Young Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku has struggled for his best form this season after making a permanent move to Everton
Everton suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at Premier League leaders Chelsea on Wednesday night.
However, it could have all been so different had club-record signing Romelu Lukaku scored with a golden opportunity.
Credit must go to Chelsea’s Petr Cech for producing a superb save, but the finish really was not one worthy of a man that cost the Toffees £28million, as the Czech keeper got down low to deny Lukaku.
Impressive
In truth the miss was indicative of the Belgian striker’s season so far. The former-Chelsea striker was impressive during a loan spell at Goodison Park last season scoring 15 Premier League goals and becoming something of an Everton hero.
The Toffees were not expected to sign him on a permanent deal, but came up with the £28million asked for by parent club Chelsea. The deal looked like a brave signal of intent that Roberto Martinez’s side meant business in their pursuit of a top four spot this season.
He looked like he could be the permanent signing that could prove to lead to better times ahead on the blue half of Merseyside.
Disappointing
To say that this season has been disappointing for Everton and their highly-rated young striker would be an understatement. Lukaku has scored just seven goals in the top-flight this season and has at times shown his limitations.
The Toffees are sitting in the bottom half of the table after just two wins in their last 13 Premier League games. One of their main problems in recent games has been scoring goals, as Martinez’s men have scored just once in their last four top-flight games.
Last season the Toffees had an attacking swagger about them. They were a team that posed a very real attacking threat with Lukaku the focal point of their attack.
This season, a mixture of poor form and injuries has hampered the amount of goals scored by Martinez’s men.
Limitations
Lukaku would argue that a striker is only as good as the service he is given. However, sometimes you have to make your own luck and chances. The world’s best striker’s work hard for their teams and do not rest on their laurels.
Unfortunately it seems that Lukaku is lethargic when it comes to putting a shift in for the team. He has all the physical attributes to be a top player, but seems to be unable to impose himself on often less physically impressive opponents.
His first touch and lay-off play is poor at times and often Everton’s attacking play breaks down because he loses the ball.
Confident
Lukaku seems like a young guy that is very confident in his own abilities, but sometimes he looks like his confidence is not justified. He was very outspoken at Chelsea, but a lot of the time it was borne out of the frustration of not playing on a regular basis.
Lukaku now has to let his football ability do the talking and improve his game, or he will never develop into anything more than an average Premier League striker.
When he first arrived at Chelsea he was compared to Blues great Didier Drogba in his style of play and build. However, he needs to be careful that he does not end up more like former-England striker Emile Heskey, who never really fulfilled his potential.
Young
Romelu Lukaku is just 21 years-old and that is why he should be given more room for manoeuvre than a player of greater years. He has the potential to be a truly top striker and win major silverware in his career.
If he was an older player Everton fans would have jumped on his back far sooner than now and he is not the only Everton player to underperform this season.
However, he is the only Toffees player that professes that he wants to be one of the best strikers in the world. To fulfil his potential he must first work on his game and start scoring goals for the Toffees.
If he does not then his will be a tale of a young footballer with the world at his feet who threw it all away because he believed his own hype.
Should Romelu Lukaku be performing better for Everton?
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