Romelu Lukaku

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He's in the top bracket of strikers in the league behind Costa, Kane and Aguero and Sanchez, all of whom have creative players that make our look embarrassing in comparison.

Not going to lie he's hit a bad run, but when he doesn't score there's nobody else in the team who I could see chipping in. Says a lot when our best chances of goals other than Lukaku are Baines and Coleman.

Ibrahimovic scored (Rather fortunately) but he was absolutely awful too yesterday. The game was of really poor quality, with teams who think they are better then they are.
 

He's in the top bracket of strikers in the league behind Costa, Kane and Aguero and Sanchez, all of whom have creative players that make our look embarrassing in comparison.

Not going to lie he's hit a bad run, but when he doesn't score there's nobody else in the team who I could see chipping in. Says a lot when our best chances of goals other than Lukaku are Baines and Coleman.

Ibrahimovic scored (Rather fortunately) but he was absolutely awful too yesterday. The game was of really poor quality, with teams who think they are better then they are.
Zlatans hold up play yest was what we all wish Rom had in his game. Even if you think he was poor he did the basics right

Play to Roms strengths and hel be firing . Lump high balls into him when hes isolated and we get what we got yest.
 
Oh well, let''s just go ahead and buy Zlatan Ibrahimovic then...

Whatever his flaws are, he is the one matchwinner in our team and the one player we have of genuine class. We can either moan about his hold up play, or put someone up front with him and watch him bang them in for fun.

I wasn't saying that was I mate?

My point is, there was the difference in a genuine world class player. I've backed Lukaku constantly because the lad scores goals. But does that mean he should mope around thinking everyone owes him? Or walk back onside? Or make token efforts to win a header? Or cry and moan when nobody puts it on a plate? No. Top strikers in this country work hard. Costa, Aguero, Firmino, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Rooney all work hard.

I do agree we need to put someone up with him and based on his cameo, Valencia looks like he'd do a job by creating space and winning headers etc. I so think come next season when the inevitable happens and Lukaku goes it will not be the end of the world. If we replace him with someone who scores a bit less but runs his socks off, it'll be worth more to the TEAM.
 
I wasn't saying that was I mate?

My point is, there was the difference in a genuine world class player. I've backed Lukaku constantly because the lad scores goals. But does that mean he should mope around thinking everyone owes him? Or walk back onside? Or make token efforts to win a header? Or cry and moan when nobody puts it on a plate? No. Top strikers in this country work hard. Costa, Aguero, Firmino, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Rooney all work hard.

I do agree we need to put someone up with him and based on his cameo, Valencia looks like he'd do a job by creating space and winning headers etc. I so think come next season when the inevitable happens and Lukaku goes it will not be the end of the world. If we replace him with someone who scores a bit less but runs his socks off, it'll be worth more to the TEAM.

I agree with most of what you're saying. But i've seen him win countless flick ons without any of our players bothering to make a run or anticipate it, it happened 3 or 4 times yesterday. And most strikers do the walking back onside thing, he's got quite a few goals from sneaking back up on defenders and breaking the offside trap. Van Nistelrooy was a master at it.

He definitely can, and should, work harder. That slide tackle he put in on Herrera(?) to set a chance up for us, we all want to see more of that.

But aren't we bored of watching tactics that isolate him and then moaning about him not running channels? I really think its the tactics that are the problem, not Lukaku. Put someone up with him, Lukaku will rip teams apart, and the team will benefit massively.
 
I agree with most of what you're saying. But i've seen him win countless flick ons without any of our players bothering to make a run or anticipate it, it happened 3 or 4 times yesterday. And most strikers do the walking back onside thing, he's got quite a few goals from sneaking back up on defenders and breaking the offside trap. Van Nistelrooy was a master at it.

He definitely can, and should, work harder. That slide tackle he put in on Herrera(?) to set a chance up for us, we all want to see more of that.

But aren't we bored of watching tactics that isolate him and then moaning about him not running channels? I really think its the tactics that are the problem, not Lukaku. Put someone up with him, Lukaku will rip teams apart, and the team will benefit massively.

Yeah we are crying out for a change. Two defensive midfielders in my opinion has us surrendering 30 yards and has us playing daft balls between the DM's and CB's, as we saw yesterday were Mori and Barry both got caught out. I'd like to see Lukaku and Valencia up front, Gueye and Barkley in a midfield two (last roll of the dice for Barkley?), Mirallas on the left and Bolasie on the right. Let's play football in our opponents half of the pitch more often.
 
