Champion of the Boxing League, league goalscorer, MVP, directly or indirectly involved in an average of 1.09 goals per 90 minutes - Romelu Lukaku stepped onto the not so strange, not so familiar Stamford Bridge Stadium with all these titles. For a record-breaking transfer fee of £97.5 million.
European crown
The expectations of the defending champions for the Belgian striker were evident. But just as Lukaku failed to score even a single goal for his team on his first visit to London with the moniker of the Little Monster, his performances ultimately fell short of the exorbitant transfer fee.Eight years have passed in a flash, and after the
Manchester United Football Club
Having trained with the likes of Inter, he is no longer the young, physical but unskilled winger, but one of the most versatile strikers in the football world. However, as if the nightmare of that time has returned, Lukaku has not been able to perform convincingly in his second appearance in the Blues' uniform. Today, we're going to look at how Lukaku, one of the best players in the Boxing Day League, is doing.
Chelsea
The reason for the delay in kicking the body.
Lukaku's technical characteristics
At 192 centimeters and 91 kilograms, this kind of body condition is reminiscent of the same in the
Chelsea
Olivier Giroud, who has played the game, says that Lukaku has the ability to protect the ball with his back to goal, head the ball towards goal, and act as a pivot for crosses, all of which are at a very high level for a center forward. However, Lukaku is not a traditional pillar winger. Instead, his athleticism and footwork make him more of an all-around striker - he's fast enough to drop back into the midfield and launch counterattacks, or to follow up on direct kicks from his teammates. Simply put, Lukaku has all the skills a striker should have when holding the ball, and they are all above par.
As for Lukaku's shortcomings, they are difficult to reflect in the statistics. When he receives a direct ball, he will only move to a position where there is no defender in front of him, ignoring the angle of his teammate's pass and the fact that the defender behind or next to him may come forward to assist. For example, in the following quick counterattack, Lukaku still insisted on moving between two defenders when the defense started to narrow, leaving his teammates with no passing angle or space.
The second time he found space to receive the ball he was again in an offside position, again unable to receive the pass.
After losing the chance to receive the direct ball, Lukaku pulls off to the outside without trying to use his size to interfere with the opponent's line of defense or line of sight. After seeing Lukaku pulling to the outside, the defender who was following him releases him to his teammates and goes back to the middle of the field to block Mason Mount who is advancing with the ball.
In a similar scenario, Phil Foden demonstrated the right way to run a play. Since KDB began advancing Foden has been
Chelsea
The linebackers ran forward and backward to do their interference, allowing the
Chelsea
The defense failed to come up in time to close the door. As Foden started from behind the offside line, the
Chelsea
The defense hasn't gotten back to their respective positions yet, and there's still plenty of angle left for Foden to move up the middle to pick off KDB's passes.
KDB continues to move forward.
Chelsea
The two center backs also began to narrow, and Foden, who was in an offside position, paused for a beat and waited until the defenders had sunk back and he was back in front of the offside line before continuing his run behind the backs.
With Foden constantly interfering, KDB advanced all the way to the distance where he was able to shoot without a defender coming up against him, and it was with this space that a bloodied long range shot for the
Manchester City football club
Take the game.
A running sense like Foden's is what Lukaku lacks. And that shortcoming may have affected his ability to play in the
Chelsea
Development in the squad. But why is it that Lukaku, who is also a center forward, was able to do a good job at Inter, to
Chelsea
And yet it doesn't work? That's a question we'll have to parse through the tactical differences between the two teams.
Lukaku's change in tactical position
Lukaku's change in tactical position has been reflected in a decline in his stats - over half of his goals (only 8 in the league, 1/3 of what he scored last year in the Eredivisie), and not a single assist, from Inter's team leader. Here's a breakdown of Lukaku's roles and responsibilities in both teams, and what has caused him to go from being the MVP of the Serie A to a less-than-exceptional player.
England Premier Soccer League
Forward.
Let's start by looking at him in his Inter days. In the 2020/21 season, Inter most often put out the following lineup:
In this formation, Inter's most deadly move is the quick counter-attack launched from both sides of the half space. When the ball is played out from the back, Lukaku will drop back to the center of the field to receive the pass, and if the opponent interferes with him, he can also use his size to carry the opponent.
Meanwhile, Hakimi and Barella were around to provide passing options on the flanks and in the center of the field, while Eriksen and Lautaro Martínez were on the left side, with the former slowing down to prepare for the ball and adjusting to the attacking tempo, and the latter taking the ball from teammates near the offside line to add the finishing touches. Both of them have the ability to run quite flexibly, so that the opponent can't directly release the left side to assist the defense. It can be said that this tactic is centered on Lukaku, using his individual ability to create goal scoring opportunities.
