Romelu Lukaku and His Critics

Bradley Cates Reports, ,

On February 25th, Romelu Lukaku became Everton’s joint-highest goalscorer in the Premier League by scoring in Everton’s 2-0 win over Sunderland. His tally of 60 goals equals Duncan Ferguson’s record. In recent months, Everton fans have been disputing who was the better player: Lukaku or Ferguson. But should there really be a dispute in the first place?

Pro-Ferguson fans have said Lukaku doesn’t have the passion Ferguson had and Lukaku is “lazy”. It’s not only pro-Ferguson Evertonians who have been criticising Lukaku – former teammate Leon Osman said before Christmas that Lukaku only wants to score goals.

Despite his critics, a lot of fans believe Romelu Lukaku is Everton’s greatest player in the Premier League era – and the facts back that up.

  • He has scored 10+ league goals in 4 consecutive seasons – the first Everton player to do so since Adrian Heath did it in 5 consecutive seasons (1982/83-1986/87), and the first Everton striker to do so since Bob Latchford, who also did it in 5 consecutive seasons (1974/75-1978/79).
  • He has scored 15+ league goals in 2 consecutive seasons – the first Everton player to do so since Graeme Sharp in the 1984/85 and 1985/86 seasons.
  • He has scored a goal every 2.15 games – the best goals-per-game ratio by an Everton player in the Premier League (minimum 10 goals).
  • His goalscoring tallies last season (18) and this season (17) are the two highest by an Everton player in a single Premier League season.

And here is a stats comparison between Lukaku and Duncan Ferguson.

  • Even though Lukaku and Ferguson have both scored 60 Premier League goals, Lukaku reached the tally in 110 fewer games than Ferguson.
  • Lukaku has scored 10+ league goals in all 4 of his seasons at Everton, whereas Ferguson only managed to do so twice in his 10-and-a-half seasons at the club.
  • Lukaku’s top three Premier League season goal tallies were 18, 17 (at time of this post) and 15. Ferguson’s were 11, 10 and 7.
  • Lukaku has scored a goal every 2.15 Premier League games for Everton whereas Ferguson scored a goal every 3.98 Premier League games.
  • In all competitions, Lukaku scored a goal every 1.95 games for Everton whereas Ferguson scored a goal every 3.79 games.

Duncan Ferguson will always have a place in Evertonians’ hearts, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be another Everton player better than him. Even if Romelu Lukaku isn’t as passionate as Ferguson was, does that really matter? Lukaku is only 23 as well, so if Everton manage to keep hold of him for a few more years, Everton will grow and grow. Despite his age, he has scored 77 goals in the Premier League. He can easily score 100 by the end of next season, and he could only get better from there if he carries on the way he has been playing. In fact, he has contributed to 102 goals in the Premier League – 77 goals plus 26 assists. And since the start of last season, Lukaku has contributed to 45 goals in the Premier League – 35 goals plus 10 assists. Everton are really lucky to have him.

For over 20 years, Everton fans have been yearning for a proficient goalscoring striker – and now we have one. So why are people complaining?