He's a striker, and he's scoring goals.
End of.
End of.
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Brendan Janus
Player Valuation: £40m
Wish Lukaku had a bit more of Costa's aggression !!
TheGhostOfBolasie
Player Valuation: £1m
Exactly. He's on for 20 goals this season, and isn't even our penalty taker. Kane has 13 goals, of which 3 were penalties. Defoe has 12, with 5 pens. Aguero 11, 3 pens. Lukaku is basically performing (scoring) at the level of Sanchez and Ibrahimovic. Fantastic.
AaronTheBlue
Player Valuation: £60m
It took Costa until 23 to even get past 10 goals a season.
I think lukakus doing fine.
I think lukakus doing fine.
mkrudden
Player Valuation: £40m
The two best strikers in the world, arguably ever, are Ronaldo and Messi.
Both of whom bring a lot more to the table than just goals.
That's an unfair comparison.
mkrudden
Player Valuation: £40m
How so?
The lad regularly talks about wanting to be the best in the world:
And on a purely goals to game basis, he's right. Equally you're right to laud him for being so accomplished in front of goal.
But to be truly great you need to do a lot more. Like Messi. Like Ronaldo.
Even in the next level down: Aguero with his movement, Costa with his aggression, Lewandowski (spl) with his hold up play, Griezzeman with his invention. They all have other strings to their bow apart from scoring goals and, crucially, it's these other attributes that bring out the best in their team-mates.
There aren't many better in terms of goal-scoring. You're right, he's that good. Unfortunately though other aspects of his game, especially off the ball, are really average.
TheGhostOfBolasie
Player Valuation: £1m
Ronaldo = 32 next month
Messi = 30 in 6 months
Lukaku = 24 in May
You can't compare these players.
Messi = 30 in 6 months
Lukaku = 24 in May
You can't compare these players.
Kenshin
Player Valuation: £40m
I hope Lukaku is starting to enjoy being here. Hate for him to want to leave still in the summer. I hope he is our leading striker for years to come, even if it is only because everyone else has a boss striker as well. Even if we went and signed his brother just to keep him happy while he is here, I would be all for that. If we are meant to be rich these days anyway!
Pittsburgh Footy
Player Valuation: £35m
How boss is this lad.
let's just enjoy him while we have him. Hopefully we kick on this spring and he can see RK's vision and commit another couple of years here - then who knows what can happen
let's just enjoy him while we have him. Hopefully we kick on this spring and he can see RK's vision and commit another couple of years here - then who knows what can happen
Mountfield1985
Player Valuation: £8m
It's a massively unfair comparison. It will be a long, long time before anyone comes close to hitting the heights of Messi/Ronaldo again.
But it's a poor argument anyway. Messi and Ronaldo both run the least distance per match for their teams. They stroll around and wait for key moments.
mkrudden
Player Valuation: £40m
I am not talking about distance covered. The article eluded to it yes but, as per my examples of Lew'ski and Costa, there are other ways that you can assist your team than doing a Firmino and running around like a lunatic.
By Messi waiting for key moments, I agree. He's always reading the game, pulling himself into dangerous areas which in turn open the game up for Iniesta etc. He's not aimlessly walking in no apparent direction. Does Lukaku does this?
Ronaldo is the same. His movement is fantastic. He also holds the ball extremely well and consistenly. Does Lukaku do this?
Rather than comparing Lukaku to Messi and Ronaldo, I am merely putting out (using the extremes) that the very best players have more strings to their bow than scoring goals. I also used strikers in the level below to firm up the point.
Lew'ski - hold up play: Does Lukaku do this well enough? No.
Griezemann - clever creativity and invention. Does Lukaku do this? rarely.
Aguero - movement into the channels, pulling defenders into areas they hate to me. Does Lukaku do this? Rarely if ever.
Costa - Aggressively dominates CBs, whether it's hounding them without the ball or making sure the ball sticks, make them commit and then bring others into play. Does Lukaku do this? Yeah - more regularly but still not consistently well.
My point is simple. Can Lukaku can be better than he is, absolutely. If he were to add some of the above into his game and do it as well as the aforementioned, he'd probably not score many more goals himself BUT we would concede less and score more collectively as a team.
Tony Hibbert's 3rd leg
Banned as requested
The whole 'Lukaku doesn't run enough' is such a worn out argument. It's starting to get boring. His stocky build will limit his running, but what he lacks in that department he makes up for in his strength. Arguably the most effective forward who can shrug almost anyone off the ball like nothing.
Yes his intensity and pressing could improve. No doubting that. But it'll never be to the levels of other world class strikers, because Lukaku has a unique, naturally physical big build. But he makes up for it with his strength and power, which is a major factor that people overlook when easily criticising him for his lack of intense running.
Yes his intensity and pressing could improve. No doubting that. But it'll never be to the levels of other world class strikers, because Lukaku has a unique, naturally physical big build. But he makes up for it with his strength and power, which is a major factor that people overlook when easily criticising him for his lack of intense running.
mkrudden
Player Valuation: £40m
But he could, if he wanted, position himself in places which at least would make it more difficult for the opposition to work round him, couldnt he?
He could run the channels more and create space. He has done it plenty of times, albeit sporadically, so why can't he do it consistently?
Seems like, with absolute respect to you, you're making excuses for the lad on why he can't improve. His build isn't that unique. As mentioned above, he doesnt even have to run to position himself intelligently and get the defenders worrying about him.
He's a fantastic goalscorer but he can improve so much. If he does, he'll be right up there with the best players (not goalscorers) in the world. And it's absolutely achievable if he starts to think about more than just him scoring goals.
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