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Romelu Lukaku

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Tubey said:
Yeah but as his dry spell lately has shown, when he's not scoring he's utterly pointless.

If he goes on another four game drought and then scores five in the fifth game, technically he has 8 in 8 but it wouldn't tell the whole story. It's just so frustrating, because a player that good at putting the ball in the net just needs to be somewhat competent in other areas of his game and he'd be bullet proof in terms of criticism.
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Hehe... so... you think the central defenders they think "Hey, Lukaku's [Poor language removed] today, nevermind him and concentrate on the other players!". Because your statement is quite simply a contradictio in terminis. Exactly because he can switch on at any time, is the reason why even when he isn't scoring, he's still important, because NO defender in the EPL, not one, will take his chances ignoring Lukaku. Even when he's seemingly playing like crap. He could be sunbathing in a beach chair and they would still not leave him out of their sights. You know, sometimes it's up to the other players, to take advantage of the attention he draws.

Tubey said:
We've finished bottom half two seasons on the bounce with him up front, because - even ignoring the Martinez factor - he hasn't contributed enough to the team over any given 90 minutes for two years.
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How high do you think Everton would have finished with a "real" world class striker? Tenth? Seriously. Is this a one man team? Other players don't have to stand up and take responsability? Like i said, with someone like Lukaku up front, the players around him should take much more advantage of the attention he draws, even when he's playing like crap.

Tubey said:
I'd take a Lukaku half as good as he was tonight in that 15 minute spell over 90 minutes in every game, because he'd be a much more valuable striker for us consistently if so.
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Would you? Because what you're describing, seems to be a rather mediocre striker that will never stand out or comepletely turn a game around. Plenty of those around, and i somewhat doubt that would be what you really want. Anyway, if that's what the manager would want, he could easily pick someone off the bench in favor of Lukaku. But he doesn't.
 
Tubey said:
No, his job is to be the eleventh player in a football team. Too often he is completely invisible.

Poachers no longer exist in football. It may have been OK in the 80s for Lineker et al to offer nothing but goals, but in the modern era if you are not contributing to the team play, you are a liability to the team.

For 60 minutes tonight, Rom was as bad as I've ever seen him. Yes, he then went mad for 15 minutes, but performing 15 minutes every few games isn't good enough at this level.

I'd prefer a happy medium - a good all round Lukaku with a good eye for goal, who can get 15-20 a season and be an asset all round.
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If he scores 3 goals in 15 mins every game I wouldn't mind like.

Truth is his confidence should be back after tonight.

Welcome back rom.
 

Tubey said:
Yeah but as his dry spell lately has shown, when he's not scoring he's utterly pointless.

If he goes on another four game drought and then scores five in the fifth game, technically he has 8 in 8 but it wouldn't tell the whole story. It's just so frustrating, because a player that good at putting the ball in the net just needs to be somewhat competent in other areas of his game and he'd be bullet proof in terms of criticism.
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That's not even true. Against West Brom he didn't score but completely changed the game when he came on.

This season we have seen a stronger Rom more willing to bully defenders and tonight was when it all clicked.
 

Maarten said:
Hehe... so... you think the central defenders they think "Hey, Lukaku's [Poor language removed] today, nevermind him and concentrate on the other players!". Because your statement is quite simply a contradictio in terminis. Exactly because he can switch on at any time, is the reason why even when he isn't scoring, he's still important, because NO defender in the EPL, not one, will take his chances ignoring Lukaku. Even when he's seemingly playing like crap. He could be sunbathing in a beach chair and they would still not leave him out of their sights. You know, sometimes it's up to the other players, to take advantage of the attention he draws.



How high do you think Everton would have finished with a "real" world class striker? Tenth? Seriously. Is this a one man team? Other players don't have to stand up and take responsability? Like i said, with someone like Lukaku up front, the players around him should take much more advantage of the attention he draws, even when he's playing like crap.



Would you? Because what you're describing, seems to be a rather mediocre striker that will never stand out or comepletely turn a game around. Plenty of those around, and i somewhat doubt that would be what you really want. Anyway, if that's what the manager would want, he could easily pick someone off the bench in favor of Lukaku. But he doesn't.
Click to expand...

The problem with Rom is that while he draws attention, he doesn't pull players away to create space for others. He's incredibly static, so he's man marked but to the point where the centre-half doing it is always in position to cut out anything else that develops from an oncoming attacking mid or whatever.

Rom's position in the modern game is the most important for a club. Goals are important, yes, but the truly great strikers in the game today are ones who constantly roam, take the ball and bring others into the attacking phase. Rom does none of that often enough to be relied upon. Think about how important Suarez was to Liverpool - without that focal point, they wouldn't have got near the title that season, would have struggled to make the top six. Look at how an on form Costa transforms Chelsea, or how City look a different team entirely with Aguero.

In the modern game, I class a striker who moves intelligently and brings the whole team up the field and forward as a cohesive threat as a much more valuable asset than a poacher. Lukaku needs to add more strings to his bow to be considered a truly top drawer footballer.
 

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