over him scoring the winner against Zenit in a group game. That's what he does and always has done.

The last international tournament he scored in the game that his team got knocked out in. Also scored in extra time in the 2014 World Cup knockouts.

I don't really like doing internationals as a means of judging players. It is always a small sample size thing. Penalty shootouts mean a lot. Weird things can swing the entire outlook of a player's or manager's career. This isn't a Rom specific take either. I'll just flatly say that people who did the whole "Ronaldo over Messi because he won the Euros" take were being extremely dim. It's a bad barometer.

 

[The binman chronicles]

The last international tournament he scored in the game that his team got knocked out in. Also scored in extra time in the 2014 World Cup knockouts.

I don't really like doing internationals as a means of judging players. It is always a small sample size thing. Penalty shootouts mean a lot. Weird things can swing the entire outlook of a player's or manager's career. This isn't a Rom specific take either. I'll just flatly say that people who did the whole "Ronaldo over Messi because he won the Euros" take were being extremely dim. It's a bad barometer.

He scored the pen against Italy which fair play he stepped up and slotted it but went on to miss two cast iron sitters. That's the difference he is supposed to make to turn matches.

It's really not a bad barometer. It shows in a microcosm of the issues he has faced. Belgium normally boss games - whoever they play and make chances for Rom. He scores against the teams you would expect him to but then goes dry against the harder teams (not pens). Now of course the harder opposition the less goals a striker will score but that's usually because you get less clear cut chances. These chances have been carved out for him he's just missed and missed consistently in those games.

It's purely a mental block and who knows that might have been shed now the no trophy weight has been lifted off his shoulders. We need to see evidence of this though, score more than he misses (or at least get the sitters) against the top 4 or so teams and the same in the later stages of the cups. Then he can be elevated to that top tier.

 

[Tubey]

So my conclusion is this: his reputation for being a "big game failure" is based off of two games.

Nope.





etc. etc. etc.

 

[wandyr79]

Can the weirdos keep us up to date on which goals he scores count? Where does today fall?

My god, I don't actually care about Lukaku, if he scores, good for him and Chelsea, if he doesn't then meh.

You have taken player fanboy to a new level with this one though, it is quite amusing to watch you have meltdowns every time he scores because 'Everybody is saying mean things about him and I just can't take it anymore, Mummy why are they saying mean things about him'