Yeah we are crying out for a change. Two defensive midfielders in my opinion has us surrendering 30 yards and has us playing daft balls between the DM's and CB's, as we saw yesterday were Mori and Barry both got caught out. I'd like to see Lukaku and Valencia up front, Gueye and Barkley in a midfield two (last roll of the dice for Barkley?), Mirallas on the left and Bolasie on the right. Let's play football in our opponents half of the pitch more often.

Agreed.

As much as I love Barry, he's naturally dropping deeper because he's worried about getting beat for pace. And we really struggle to pass our way up the field at the moment.

Would love to see a flat midfield four of Mirallas - Gueye - Barkley - Bolasie , but I can't see it happening.
 

Http://www.skysports.com/football/n...-romelu-lukakus-strengths-under-ronald-Koeman


After a bright start, Everton have dipped. Matt Cheetham highlights some key stats which show how long balls and crosses have left Romelu Lukaku on the fringes of the club's attacking play under Ronald Koeman.

Everton's late equaliser against Manchester United provided relief for Ronald Koeman, but still left the Toffees on a run of seven points from the last 27 available.

As the Dutchman evaluates his side's recent slump, a primary concern will be how to get the best out of Romelu Lukaku, who was rarely a threat to United's defence on Sunday.



The Belgium international failed to record a single shot against United - the second time in four games he has failed to do that. Remarkably, Lukaku had failed to register a shot in just one of his previous 49 starts before this current run.

For the third time in four games, Lukaku also failed to test the goalkeeper with a shot on target, having only failed to do that once in his previous 17 starts.

His shot return, as well as his presence in the penalty area, has dipped drastically over the past few games.

Romelu Lukaku - Premier League 2016/17
Stat First six PL apps Last seven PL apps
Touches in opp box (per 90mins) 40 (7.5) 20 (2.9)
Total shots (per 90mins) 21 (4.0) 12 (1.7)
Shots on target (per 90mins) 13 (2.5) 6 (0.9)
A lot of this has to do with Everton's increasingly direct approach, which coincides with these diminishing numbers.

They began this season with a five-match unbeaten run. During that spell they hit long passes, on average, just 14.3 per cent of the time. That equates to about one in seven passes being a long one. Over the past few weeks that frequency of long passes has increased to 18.5 per cent. Now, almost one in five passes by Everton players are hit long.

Crosses are also becoming the prominent theme of Everton attacks. Koeman's Southampton side sent in more than any other side last season, and this seems to be his plan once again. Only one Premier League side has played more crosses than Everton in the past six matches.


Watford vs Everton
December 10, 2016, 11:30am

Live on

Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass
Koeman prefers this pragmatic approach, but it doesn't bring out the best in Lukaku.

The striker's aerial ability is arguably the weakest part of his game. "He used to say to me that heading wasn't really his strong point," Everton left-back Luke Garbutt revealed in the
Football Hour podcast in October.

Over the past two-and-a-half seasons, he's won under 38 per cent of aerial duels, which is a below-average return among forwards. While he's scored headed goals, many have been when he's found in space, with few instances of him towering over a marker to finish.


Lukaku struggled with long passes sent his way against Man Utd but benefitted from a different approach against Sunderland
Despite this, Everton's game with United saw a procession of long balls aimed at Lukaku, leading to his alarming passing accuracy of 40 per cent and a limited platform for his side to build from.

Of the 28 passes he received, few - if any - were through balls from midfielders, which is the type of service he craves. His best game of the season came in Everton's least direct performance of the season, at Sunderland (11.1 per cent of passes long), where he was found far more often around the area.

In Koeman's defence, he isn't currently blessed with many alternative ways to play. Everton don't have the attacking midfielders to control games in the final third.

Yannick Bolasie, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon, Gerard Deulofeu and, to an extent, Ross Barkley are all similar, explosive players, who flicker in and out of games. All are at their best taking on defenders rather than looking to build phases of play as a team.

Everton attacking midfielders - Premier League 2015/16
Player Successful passes per 90mins
Yannick Bolasie 15.9
Aaron Lennon 22.6
Kevin Mirallas 24.4
Gerard Deulofeu 25.0
Ross Barkley 45.2
Compared with top six sides that generally play a 4-2-3-1 formation this season, Everton's attacking midfield trio are far less involved in the passing game.

