Okay so with every football fan and pundit taking swings at Romelu Lukaku all season long I would just like to ask why? In the summer we saw 3 clubs spend big on strikers, Chelsea signing Morata for 60 million, Arsenal buying Lacazette for 50 million and United buying Lukaku for 75 million.
When spending that kind of money fans would expect big things from the players and would like to see the player start every game. Out of the three signing Lukaku has gotten the most time on the pitch and is also receiving the most criticism by far. I personally think this is not justified. Why let’s look at the stats.
Lukaku Stats:
39 games
21 goals
7 assists
3076 minutes played
109 minutes per contribution
Morata Stats:
33 games
12 goals
5 assists
2094 minutes played
123 minutes per contribution
Lacazete Stats:
28 games
9 goals
3 assists
1972 minutes played
164 minutes per contribution
Another stat worth looking at is that Lukaku’s contribution at Everton vs United. When looking at the Premier League it is almost Identical and United have gotten exactly what they paid for.
Looking at the stats it is clear that United got the better performing striker of all three clubs. Lukaku is younger than both his counter parts and does not spend most of his time warming the bench, he is also well on his way to score 30+ goals this season how is it then that he is receiving the most criticism?
What do you think? The stats don’t lie? Is the criticism justified and why?
Sources
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11040084/jose-mourinho-manchester-united-were-willing-to-pay-what-everton-wanted-for-romelu-lukaku
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/chelsea-vs-manchester-united-alvaro-morata-romelu-lukaku-goal-highlights-result-score-watch-a8039106.html
https://www.premierleague.com/players/6899/Alexandre-Lacazette/overview
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/11261478/romelu-lukaku-and-alvaro-morata-facing-up-to-massive-expectations