Romelu Lukaku is simply a ‘functional, DULL’ player – and top-of-the-table Chelsea are NOT to blame for their £98m striker going six games without a goal, says West Ham legend Paolo Di Canio
- Romelu Lukaku started well for Chelsea but is currently in a goal drought
- The Belgian rejoined the club from Inter Milan for £98million back in August
- He has not scored in his last six games and Paolo Di Canio criticised him
- Italian said Lukaku is a ‘functional’ player who fits a certain type of system
Romelu Lukaku is a ‘functional and dull’ player and it is not Chelsea’s fault the striker has gone six games without a goal, according to Paolo Di Canio.
The West Ham legend has criticised the Blues’ £98million summer signing for his recent dry spell and is clearly unimpressed by the Belgian.
On the Sky Calcio Club show, the 53-year-old Di Canio said: ‘I heard (Giuseppe) Bergomi comparing (Napoli striker Victor) Osimhen and Lukaku. But Osimhen has a different spirit, he’s not dull like him.
Thomas Tuchel took off Romelu Lukaku against Brentford and looked exasperated
Paolo Di Canio said he thinks Lukaku is a ‘dull and functional player’ during a TV appearance
‘When the difficulty increased he scored no goals in five games with Chelsea. And it’s not Chelsea’s fault, they are first (in the table) even without his goals.’
Di Canio, who played more than 100 times for West Ham and scored 47 goals for the club, went on to compare Lukaku with 36-year-old Udinese target man Fernando Llorente.
‘Lukaku does not score. Lukaku is a functional player, as Llorente was in (Antonio) Conte’s Juve.
‘Even if Lukaku is stronger than Llorente. Lukaku is functional to a certain type of game.’
Lukaku could yet prove to be the difference maker for Chelsea in helping them win the title this season but after a promising start has struggled.
Lukaku cut a frustrated figure for the Blues at Brentford but they came through and won 1-0
He again drew a blank in the 1-0 win over Brentford at the weekend and his last goal for the Stamford Bridge club in the Premier League was on September 11.
Lukaku put the ball into the net in the first half but saw his goal disallowed because he had strayed offside, and later missed a sitter when the ball broke to him inside Brentford’s penalty area, but he blazed over the open goal.
Thomas Tuchel insists he is not worried about Lukaku’s lack of cutting edge in recent weeks. He defended the striker after the Brentford win and said: ‘I am not concerned as I felt him a bit tired, and then isolated because we were defending too deep as a block.
‘I felt him a bit tired. Altogether we produced a very strong 60 to 75 minutes, including Romelu and Timo (Werner).
‘Both of them, Romelu and Timo, were too far away to help us escape the pressure. That was the problem, but I have no concerns.
‘Normally the best thing is that he scores but he is very unselfish at the moment, looking for Timo in good situations.
Lukaku will have another chance to break his drought against Malmo on Wednesday
‘And we had him in the situation (to score), it was a close offside decision.’
Lukaku’s international manager Roberto Martinez also felt moved to defend the forward recently, arguing: ‘His time in Italy with Inter Milan gave him another degree of maturity and this is a great moment in his career and the most outstanding thing about him is his goalscoring.
‘His conversion rate is exceptional. Look at his goals, he is already the record scorer for the national team, and you will get the best out of him when you put him in those positions.’
Lukaku will fancy his chances of scoring if he is given the nod on Wednesday night in Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Malmo.
The fiery and extremely talented Di Canio was a legendary figure at West Ham from 1999-2003
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