Attacking trios - Premier League 2016/17
Top six sides playing 4-2-3-1 Successful passes per 90mins % of team's successful passes per 90mins
Man City Silva (58.2), Sterling (29.2), De Bruyne (41.8) 26.5%
Arsenal Iwobi (49.7), Walcott (20.1), Ozil (55.5) 26.6%
Tottenham Eriksen (41.4), Son (27.6), Alli (33.3) 24.4%
Man Utd Mata (53.1), Rashford (25.0), Rooney (42.5) 26.6%
- - -
Everton Mirallas (25.8), Bolasie (18.0), Barkley (38.4) 20.6%
As the above stats show, every side carries one or even two of these often peripheral, but potential match-winning players - Everton's problem is that's all they have, limiting their ability to involve Lukaku. Finding a different type of option for these positions has to be the top priority in January.

Koeman has also been keen to introduce a pressing system at Everton, though, statistically, he has the least effective striker to enforce this. Of the 503 outfield players to play in the Premier League last season, amazingly, none covered less ground per 90 minutes than Lukaku.

Least distance covered per 90mins - Premier League 2015/16
Player Avg distance covered Rank
Romelu Lukaku 8.6km 503rd (last)
Micah Richards 8.64km 502nd
Wes Morgan 8.78km 501st
Kurt Zouma 8.80km 500th
His return has barely improved this season (currently 415th of 419 outfield players) and is something he surely needs to improve on, though it's also another example of Koeman wanting his front man to play out of his comfort zone, when he needs to be built around.

Lukaku has scored the goals Everton fans have wanted from a striker for the majority of their Premier League history. He has attributes some of the best clubs in world football covet, and should be the focal point of a team built to embellish his strengths.

At the moment, though, Everton are guilty of playing a system that doesn't suit him, with not enough players to compliment his game, wasting their most dangerous asset.
 
Http://www.skysports.com/football/n...-romelu-lukakus-strengths-under-ronald-Koeman


After a bright start, Everton have dipped. Matt Cheetham highlights some key stats which show how long balls and crosses have left Romelu Lukaku on the fringes of the club's attacking play under Ronald Koeman.

Everton's late equaliser against Manchester United provided relief for Ronald Koeman, but still left the Toffees on a run of seven points from the last 27 available.

As the Dutchman evaluates his side's recent slump, a primary concern will be how to get the best out of Romelu Lukaku, who was rarely a threat to United's defence on Sunday.



The Belgium international failed to record a single shot against United - the second time in four games he has failed to do that. Remarkably, Lukaku had failed to register a shot in just one of his previous 49 starts before this current run.

For the third time in four games, Lukaku also failed to test the goalkeeper with a shot on target, having only failed to do that once in his previous 17 starts.

His shot return, as well as his presence in the penalty area, has dipped drastically over the past few games.

Romelu Lukaku - Premier League 2016/17
Stat First six PL apps Last seven PL apps
Touches in opp box (per 90mins) 40 (7.5) 20 (2.9)
Total shots (per 90mins) 21 (4.0) 12 (1.7)
Shots on target (per 90mins) 13 (2.5) 6 (0.9)
A lot of this has to do with Everton's increasingly direct approach, which coincides with these diminishing numbers.

They began this season with a five-match unbeaten run. During that spell they hit long passes, on average, just 14.3 per cent of the time. That equates to about one in seven passes being a long one. Over the past few weeks that frequency of long passes has increased to 18.5 per cent. Now, almost one in five passes by Everton players are hit long.

Crosses are also becoming the prominent theme of Everton attacks. Koeman's Southampton side sent in more than any other side last season, and this seems to be his plan once again. Only one Premier League side has played more crosses than Everton in the past six matches.


Watford vs Everton
December 10, 2016, 11:30am

Live on

Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass
Koeman prefers this pragmatic approach, but it doesn't bring out the best in Lukaku.

The striker's aerial ability is arguably the weakest part of his game. "He used to say to me that heading wasn't really his strong point," Everton left-back Luke Garbutt revealed in the
Football Hour podcast in October.

Over the past two-and-a-half seasons, he's won under 38 per cent of aerial duels, which is a below-average return among forwards. While he's scored headed goals, many have been when he's found in space, with few instances of him towering over a marker to finish.


Lukaku struggled with long passes sent his way against Man Utd but benefitted from a different approach against Sunderland
Despite this, Everton's game with United saw a procession of long balls aimed at Lukaku, leading to his alarming passing accuracy of 40 per cent and a limited platform for his side to build from.

Of the 28 passes he received, few - if any - were through balls from midfielders, which is the type of service he craves. His best game of the season came in Everton's least direct performance of the season, at Sunderland (11.1 per cent of passes long), where he was found far more often around the area.

