the boo boys gone to ground, their vitriol
extinguished by his serial goalscoring for
the Diables Rouges.
Lukaku blames such recognition
difficulties on his lengthy absence from
the Belgian domestic scene, having quit
Anderlecht for Chelsea at the age of 18.
“I was very young when I started
my career and, in their minds, people
retained the image of the player I was
at Anderlecht,” he told Sportmagazine.
“They weren’t aware of the progress I
had made. A journalist from the north
of Belgium once argued that I didn’t
deserve to play for Belgium because
I wasn’t on form for my club. In fact,
I’d just scored five goals in four games.”
Nor did Lukaku garner huge amounts
of respect during his two seasons with
Manchester United. His style of play
never seemed a snug fit there and in
his second season he had a particularly
hard time, leaking confidence, admitting
to being overweight and falling down
the pecking order when Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer took over as manager from
Jose Mourinho late in 2018.
Showered with brickbats from boththe media and sections of the Old
Trafford faithful, he became a scapegoat
for the club’s trophyless woes, a symbol
of a once-omnipotent club struggling to
keep pace with the likes of Liverpool and
Manchester City.
In truth, he was anything but a flop at
United. His strike-rate of 42 goals in 96
games meant he considerably outscored
fellow front-runners Marcus Rashford
and Anthony Martial over the same
period. And Lukaku also played a huge
role in United’s most thrilling achievement
last season, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory
over Paris Saint-Germain – a result that
put United in the quarter-finals of the
Champions League on away goals.
Since moving to Italy six months ago,
all has gone swimmingly for the Belgian
and by early February he already had 20
goalscoring notches on his belt. Quite
clearly, coach Antonio Conte is pushing
all the right buttons.
Conte – who previously tried andfailed to sign Lukaku while in charge
at Juventus and Chelsea – is, crucially,
playing to the striker’s strengths. Mindful
that the Belgian is not a genuine target
man, uncomfortable when holding the
ball up and not a real threat in the air, he
only wants to see him on the front foot,
running with menace into open spaces.
Forming an excellent front-line
partnership with Lautaro Martinez,
Lukaku is here, there and everywhere,
hunting for chances in the box but also
equally obtrusive when dropping deep or
drifting out wide to the right. Operational
freedom is the key.
Whereas previous coaches such
as Mourinho, Solskjaer and former
Belgium boss Marc Wilmots insisted on
him playing with his back to goal as a
point-of-attack pivot, Conte and current
Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez
do not subscribe to a square-peg-in-
round-hole policy.
Lukaku has never has been a one-
dimensional battering ram. Isolate him up
top or force him into dependency on long
balls and crosses and he is not nearly so
effective. Conte and Martinez are reaping
the benefits of
taking the centre-
forward shackles
off, encouraging
him to do whatMAY 14, 2009
Eleven days after his
16th birthday he
makes his Anderlecht
debut, in a play-
off game against
Standard Liege.
AUG 28, 2009
Scores his first goal
for Anderlecht,
against Zulte
Waregem.MAR 3, 2010
Makes his
international debut,
in a 1-0 friendly
loss to Croatia.NOV 17, 2010
Gets his first
international goals,
scoring both in a 2-0
win against Russia.Romelu Lukaku
Thriving...life
is good at InterUnderrated...
his goalscoring
record was good at
Manchester United“I am unloved but I remain on the pitch and there I’m just fine”
Timeline