Every side has a player they hate coming up against. One that always turns it on it the matches against them. For West Ham that man is Romelu Lukaku.
It doesn’t matter what his form has been like against other teams, or what team he’s on. Romelu Lukaku always scores against West Ham. There’s some joke about death and taxes and the certainties of life, but I get tired of it. The point is, the side need to find a way to stop the Belgian, or at least try.
So how bad is the prognosis? I mean, he can’t always score against us right? And there must be other teams that struggle just as much as us when it comes to handling the Belgian goal machine?
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The numbers
Well, unfortunately Lukaku does better against us than any other team. In the 11 appearances he’s made against us, he’s scored 9 and assisted 4. For any opponent in the same league, that’s a very impressive record.
The next worst record of a team against Lukaku is Sunderland, who have 10 matches, 9 goals conceded and 3 assists. The point is, the Hammers are just not set up to deal with Lukaku, and he knows it.
The Premier League team with the best record (given how many times he’s played them) is probably Spurs. They’ve only conceded one Lukaku goal in 8 games against the Belgian. So can we really copy how they deal with him?
Well we have to acknowledge the jump in quality that Spurs have at the back. The biggest issue with Lukaku is that he can punish you if you give him space or if you get tight. He’s strong, fast and can shoot with both feet, meaning it take more than one player to deal with him.
Given that Noble and Obiang are out, I would task Nordtveit with playing in defensive midfield and keeping an extra close eye on Lukaku. Obviously the defence has to deal with him first and foremost, but you have to have help. The extra player sitting deep will also help to negate the threat of Barkley and Mirallas from midfield.
Next: Why Obiang Is My Hammer Of The Year
But the most important thing in stopping Lukaku is just to hope he’s off form. Not likely given his record in the league so far, but we can hope. Because if he’s in the mood then it’s hard to stop the striker, whoever your defenders are.