In Koeman's defence, he isn't currently blessed with many alternative ways to play. Everton don't have the attacking midfielders to control games in the final third.

Yannick Bolasie, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon, Gerard Deulofeu and, to an extent, Ross Barkley are all similar, explosive players, who flicker in and out of games. All are at their best taking on defenders rather than looking to build phases of play as a team.

Everton attacking midfielders - Premier League 2015/16
Player Successful passes per 90mins
Yannick Bolasie 15.9
Aaron Lennon 22.6
Kevin Mirallas 24.4
Gerard Deulofeu 25.0
Ross Barkley 45.2
Compared with top six sides that generally play a 4-2-3-1 formation this season, Everton's attacking midfield trio are far less involved in the passing game.

Attacking trios - Premier League 2016/17
Top six sides playing 4-2-3-1 Successful passes per 90mins % of team's successful passes per 90mins
Man City Silva (58.2), Sterling (29.2), De Bruyne (41.8) 26.5%
Arsenal Iwobi (49.7), Walcott (20.1), Ozil (55.5) 26.6%
Tottenham Eriksen (41.4), Son (27.6), Alli (33.3) 24.4%
Man Utd Mata (53.1), Rashford (25.0), Rooney (42.5) 26.6%
- - -
Everton Mirallas (25.8), Bolasie (18.0), Barkley (38.4) 20.6%
As the above stats show, every side carries one or even two of these often peripheral, but potential match-winning players - Everton's problem is that's all they have, limiting their ability to involve Lukaku. Finding a different type of option for these positions has to be the top priority in January.

Koeman has also been keen to introduce a pressing system at Everton, though, statistically, he has the least effective striker to enforce this. Of the 503 outfield players to play in the Premier League last season, amazingly, none covered less ground per 90 minutes than Lukaku.

Least distance covered per 90mins - Premier League 2015/16
Player Avg distance covered Rank
Romelu Lukaku 8.6km 503rd (last)
Micah Richards 8.64km 502nd
Wes Morgan 8.78km 501st
Kurt Zouma 8.80km 500th
His return has barely improved this season (currently 415th of 419 outfield players) and is something he surely needs to improve on, though it's also another example of Koeman wanting his front man to play out of his comfort zone, when he needs to be built around.

Lukaku has scored the goals Everton fans have wanted from a striker for the majority of their Premier League history. He has attributes some of the best clubs in world football covet, and should be the focal point of a team built to embellish his strengths.

At the moment, though, Everton are guilty of playing a system that doesn't suit him, with not enough players to compliment his game, wasting their most dangerous asset.


Matt cheetham wrote the article season ticket holder very damining for both Koeman & lukaku for me. Some food for thought for the Neanderthal Barkley bashers too
 
Http://www.skysports.com/football/n...-romelu-lukakus-strengths-under-ronald-Koeman


After a bright start, Everton have dipped. Matt Cheetham highlights some key stats which show how long balls and crosses have left Romelu Lukaku on the fringes of the club's attacking play under Ronald Koeman.

Everton's late equaliser against Manchester United provided relief for Ronald Koeman, but still left the Toffees on a run of seven points from the last 27 available.

As the Dutchman evaluates his side's recent slump, a primary concern will be how to get the best out of Romelu Lukaku, who was rarely a threat to United's defence on Sunday.



The Belgium international failed to record a single shot against United - the second time in four games he has failed to do that. Remarkably, Lukaku had failed to register a shot in just one of his previous 49 starts before this current run.

For the third time in four games, Lukaku also failed to test the goalkeeper with a shot on target, having only failed to do that once in his previous 17 starts.

His shot return, as well as his presence in the penalty area, has dipped drastically over the past few games.

Romelu Lukaku - Premier League 2016/17
Stat First six PL apps Last seven PL apps
Touches in opp box (per 90mins) 40 (7.5) 20 (2.9)
Total shots (per 90mins) 21 (4.0) 12 (1.7)
Shots on target (per 90mins) 13 (2.5) 6 (0.9)
A lot of this has to do with Everton's increasingly direct approach, which coincides with these diminishing numbers.

They began this season with a five-match unbeaten run. During that spell they hit long passes, on average, just 14.3 per cent of the time. That equates to about one in seven passes being a long one. Over the past few weeks that frequency of long passes has increased to 18.5 per cent. Now, almost one in five passes by Everton players are hit long.

