Ronald Koeman believes Romelu Lukaku is adapting to Everton’s pressing game but needs more chances from open play to correct the team’s faltering run of form.
A lack of productivity from the Everton attack and a lack of movement from the Belgium international have been recurring themes from Koeman during his side’s sequence of one win in 10 matches. Lukaku made 24 sprints in the 5-0 defeat at Chelsea last month, when Diego Costa made 77, and averages a lowly 8.7km of running per game. Wayne Rooney and Roberto Firmino, as a comparison, run on average 11.5km.
Koeman’s attacking problems have intensified before Saturday’s visit to Watford with Yannick Bolasie sidelined for the rest of the season, and possibly beyond, with a serious knee injury. But the Everton manager insists his message is getting through to Lukaku and that the striker has time to develop at the age of 23.
“He’s a good boy,” said Koeman. “He’s not a player who says to the manger: ‘I know, I know’ and then does nothing. He is open-minded to learn different things. It’s about what he needs to change in his game. He was not used to doing that pressing – he was more waiting back. And now it starts with him, the pressing, and that’s a different situation. Sometimes it’s difficult for players if they are used to doing something different and you need to change. That needs time.
“It’s difficult to compare him to the way Firmino or Costa are playing. I know the figures because I mentioned a couple of weeks ago something about the stats showing he was running less than Costa. OK, he can do more. It’s one of the qualities you want in players. And that’s what we need for the team. He knows he can do more and that’s what we try to change.”
The most important statistic relating to Lukaku are his seven goals for the club this season – he also has five for Belgium – and Koeman insists there is responsibility on the striker’s team-mates to increase that tally. “His personal situation is also important,” the manager said. “I know from throughout my life that strikers have good runs, bad runs, and if he gets the chance he will get goals. But we did not create many open chances, and that’s what we need to improve. Strikers need goals to get the confidence but first it starts by winning. That is the best thing for any player’s confidence.”
While Lukaku showed signs of heeding his manager’s instructions against Manchester United last weekend, Ross Barkley was an unused substitute as Koeman favoured a four-man midfield with Kevin Mirallas playing off Lukaku.
Koeman said of Barkley: “He must adapt. Sometimes he drops back too much to the midfield players instead of staying up and taking a position in the lines between the defenders and the midfield players of the opponents. It’s all about the part of the team that needs to be more clinical, more creative, and he’s part of that. But sometimes you change things tactically to get more power of defence in your midfield.
“He is open-minded but finally the answer has to come on the training pitch. You can talk as much as you want but you have to show your qualities in training. Both players [Lukaku and Barkley] are 23 years old. They are not at the end of their careers. In football terms they are young players. And still they are not at the highest level they can produce.”