Crosses are also becoming the prominent theme of Everton attacks. Koeman's Southampton side sent in more than any other side last season, and this seems to be his plan once again. Only one Premier League side has played more crosses than Everton in the past six matches.


Watford vs Everton
December 10, 2016, 11:30am

Live on

Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass
Koeman prefers this pragmatic approach, but it doesn't bring out the best in Lukaku.

The striker's aerial ability is arguably the weakest part of his game. "He used to say to me that heading wasn't really his strong point," Everton left-back Luke Garbutt revealed in the
Football Hour podcast in October.

Over the past two-and-a-half seasons, he's won under 38 per cent of aerial duels, which is a below-average return among forwards. While he's scored headed goals, many have been when he's found in space, with few instances of him towering over a marker to finish.


Lukaku struggled with long passes sent his way against Man Utd but benefitted from a different approach against Sunderland
Despite this, Everton's game with United saw a procession of long balls aimed at Lukaku, leading to his alarming passing accuracy of 40 per cent and a limited platform for his side to build from.

Of the 28 passes he received, few - if any - were through balls from midfielders, which is the type of service he craves. His best game of the season came in Everton's least direct performance of the season, at Sunderland (11.1 per cent of passes long), where he was found far more often around the area.

In Koeman's defence, he isn't currently blessed with many alternative ways to play. Everton don't have the attacking midfielders to control games in the final third.

Yannick Bolasie, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon, Gerard Deulofeu and, to an extent, Ross Barkley are all similar, explosive players, who flicker in and out of games. All are at their best taking on defenders rather than looking to build phases of play as a team.

Everton attacking midfielders - Premier League 2015/16
Player Successful passes per 90mins
Yannick Bolasie 15.9
Aaron Lennon 22.6
Kevin Mirallas 24.4
Gerard Deulofeu 25.0
Ross Barkley 45.2
Compared with top six sides that generally play a 4-2-3-1 formation this season, Everton's attacking midfield trio are far less involved in the passing game.

Attacking trios - Premier League 2016/17
Top six sides playing 4-2-3-1 Successful passes per 90mins % of team's successful passes per 90mins
Man City Silva (58.2), Sterling (29.2), De Bruyne (41.8) 26.5%
Arsenal Iwobi (49.7), Walcott (20.1), Ozil (55.5) 26.6%
Tottenham Eriksen (41.4), Son (27.6), Alli (33.3) 24.4%
Man Utd Mata (53.1), Rashford (25.0), Rooney (42.5) 26.6%
- - -
Everton Mirallas (25.8), Bolasie (18.0), Barkley (38.4) 20.6%
As the above stats show, every side carries one or even two of these often peripheral, but potential match-winning players - Everton's problem is that's all they have, limiting their ability to involve Lukaku. Finding a different type of option for these positions has to be the top priority in January.

Koeman has also been keen to introduce a pressing system at Everton, though, statistically, he has the least effective striker to enforce this. Of the 503 outfield players to play in the Premier League last season, amazingly, none covered less ground per 90 minutes than Lukaku.

Least distance covered per 90mins - Premier League 2015/16
Player Avg distance covered Rank
Romelu Lukaku 8.6km 503rd (last)
Micah Richards 8.64km 502nd
Wes Morgan 8.78km 501st
Kurt Zouma 8.80km 500th
His return has barely improved this season (currently 415th of 419 outfield players) and is something he surely needs to improve on, though it's also another example of Koeman wanting his front man to play out of his comfort zone, when he needs to be built around.

Lukaku has scored the goals Everton fans have wanted from a striker for the majority of their Premier League history. He has attributes some of the best clubs in world football covet, and should be the focal point of a team built to embellish his strengths.

At the moment, though, Everton are guilty of playing a system that doesn't suit him, with not enough players to compliment his game, wasting their most dangerous asset.

Wow. Great analysis.
We should play to his strenghts . And he needs to run more, if only for not being so low in the ranks of running strikers.
 
Wow. Great analysis.
We should play to his strenghts . And he needs to run more, if only for not being so low in the ranks of running strikers.
Yes not completely sure if it is damning or not for lukakau. Suppose it is what is & what we all know.

play to his strengths & get him working you have a hell of a player don't & he doesn't want to know.
 
True.
But I'd like to see some nuance in the stats as well. Because you can have a high passing percentage with a lot of safe passes. The more decisive passes you try to play, the lower your percentage will be. That's why the stats of Debruyne are so amazingly high because he always tries to give key passes. Barley's stats are high (far more than the rest of our midfield!!!). Next step is he should try to have more key passes. He has proven he can do this.
 

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